I love billboards, and not just because dozens of South of the Border ads have given me and millions of other drivers cheesy entertainment while driving up and down I-95.
Billboards work.
In an era when we’re constantly on the edge of sensory overload, very little unwanted information seeps through. I tune out extraneous stuff on Web pages, rip ads out of magazines, mute TV ads, fast-forward through commercials while streaming video-on-demand, and pay for ad-free premium Spotify.
But I see billboards. Clean Bathrooms Next Exit. Best Morning Drive Station. Outlet Stores 20 Miles. Free Wifi, Heated Pool, Kids under 12 Stay Free.
Billboards aren’t right for every business or every ad campaign. But sometimes old-fashioned, low-tech, can be a very effective way to grab people’s attention.
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This turned up in my mail on Saturday. Inside was a shiny brochure about their hybrid vehicles. Don’t you think Toyota should have put off this print campaign until after they fixed their cars?
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The concept is great because it strengthens the “I’m a PC” tag that did a good job at humanizing the Microsoft brand. Plus any ad that has people envisioning themselves as hunks makes me smile.
But there’s another reason they work: because Windows 7is user-friendly. It’s the first version of the operating system that seamlessly transfers all your files–and keeps your settings and accounts intact. I know, because I went through setting up my new computer just weeks ago. And best of all: Windows 7 recognizes existing local networks, so that all I needed to do was put in my password (at the prompt) during the initial set-up phase and I was online with no business interruption.
Now I’m a PC, and that was my idea.
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This isn’t going to be a post about dating, relationships, or Valentine’s Day. But when was the last time you heard a guy say he was looking forward to “getting to the communication”?
That’s a key line from an advertisement by online dating service eHarmony that has been running on ESPN News. Apparently eHarmony just held a “free communication weekend,” presumably in honor of Valentine’s Day.
The ad caught my attention because it seemed so out of place on a sports network. (That and the guy uttering a phrase that no real person would actually use.) So here’s the bigger question: who is the target audience? If I’m watching a sporting event, I’m not likely to turn it off and log on to fill out a “29 dimensions of compatibility” questionnaire.
Why do you think eHarmony is advertising on ESPN? Smart move or waste of money?
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Sometimes an ad is just an ad, and sometimes you screw up in ways that will resonate for a long time. My mother still talks about one particularly awful promotion: a local department store which, at the height of the 1968 riots, ran ads to alert customers that while their downtown stores had to close, their suburban stores would remain open for business. Every other department store in the region closed down in honor of Martin Luther King.
Even though the company changed ownership, my mother didn’t set foot in their stores for over 35 years.
Now comes Acme Markets, which just ran a promotion under a Black History Month banner that includes discounts on corn bread, collard greens, and grape soda. What were they thinking?
Well, at least this should lay to rest all discussion about whether we still need Black History Month.
What ads have cost companies your business? If a company later regained your support, how did they do it?
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I love billboards, and not just because dozens of South of the Border ads have given me and millions of other drivers cheesy entertainment while driving up and down I-95.
