Remember me? Remember me! The punctuation on those two words makes all the difference, doesn’t it? If I use a question mark, I am asking you a question, as if I am not sure if you recall who I am. However, by using an exclamation mark, I am declaring that you will never forget me.

Now let’s apply that to your marketing. How memorable is your marketing? Are you asking (hoping) if customers remember you or are you so bold with your marketing that it evokes the memory of your brand every time they encounter it? Marketing is not a timid discipline. It is meant to make you stand out, not blend in. It is the guy who shows up for the prom wearing the hot pink tuxedo with high top sneakers, not the gray suit and black patent leather shoes.

Does marketing have to be in your face to be effective? No, not necessarily. However, let’s realize that the most audacious marketing campaigns are very memorable simply because they are outlandish. But to be effective, marketing has to emphasize a distinction between you and your competition. Can just any difference between you and them make an impact in your marketing? No. The key to making your marketing work is to find the feature in your brand that is not only different from your competition, but, more importantly, is noteworthy with your customers. If I am manufacturing garden hoses and I say my hose is green because my competition is producing black hoses, it is not an effective marketing distinction unless my customers prefer green over black hoses. However, if by saying they are green and I also mean they are eco-friendly because they use less water without reducing the water pressure when compared to my competitor’s product, I have a very good marketing distinction that will likely resonate with my customers.

Distinction is one thing, making that difference memorable is another. In marketing, creating a brand is significant to memory. What makes a good brand? An eye-catching visual; a short, easy-to-remember name; a catchy tagline that puts an exclamation point on the key difference between you and your competition; and repetition. Don’t forget that last point. There have been many studies on memory. You may have heard that you need to hear something at least seven times before your brain will commit it to long-term memory. Other studies have suggested it may take many more than seven times for an idea to stick with us. One of the classic studies on memory was conducted by Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885. In his book, Memory. A Contribution to Experimental Psychology, Ebbinghaus explained how we very quickly forget something when we experience it for the first time. Typically within 20 minutes we have forgotten to the point we cannot repeat a simple phrase we have heard – which he called the Forgetting Curve. However, when the same experience is repeated, our ability to recall it extends the time before we cannot remember the phrase. He called this the Memory Curve. Ebbinghaus also found that when a series of words or ideas were being memorized, the final point was the easiest to remember. He called his experiment the Serial Position Effect and the ability to recall the last thing heard, the Recency Effect. What does this have to do with helping your customers remember your brand? The words you use to describe your brand are more memorable when they are the last phrase that is used in your marketing campaign. It becomes the exclamation point to your marketing efforts. Going back to our green hose scenario, here are two taglines that say the same thing with words positioned differently in each statement.

• Save Water with Green Hoses
• Green Hoses Save Water

What is the most important phrase for the customer to remember, the name of the product or its best distinct feature? Whatever is most important, making it the last thing the customer experiences in your marketing promotions will help it stick with them.

Remember me? Remember me! Make sure your brand is memorable with your customers. Your marketing should be helping you put the exclamation point, not question marks, in the minds of your customers.