How the brain processes advertising: balancing brand building and short term activation for TV campaign success

To make a TV campaign truly effective, it's essential to understand not just the two key types of advertising (brand building and short term activation), but also how they interact with the way our brains work.

Brand building and short term activation ads may serve different purposes, but their impact is shaped by how each side of the brain processes them.

In this blog, we'll explore how neuroscience helps us better understand these two forms of advertising and why balancing both is crucial for long-term success.

The left half of the brain is more rational & analytical, focusing on detail language & numbers.

The right half of our brain is our emotional hub. Its where we develop appreciation of music, colour, humour and creativity.

Brand Building - the RIGHT side of the brain

Emotion and long term memory utilises the right side of the brain, this is where brand building advertising campaigns live. These campaigns often have an emotional hook and narrative that includes humour, drama or music. A powerful soundtrack is a great way of creating emotion and memorability.

These campaigns not only target consumers in the current market, but also those who may purchase in the future. They are designed to generate future demand, critical to a brand’s sustained success.

The right side of the brain cannot analyse information rather it is likely to be stored just as it entered, as sensory associations.

There is a firm link between emotion and long-term memory and as such the emotive, storytelling format of brand building advertisements means they are committed to our long-term memory.

Emotion and memory are the spaces in which brands exist and therefore they tend to sit within the right side of the brain.

Short term activation - the LEFT side of the brain

These forms of adverts tend to be more rational, less emotive, more factual and feature offers with a strong call to action.

The target audience tend to be existing customers who are already familiar with a brand but may require a prompt.

As the offers within these commercials typically have a limited timeframe they only need to be committed to our short term memory.

Usually the consumer sees the ad, considers and analyses it, if it is considered relevant or of interest action is taken, often immediately by visiting the website/store. If it isn’t of interest, it is often dismissed and forgotten instantly.

Understanding how the left and right sides of the brain respond to different advertising approaches helps marketers craft more effective campaigns. While short term activation ads drive immediate results through logic and urgency, brand building taps into emotion and long-term memory to create lasting impressions. The most successful TV campaigns strike a balance between the two, capturing attention now while laying the foundation for future growth.

Want to make your next campaign work harder? Get in touch with our team to discover how we can help. Email hello@tvadswork.com .