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- Do they even know their commercial is outdated?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.
John Wanamaker, a department store mogul from the late 1800s, once lamented, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don't know which half." I feel his frustration, and you probably have, too.
Kind of the way nature abhors a vacuum, I have no stomach for waste. When I encounter it, I feel compelled to at least minimize it. One of my priorities with any new client is to help them identify, and subsequently eliminate, wasteful practices in their advertising program. One area where I observe a great deal of waste is content. Once you've done your due diligence to select an advertising vehicle with the greatest potential to deliver your ideal audience, don't drop the ball with a pointless message.
You can easily avoid this pitfall by applying the "So What?" test to predict the likelihood of success for your advertising. An easy example is the business card ad. Small business owners seem to like them because they're usually cheap and no one has to exert any effort to develop content. But when you apply the "So What?" test, they fail miserably because there's no real content - there's no motivating message.
Consider each statement in your current or planned advertising, and imagine a prospect crossing their arms and saying, "So what?" as they encounter each point. In other words, why is that statement significant? Remember the old axiom "Everyone's favorite radio station is WIIFM." (WIIFM stands for What's In It For Me) If you're going to use precious time or space to tell people you've been in business for 10 years, you better back it up by explaining why that little factoid deserves mentioning. If you can't think of a compelling reason it should matter to anyone other than yourself, drop it, and focus on content that explains how doing business with you will improve their life or solve their problem. Don't just tell them the refrigerator door has a textured finish (a feature). Answer the "So What?" question! Elaborate that the finish doesn't show annoying fingerprints. The big benefit? Mom spends less time cleaning in the kitchen. There's not a Mom anywhere who wouldn't see value in that.
People find comfort in justifying their purchases. No one wants to feel like they've wasted money! With the current economy in a tailspin, it has become even more necessary to validate every expenditure. If you consistently apply the "So What?" test to your advertising message, your potential customers can feel confident their purchase of your goods or service is warranted by the benefit you provide. You will enjoy seeing your own return on investment improve accordingly.
