Don't Follow Stop Signs: Marketing Tactics to Learn from Traffic Control

Do you occasionally suffer from road rage? Are you a Colorado driver that doesn't know how to merge using the full 1/2-mile merge lane? Do you speed every day or do you stop for a full and legal 3-seconds at stop signs? Drivers rarely fully adhere to the traffic laws that stop signs try to enforce. But why? Here are some thoughts on how poorly traffic signs grab our attention and some marketing tactics you can use to avoid these mistakes.

1. Look for one, find two
• What do stop signs and Coca-cola have in common? They both have white writing on a red background and whether they successfully grab your attention depends little with marketing abilities and more to do with the environment. Is there a cop watching the intersection? What did the car in front of me do? Is it convenient to stop by the vending machine or the drive-thru on your way out? Whether you order a Coke over Pepsi depends more upon what the restaurant has to offer and whether your friends are drinking soda or water or beer. Tactic: Choose and control your placement around your competition. 
2. Associated impressions
• No one likes capital letters. STOP is like using all caps in an internet argument to tell other how IMPORTANT this sentence is! Symbols are more effective: European signs, the Apple computer symbol, etc. Do you recognize an octagon shape immediately and image it colored red? Tactic: Use colors and symbols for quick recognition.
3. Surprising alternatives
• Paper or plastic? Twitter or Facebook? Sometimes having an option makes users do a double take. If you are given options or meet abnormal substitutions, it makes you stop and think. Instead of stop signs, traffic controls use roundabout or yield signs because they can be more effective in reducing accidents in certain locations. Can you offer alternatives that keep your audience on their toes causing them to willing consider your product? Tactic: Be your own challenger and have options.

Are there other every day signs that you miss because you are inundated with advertisements  rules, and blinking lights drawing your attention? What can you do to make your idea stand out?