Monthly Archives: November 2018

GREAT Ads Start With…

Nobody, and I mean nobody, listens to your stations for the ads.  The trick is, making people “HEAR” the ads!  Unless your listeners hear the ads and have an emotional connection, (sometimes logical), the ads won’t work, period!

So, how do you win in advertising?  It starts with having a strategy….“What does the business want to be known FOR”?  Then, you write stories, interesting, funny, unique stories, that speak to the strategy!

Why are GEICO, Farmers Insurance, and Progressive ads remembered so well?  Two reasons mainly, they have great strategies and they tell stories.

Each company has their own strategy that appeals to different people with a different set of wants and needs.  You can’t be everything to everyone!  GEICO is low prices, “15 minutes could save you 15% or more”.  They never talk about how good their insurance plans are.  Farmers’ strategy is that they pay your claims, even the crazy ones, “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two”.  And how could we forget about Progressive?  Flo and friends are cute, funny and unique.  Their slogan(s) can be somewhat hard to remember as they change from time to time, “Name your own price” or “Think Easier – Think Progressive”, but their strategy remains steadfast.  You can name your own price, and they are the place to package all your insurance together.

Are you talking strategy to your clients?  Are you telling them the truth?  And the truth is, bad ads don’t work very well, even on the best radio stations. But GREAT stories can turn little known companies like the Government Employee Insurance Company into a GIANT, like the itty-bitty, teeny-weeny Gecko called GEICO!

Start with strategy, find out what your client’s business strategy is.  If they don’t have one, help them create one.  Then write stories that speak to the strategy and you will have success. The better the strategy, the better the story… the better the RESULTS!

Everyone LOVES a good story!

If you’re interested in learning or training your team on how to write better ads THAT WORK, let’s talk.  We have a workshop designed specifically for this.

“I know a thing or two about writing ads because I’ve seen a thing or two.”

Be a Part of the Solution, Not the Problem!

Starting this Friday (now Thursday), the biggest shopping days of the year begin and your clients, particularly your retail clients, are scared to death. It’s not J.C. Penny, Best Buy or Walmart that scares them. Today, it’s Amazon and the many thousands of other online minions that are trying to gobble up their customers and rain on their holiday shopping parade.

Is there anything you can do about it? Yes, in fact, there is!

First, DO NOT buy on-line yourself, unless you cannot buy it at a “brick and mortar” store. Lead by example and share this with your team. We should never tell our employees where to buy, but you can encourage them and show them the impact it can and will cause. In advertising sales, we rely on the “brick and mortar” stores to make our living. If we personally don’t “walk the talk” and support them, how can we honestly ask those clients to spend with us?

Secondly, one of the most powerful things I have ever heard came from my lifelong mentor, Don Jacobs. Don ran what he referred to as TOMA Branding Ads for his group of radio stations which covered topics on advertising, business, and life. The most powerful one he ever wrote was titled “Buy Local”, and he ran it during the holiday shopping period. In a nutshell, the ad asked the listeners of his stations to buy local instead of buying online. He outlined why it’s important to our community and our local businesses.

Do you think the local business owners appreciated him and his stations for this message? They didn’t just appreciate it…they absolutely LOVED it!  Finally, someone (this group of radio stations) was standing up for them and asking people NOT to buy online, but instead, support their local businesses.

It’s not too late to write and produce this powerful message and run it in your market. Like Don, you too will be a Hero!

Don has graciously offered to give you a free sample of one of his “Buy Local” ads. If you’d like to take advantage of this, click here and we’ll get you a copy ASAP.

The Story of Bob’s Tire Store

TOMA/Branding is still King!

Let’s pretend that you walked out to your vehicle this morning and noticed you had a flat tire!  *$#*@!#&!! … And, it’s not just flat, it’s ruined!

If you’re like most people, your next step would be to go to the internet and search one of two things; 1) Tire stores in (your city) or 2) a specific name of a tire store you are familiar with, like Bob’s Tire Store.

Our ENS Media TOMA surveys, conducted in over 260 markets, continue to prove a couple things;

  1. Approximately 64-75% of people will click on a business they are FAMILIAR WITH before clicking on a business at the top of the page they are NOT FAMILIAR WITH (only 3%).

  2. Approximately 72% of people are very likely to use those businesses which come to mind first.

Internet marketing guru Seth Godin says, “It’s better to be sought than found”.  In other words, if you’re Bob, you’re hoping that people search specifically for “Bob’s Tire Store”, but, if they search “tire stores in (your city)”, your hope is that people know you and have an emotional connection with you so you have a greater chance of getting their business.  If not, the business is up for grabs.  Kind of sounds like the old Yellow Pages, or as we refer to it, the “Directory of Ineffective Advertisers”.

The need to have a strong brand name, or TOMA, isn’t going away. In fact, as the internet, smart speakers, voice-activated searches and purchases become more popular, the need to have TOMA will become even more important.  “Alexa, connect me with a tire store”, or “Alexa, call Bob’s Tire Store”.

Do you think the businesses you work with need to continue to build TOMA?   Siri, Cortana, and Alexa think so!

If you would like to learn more about our TOMA Surveys and Seminars and how they can help grow your local direct revenue in 2019 and beyond, contact me or give me a call and let’s talk!

It’s FINALLY Over, Hallelujah!!

Lessons Learned from the Political Advertising Season

I think I can speak for the entire U.S. population when I say, “Thank goodness it’s FINALLY over!” Even our Canadian friends, I’m sure, are tired of hearing all the negativity, bickering and hogwash. The only good thing I can think of, besides the extra revenue, is that there is much we can learn from political advertising.

First, you need to understand that it’s a different beast. It’s not just Branding nor is it just Direct Response advertising…it’s really a combination of both. Long gone are the days of shaking hands and kissing babies. Today, it’s all about mudslinging, name calling, twisting the truth and “he said/she said” propaganda!

But, one lesson that can and should be learned from the GOOD political campaigns is that they have a STRATEGY! All GREAT advertising campaigns, whether they’re for products, services, or politics, start with GREAT strategy. They absolutely know what they want to be “known for” and what they want to “accomplish” with their advertising and marketing.

We may not like their strategy, but in the political advertising and marketing world it works. I refer to it as “Negative Repositioning”, and it plays on the FEAR emotion. To make it work, it takes two things; lots of money and a lack of moral conscience! And in the political advertising world, all normal rules and ethics seem to be tossed out the window.

So, what is Negative Repositioning?  It’s simply a way to get you to vote AGAINST someone rather than voting FOR their candidate. It’s not necessarily to get you to like Candidate A over Candidate B, but rather to DISLIKE one more than the other. Keep in mind, neither of the candidates are going to be put on a shelf in a store where you can go in and buy one or the other, it’s a vote.  In the political world, the vote is all that matters. WARNING: “Negative Repositioning” should never be used to market a product or service!

The lesson you can learn from the political advertising seasons is how important “Strategy” is in your marketing campaign.  Know what your clients want to be “known for”, then write ad campaigns that speak to that!

Thanks for reading, and know that we won’t be talking politics for another two years! Hallelujah!

If you would like to learn more on how to create effective strategies and write better ad campaigns, let me know and we’ll talk!

Rick Fink

ENS Media

605-310-2062