We know that the Contrast Phenomenon says you can change the way people experience anything by what they experience first. In this advertisement Adidas takes an unusual approach to advertising their product. Effective and simple.
Whenever using Contrast always ask yourself the question:
Compared to what?
In this advertisement you find yourself thinking of the fitness, stamina and endurance of the athlete. Only once you have that firmly in your mind does Adidas surpass it by adding 50 pounds to the challenge. In this instance you are comparing the elite athlete to an even more robust and higher performing individual – the camera man! Absolute persuasive gold.
Nike is great if you are comparing it just to other running shoes. Adidas is superior performance.
On my recent visit to the US Dr Gregory Neidert said “Contrast is the black matter that holds everything else together” and I absolutely agree. If you can get your head around Contrast you will have struck persuasive gold!
As I have shared before here is another simple example of how James Cook University uses Contrast by first anchoring you to Cambridge and Yale and then blowing you away with the fact it surpasses them in the field of ecology! Here is the text:
Cambridge and Yale universities are global research powerhouses.
In the 2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Cambridge University is placed fifth, behind Harvard, Stanford, MIT and the University of California at Berkeley. Yale University is placed eleventh.
Established in the thirteenth century, Cambridge is one of the world’s oldest universities. Yale is the third oldest university in the United States.
Cambridge and Yale have global reputations for outstanding research and academic achievement.
But in the vital research areas of environment/ecology, James Cook University outranks them.
What do you think? Adidas or Nike? Yale or James Cook?
Remember they are just trying to change the way you think about their offering.
I tip my hat to both in the Contrast awards!
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