July 21, 2009

Effective Engagement: Lesson From Hollywood


Attention is fleeting. Momentary. This simply means that you only have that ‘moment’ to engage. And for effective engagement, we could take inspiration from the movies. They do a real good job of it.

You must have noticed fleeting moments in movies that lingered on even days after you've watched the movie. Moments that were so 'momentary', so short lived but powerful in their impact. Let's take the movie Gladiator for instance. What are the fleeting moments of maximum impact that come to mind?

- The severed head rolling to a stop in the opening battle scene
- Blood mixing with water as Russell Crowe washes his hands after the battle

You can go on and on. If you watch the movie again you'd come up with many more such fleeting moments. The thought, however, is this:

If you want your prospect to click on a banner, or press the replay button, wouldn't fleeting yet arresting visuals that are relevant, that tell a story and answer a need, prompt the desired action? The keyword here is 'fleeting'.

And we're talking visuals only here because copy can never be fleeting.

Question: Is this the answer to effective engagement and immediate action by the viewer? The use of powerful, fleeting imagery that weaves a quick story, without copy interruption or only the most minimal copy display?

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