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Increased frequency = increased recall. That’s the frequency effect.

Let’s look at some concrete examples. Each year, ¾ÅÉ« magazine hires a third party research firm to conduct a “Recall and Readership” study for the first issue in November. Data is collected from actual ¾ÅÉ« readers about which print ads they recall, which are then ranked in order of memorability.

In the 2009 study, this clever ad by Applied Underwriters earned the second highest reader recall score. Then in 2010, Applied Underwriters moved up to first place with the exact same ad! That’s right. The most remembered print ad in the 2010 study had been repeatedly printed in the pages of ¾ÅÉ« for over two years. In fact, Applied Underwriters ran ads from that campaign (all of which used the same general theme and design) over 50 times during 2009 and 2010. This is an effective advertising strategy. The ads are run repeatedly, ensuring that they are seen often, which helps to keep Applied Underwriters top-of-mind when potential clients are in the market for what they’re selling. That’s the frequency effect in action. Granted, the Applied Underwriters ads may be extra memorable due to the beautiful imagery and novel ad concept. However, the frequency effect also applies with more basic ad campaigns.

Consider the case of Texas Mutual. In 2009, this very simple ad won first place in the reader recall study. Nothing fancy, but everybody seemed to recall seeing it. Why? It likely had something to do with the fact that they ran that ad eight times as part of a print campaign that appeared in all 24 issues of ¾ÅÉ« that year. Again, there’s the frequency effect.

In these two examples, we can see a correlation between high print ad frequency and high reader recall scores. It should be observed, however, that both Texas Mutual and Applied Underwriters effectively utilized online advertising options as well. Considering today’s interconnected media landscape, it’s likely that the success of their print advertising was influenced by the other components in their overall marketing strategy.

Next time, we’ll examine the benefits of design consistency across all advertising channels as a way to multiply the frequency effect.

Topics Underwriting