One way to make advertising more useful to its audience is to use it as a way to educate, bringing your audience to a higher level of sophistication.

NY Times: Science Blogs as a Vehicle for Upscale Ads  by Stuart Elliott

…the increasing pervasiveness of technology in everyday life, Ms. Esquivel said, a trend that leads people "to feel more than ever they understand a bit more about science" and towant to learn even more about it. That can be seen in an announcement yesterday by Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. that a commercial it will run during Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5 will be devoted to a hybrid version of the 2007 Camry.

Another important finding from the survey, Ms. Esquivel said, is that consumers say they "want to be more involved with how products are made, and want to know more about ingredients and how things are packaged and advertised."

That trend may accelerate as more marketers introduce products with scientific or technological underpinnings like hybrid cars and so-called nutraceutical foods, cosmetics and personal care products.

For instance, L’Oreal, which was founded by a French chemist, Eugene Schueller, in 1907, sponsors a program called For Women in Science that includes a partnership with the United Nations organization Unesco. The program is promoted extensively on the company’s Web site.