Once you see an ad, it's over

Once you see an ad, it's over. I recently saw a video about why I think Kalshi, the predictive markets platform, will ultimately lose its war for women's attention. However, I always like to challenge my assumptions, and that got me thinking about how ads work a lot better than we or even I would like to admit. And how even if Kalshi loses the war, they probably will win some battles along the way. And that's because once you see the ad, you're already in a pipeline, and unless you take action to actively resist, it is over. So here's how ads work and how you can resist them. A lot of people think that ads work by making you purchase instantaneously or even close to the time when you see the ad. But that's not really the case. There's actually multiple stops on this train. The first stop is about getting your attention. They want you to recognise the name and build some amount of brand familiarity. And that's because there are studies that show that people will buy from something that they are more familiar with, even if they don't like it. Stop number two on this proverbial train is habit formation. They don't just want you to know what Kalshi is, but they want you to think about Kalshi in the moments that already matter to you. So watching a game, watching Love Island, you should be thinking, I wonder what Kalshi is trading at? Maybe I should check, and then you're on the app. The third stop is a taste. It's a promotion, free credits, something to get you to try it once, because once you've tried it once, you're much more likely to try a second time. Then you're at stop number four, Customerville. Now you are an active customer. You're going to start coming to the app, you're going to start talking to about it with your friends. You're going to be influenced by other people sharing their experiences. So the next time you see a Kalshi ad or any ad for that matter, don't just ask, am I going to buy this? Ask, what stop are they trying to get me to? Because once you understand the train, it's a lot easier to decide if you want to get on. Choo choo!