Took in the 2005 N.C. State Fair today. Everything I abhor (except the food) all in one place. It’s an amazing place to watch people, waste a lot of money, make a 4-year-old boy very happy, and get exhausted all in a very short amount of time.Carny’s are an interesting breed. They communicate almost entirely one-way, with what many consider incessent drivel blaring through loudspeakers as they ramble on in their headset microphones with one and only one purpose in mind: get you to come play their game. I think I’m more amazed that people step up and fork over their $2 (or more) to play games that they have to know are rigged. I wonder what it is about those folk that causes such easy separation of them and their money, but I also have learned that we all entertain ourselves differently, and I’ll drop a C-note (plus a little) for half the recreational time tomorrow by pursuing my #1 hobby. So much for logic. Folks that get their jollies in games of chance and instant reward likely are close to paradise at such an event.But I noticed after a while that I didn’t really even hear the carny’s any more. After three-plus hours of a constant barrage on my senses, I managed to filter out most of it, and was able to focus on the task at hand (funnel cakes! — I skipped the fried candy bars) without the distraction affecting me. I can’t help but note that there is an application to the corporate world (and parenting, and advertising, and email, and…), especially in messaging to an internal audience.When people aren’t immediately attracted to your message, constant and redundant messaging causes them to tune out completely. I’m not sure how this fits the philosophy of branding and advertising, for they surely believe that if you hear it enough, it will affect you. Maybe; maybe not.
More messaging does not necessarily make the message heard more.
