How do we persuade people to do or buy things? In the health and medical field, we usually rely on educating them. This is the "direct" path to persuasion. Give lots of detailed information, the "customer" will scrutinize it, think hard about it, and come to a rational conclusion. Right? Wrong.

Years of research has shown that this approach usually doesn't work very well. For most people most of the time, the "indirect" path to persuasion is far more effective. On the indirect path, people are influenced by things like who the spokesperson is and what feelings are being conveyed, rather than the rational argument. They are not thinking deeply. Instead, they are relying on, say the credibility of the spokesperson, as a shortcut to making a quick decision. The upside is people are engaged. The downside is that the persuasion that does result may be shorter lived. 

I see the real win as what I would call involvement conversion. Use the indirect path to get people initially interested. Then once they are "in the door" so to speak, their positive experience should convert them to care more deeply and find the personal relevance in what you are selling. Just make it worth their while.

Note: I know, I know. There's a popular business book called the 5 Paths to Persuasion. The two paths I am touting are fundamentally based on whether people personally connect with your message or not. Think about what path you take when faced with a barrage of communications.

Siemens has done some good marketing and advertising in its time. Not so much with this airport billboard. The problem is the incongruity between what is said and what is shown. The tagline and image are at odds. They SAY what makes them different is giving attention to patients, not to files. But what they SHOW is the opposite.

I see this happen when companies or their ad agencies make the " BIG think" assumption. They might have tested it and respondents might have been able to figure out the intended meaning... after studying it for a LONG time. But even if they did figure it out, how does it make them feel? Does it elicit any kind of positive action? Most people will only get maybe a 2 to 3 second glimpse of this ad. At a glance, this billboard leaves people confused, not knowing what to think or feel about the company or product.

To avoid this fatal advertising error, always test your messages in realistic scenarios and for every message ask what should people to think, feel, and do. This creates accountability and effective communication.