It's In The Details

Last night while watching TV, I saw a commercial for a local furniture store. The opening statement was "Spring has arrived!" It's been running for a while, but last night it finally irked me enough to stimulate a post.

You see, here in Central Florida where I'm based, the end of July is smack in the dead of summer. Even without a calendar, the frequent thunderstorms, afternoon temps hovering around the low 90s, and daylight lasting until nearly 9 p.m., would leave no doubt in anyone's mind that we're not celebrating spring.

So, what's the big deal over a commercial like this? Consider what kind of image it projects for the store. There are several possible underlying messages, and you better believe if I'm thinking about them, potential customers are, too.

• Do they even know their commercial is outdated? Who wants to do business with a company that is oblivious to their own advertising? What else are they oblivious to?
• If they do know it's old, is it that they just don't care? Apathy is a poor business partner, especially in today's tightly competitive economic climate. Consumers think long and hard before they let go of their money, so you have to earn their business more than ever before. Impulse purchases are for candy bars at the grocery store checkout.
• Is this indicative of their attention to detail in other areas? An 'expired' ad doesn't do much to instill confidence in the company. People prefer to do business with people or companies they trust.
• If they can't afford to change their commercial, they must be in dire straits. If you buy
  from them, will they be around for service after the sale?
• Most blunt of all, but it needs to be said: It simply makes the advertiser look stupid.

And by the way, shame on their cable TV advertising rep for not keeping an eye on details for the client. They should have discussed the commercial's anticipated shelf life up front, and designed something with more longevity if necessary. (Or put a note in their tickler file to discuss updating the commercial when spring ended.) If the furniture store is using an advertising agency, perhaps it's time to find a new one, because the agency has failed to perform in the best interest of the client.

Tip: If it's not in the budget to make new TV commercials very often, design one that can be easily changed to stay current (sometimes referred to as a donut). Use graphics for any information that will not remain static and could be subject to change (a price, interest rate, headline, date, etc.). It's quicker, easier and costs much less to change graphics than to record a new voice-over or create a whole new commercial.