1. Disregard ethnicity and gender

The neuroscience study revealed the ethnicity of actors in TV ads has no effect on encoding on our long-term memory. It also showed that whether women are portrayed in “traditional or non-traditional female roles” has no effect.

2. Don’t directly sell the product or list facts

Hard facts and direct sales do not help brands become memorable in TV ads. Ads that went for the “hard product sell” performed 17% worse than those that interspersed the product within the ad’s narrative. Those ads which used scientific information performed worst in the study.

3. Contrast the pace

Ads that mixed up pace, sounds, breaks, and pauses were 20% better at staying within a viewer’s long-term memory and affecting their future behavior than those which did not. This is because our brains tend to respond most actively to things they find intriguing.

4. Recognize the importance of people

Ads with high levels of conversation and affection are 10% more likely to stay in our minds than those with a low level of this kind of interaction. Interestingly, celebrities made little impact in terms of recognition of the brand at the end of an advert. However, celebrities increased our memories of specific calls to action by 13%.

5. Music should be active and drive the action.

Music can make or break an ad, according to Neuro-Insight. Ads that are driven by their soundtrack are best at creating long term memories — particularly when song lyrics match the action. Ads that used music like this were 14% more efficient than those that use passive, background music.