Why do the best books seem to be so original, fresh and compelling?
Why are the highest ranking blogs so successful?
Why are some people so good at selling or influencing?
The answer is found in the concept of banner blindness. Banner blindness occurs when you surf the internet, and your brain ignores flashing, colourful banners. Can you remember the banner ad on the last site you visited?
Probably not.
The word's first banner ad - released in 1994 by AT & T
You’ve seen it before. You’ve trained yourself to just ignore and move on – quickly. Your brain has seen the same thing so many times it develops an immunity to it.
In the same way, you can get banner blindness towards old “tested and true” types of communication. That’s why the best new books and blogs repackage old ideas using new words and new examples. Instead of a “following”, you have a “tribe”. Instead of “influential” you have “viral” (in certain contexts).
As culture evolves, the way your words and ideas are packaged evolves. Today’s thought leaders are often just repackaging old ideas with their own twist. Their books and presentations don’t quote heaps of old-thinkers (who they’re in fact repeating). Rather, they choose their own delivery, and they’re passionate about it. Because it smells original, your in-built banner blindness doesn’t stop you from receiving the ideas and acting on them.
Here’s the point: If your communication methods don’t continue to evolve with the culture you live in, your listeners will be less and less responsive. Selling gets harder. Church attendance drops. Influencing becomes more difficult. Market share declines. Banner blindness sets in.
Posted by Paul Derham 
Paul Derham's Blog 