Is it true that "if you reach them, they will buy"? Thinking from a PR and marketing perspective: Why did I suddenly want to eat hot and sour noodle soup at the supermarket?

I suddenly wanted to eat hot and sour noodle soup at the supermarket

At the supermarket, I suddenly caught sight of some instant hot and sour noodle soup.
Then I suddenly wanted to eat it, and before I knew it, I had put it in my basket.
But when I left the house, I wasn't craving hot and sour noodle soup.

It wasn't as if I had been thinking, "I'm in the mood for hot and sour noodle soup today."

And yet, the moment I saw it, I wanted it.

Thinking about this sensation, I felt like there was a hint for organizing how human desires move
.

Desire is not just about "being newly created"

Advertising and PR (Public Relations) are often discussed as things that "make people want something new."
Of course, that is part of it. But in reality, I have recently felt that

desires that already existed are reignited through contact

is also a very common case.

I tentatively call this

re-ignition of desire.

The hot and sour noodle soup was replaying a "memory"

With this hot and sour noodle soup, rather than wanting it completely from scratch,
it felt closer to the memory of having eaten it before being stimulated.

Inside my head, there already remained

• the memory of it being delicious

• the impression of the sourness and spiciness

• the satisfaction after eating it

So, the moment I saw it at the store, those memories and emotions were replayed, and the desire to "eat it" arose.

I feel that was the movement.

The reason why "we got the reach but it didn't sell" happens

In corporate advertising and PR, it is easy for the conversation to become "let's get more reach."

The term "reach" as used here means,

"how many people's eyes it has come into contact with"

in other words.

In short, it refers to how widely an advertisement or social media post has reached. It is a very commonly used metric in marketing.

Of course, if people do not come into contact with that information and do not know about it, they will not choose it. However, when looking at actual purchasing behavior, I feel there are some different dynamics at play.

What is important is not simply the "number of times seen," but rather,

"what kind of memories or emotions that contact triggered", isn't it?

Reach is not just about "exposure volume"

For example,

• having used it in the past

• having eaten it before

• having a memory of liking it

• having a good impression remaining

• having an understanding of the category

Products are easier to move with just contact.

This is because emotional memories already exist within the consumer.

Conversely,

• inexperience

• lack of understanding

• the category itself being ambiguous

For some products, simply increasing exposure
may not be enough to drive action.

In other words, even with the same '1 million reach,' the content could be completely different.

Advertising and PR are also 'devices for regenerating desire'

If this hypothesis is somewhat correct, the role of advertising and PR starts to look a little different.

Advertising and PR do not just create new desires,
they sometimes function as 'an act of reconnecting with emotions and memories that already exist.'as well.

That is why, for mature brands,

• being seen

• being talked about

• being spotted on social media

takes on meaning in itself. This is because the memory of 'liking' it is already within the consumer.

'Gaining awareness doesn't mean it will sell'

Perhaps reach is not just about the volume of exposure. How much can you reconnect with the memories and emotions already inside the consumer?
I feel that in many cases, that volume is what strongly influences actual purchasing behavior.

In other words, reach might not be
'how much it spread,' but 'how much it was able to make contact with desire.'

In corporate PR and marketing, 'spreading it first' is often prioritized. But in reality,

• does the product already have memory assets?

• is it in a state where 're-ignition' can occur?

• is initial formation of desire necessary in the first place?

I feel that the strategies that should be designed change significantly depending on these factors.

Recently, I have been interested in the gap between such 'movements of consumer desire' and the strategy design on the corporate side.

I thought about these things while looking at the hot and sour noodle soup at the supermarket.