Practically small
So what are the practical limits of going ‘small’? If your objective is to communicate a concept clearly and unambiguously, a good frame of reference would be any bumper sticker or billboard advertisement. When Nike says ”Just do it” everyone knows exactly what they mean. An even pithier version would be “Got Milk?” Simple, to the point copy that is catchy and sticky. The point with these examples is that consumers are already acclimated to the micro-message, in fact, it works better for them because it uses less of their time and is more likely to break through the overall ad static that is an ongoing part of their lives. This type of approach can be extended even further by creating a rich media version of an ad snippet; a short, animated gif file can convey paragraphs of meaning in a matter of seconds, and can tie in very tightly to a branding strategy. The fact that it’s rich media actually works well with most component content management systems, particularly with those that are object-oriented. This also translates very cleanly into a mobile advertising environment, where the footprint is small, the attention span is short, and distractions are rampant.