Television commercials can be puzzling?

Visa's marketing department also puzzles me. After watching a questionable television commercial for the last couple of weeks, I can not find a video file of the commercial online. Not on YouTube? Not on their website? Not anywhere. So that in itself is a lesson to the budding marketer of what NOT to do.

Now I have to describe the commercial in hopes you have seen it? It starts with a couple in their 30's with no kids, checking out at a store and pulling out their Visa card. Then the dream sequence begins. I'm sure the people behind them in line loved these two mental midgets being off in la la land? The dream begins with the couple on the back of a catamaran looking at a manatee or walrus describing it as an old dolphin, then along comes a dolphin, jumping out of the water and the man says "there's a young dolphin, I dont' want to be an old dolphin" and back to the store lineup and off they go.

So.. the point of the commercial? It looks as if they want you to think having a Visa card will get you dreaming of travel? But what I take away from it is they want their customers to be stupid and rude. Like the Pizza Pop commercial I spoke about in a Blog last year, it makes me want to NOT use their product if that's the level of intelligence they think their customers have. I have spoken to others who feel the same way. Yet Visa obviously spent a lot of money on producing the commercial and they run it quite frequently on CBC. They must have shown the commercial to focus groups? How does a commercial like this make it out of a system like that? I'd really love to hear your answers if you have any?

There seems a trend in television and radio commercials to portray people as stupid, especially males. Many times, I may not like the commercial, but I see the point, the appeal, and the humor to a certain market segment. So do 18-35 year old males find this Visa commercial funny? I wonder?? Until next time, I am Larry "The Ad Man". Happy Holidays to you and your family !

 After writing this, someone found it on YouTube, posted December 9th. NOT easy to find:

You don't know what you want until it's gone...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, if you love something set it free, too much of a good thing can be dangerous. All true when it comes to advertising. There comes a point where your advertising may be ignored due to over exposure. Not common in small business circles, but take notice of some of the worlds biggest advertisers, Coke, McDonalds and Tim Horton's. While their branding never goes away, they do have big ad campaigns during certain times of the year, then are gone for awhile. When their ads do come back, do you realize you missed them? That first ad back can be very effective.

So how to relate this to small business? In a similar way, if you are running the same ad in the same medium over time, then a break from that medium for a time, may be all the doctor ordered to make it fresh again. More importantly, I think it makes sense to change the ad up a bit and keep it fresh. You might ask, how long should I run for, how long should I break for? That is something your customers may tell you. Take the time to engage customers in some way about their opinion of your advertising. You will then know how effective your ads are and when that effectiveness decreases, take a break.

You may have noticed I took a break from this Blog. Did you miss me? Until next time, I am Larry "The Ad Man".

Getting back to basics

I have spoken to many business owners in recent months about the magic of Twitter and used real examples of how their business could benefit adding it into their advertising mix. So far, not many have taken up the mantle of using it. My latest conversation with one business was "An hour a day?" when I mentioned that's what one should spend on social media to have any success with it. So if you have no time as a business owner to handle social media and don't have a budget to pay someone to do it, then stick with the basics.

The old basics are gone. EVERY business used to spend some money on the Yellow Pages. I now know very few businesses that spend money there and even fewer who use the yellow pages. So what are today's basics? I would say that depending on your specific industry basics, You need a website, business cards, Flyers and a local area news paper/community newsletter ad to get to residents close to your business. I am thinking specifically of retail locations when I speak to these basics. Many businesses use their website to both promote retail and sell products online. It is important to have a strong focus on both as some may be looking you up to get your hours and location as apposed to buying online. Both types of customers are important, so consider all reasons why someone will want to find you and focus your energy in that direction.

It amazes me how many restaurants do not have a website, in Calgary. The amount of information, from location, parking, menu that a restaurant can display the website it tailor made for restaurants. So is twitter. Daily specials can be broadcast on Twitter.

Other industries have other basics when it comes to marketing. For some industries it's trade shows. Others it's transit ads and for many others social media. But if you don't have the basics, it will be harder to get and keep customers. Until next time, I am Larry "The Ad Man".