Why weird works: An advertising masterclass

The Von Restorff Effect states that when multiple homogeneous stimuli are presented, the stimulus that differs from the rest is more likely to be remembered.

Weird stands out. By leaning into it, brands can have a memorable impression on audiences.

As Byron Sharp explains in How Brands Grow, brands all too often focus on explaining to customers why their product is different from their competitor’s version. Instead, their main priority should be just creating communications that are distinctive.

Brands that are easy to recall in buying situations are described as having good mental availability, which you can think of as mental real estate.

As people, we only have so much space in our brains. It’s no surprise that—with individuals consuming 74GB of information daily—around 90% of advertising goes unnoticed. That’s why securing a place for your brand within the fraction of information that people actually remember is considered a foundation of brand building.

To stick in people’s heads, you need to stand out. And to stand out, you need to figure out how to be the weirdo in your category.

In the era of the attention economy, the brands that win are the brands that that get people to look at their stuff. 

To ensure your brand joins them in the winners circle, you need to take into account these guidelines from Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Evolution:

• Recognise that attention is a limited resource.
• Pay attention to where you pay attention. 

On Instagram, where 95 million photos and videos are shared every day, what types of content do you pay attention to?

Odds are, it’s the most entertaining content. 

No one has to watch your content in the world of social media—they have to choose to watch it. And to get people to choose your content, it has to be entertaining. Fortunately, weirdness is the perfect hack for creating entertainment.

Let’s talk about Gen Z. This group of nearly 2 billion young consumers is an entire generation of weirdos. 

Thanks to the internet, these digital natives represent the most interconnected generation ever. Having been exposed to infinite subcultures, lifestyles, genders, and sexualities, it’s arguable that Gen Z is the most progressive of any generation when it comes to their views and choices.

As a result, weird is normal for Gen Z. And, in turn, normal is weird.

• 67% of Gen Z prefer ads that show people in real situations.
• 65% of Gen Z dislike ads that make people look perfect.
• 70% of Gen Z like ads that show diversity in their representation.

Authenticity is the gold standard for Gen Z—they crave weirdness that feels real. That’s why the fastest growing brands in the world are the most authentically weird ones.