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What makes an ad work for you?

I bought a new pair of khakis for my husband yesterday, using a worn credit slip neither the salesman nor I could read, though I could remember when I got it because it came from the last pair of new khakis I tried to buy a male in my family, in that case, my son. I apologized to the salesman as he hunted through his computer’s records to find what turned out to be $12 credit (my son had exchanged the pants for shorts), and then checked to make sure I could also return the latest purchase if my husband didn’t like them. He said Sure, happens all the time. Do men ever shop for themselves, I asked. Rarely, he said. We do most of our business with women. So, it turns out, does everyone else. Surveys indicate that women consumers buy or influence the buying of more than 75 percent of all goods. And, according to a story in the New York Times, advertising agencies are still trying to hone their pitch to us. I’ve been shopping for over 50 years and they don’t get it yet? What’s to get? That’s what I’d like to know. What ads work for you? How would you tell the advertising gurus to target you? When, how, and for what products specifically does advertising make a difference?