Advertising: What's your point?
May 12, 2009
Saw this at Casey's General Store the other day. Forgive the iPhone pictures.
The bottom one is an ad for the Illinois Lottery and is the first one I saw. It says, 'Real People Win Real Money!' Then, just to prove their point, it shows four pictures of 'real' people, with the amount they won, ranging from $4,000,000 (Rodney) to $10,000 (Darell). The ads effect (or hopeful effect) is that you’ll say, 'Hey, I’m a real person, too.'
I don't play the lottery, except very occasionally. However, I caught myself thinking, 'What a lucky bunch of people. I wish I could win, too.' Or something like that.
The top ad is for a local radio group. It says, 'Thanks for Listening!' and then gives the three logos of their stations. Simple ad, easy to understand. But thoroughly a waste of time. What if you don't listen to their stations? I don't. There's nothing left for anyone who doesn't listen.
But even if you do listen, why should you care? The ad says "Thanks". Well, so did the cashier when I paid for my gas. Big deal.
There's one sure-fire way to improve this embarrassing ad. Give the reader, especially if they don't listen, a reason to tune in.
Here are some ways to improve the ads
* Highlight a contest coming up, especially if it revolves around a car/gas promotion.
* Use just one station per ad, and feature a band from the station's playlist
* Better yet, combine an artist and a station's DJ into an image (For example, a picture of the King of Spades, with the station's DJ's face on it. Tag it with Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face')
Any of these ideas (that I thought up in 10 minutes) would be better than that embarrassing, generic one.
The point is this: When forming your advertising, make sure it will answer the simple 'Who Cares?' test. If nobody cares, don't do it!
Andy
I don't play the lottery, except very occasionally. However, I caught myself thinking, 'What a lucky bunch of people. I wish I could win, too.' Or something like that.
The top ad is for a local radio group. It says, 'Thanks for Listening!' and then gives the three logos of their stations. Simple ad, easy to understand. But thoroughly a waste of time. What if you don't listen to their stations? I don't. There's nothing left for anyone who doesn't listen.
But even if you do listen, why should you care? The ad says "Thanks". Well, so did the cashier when I paid for my gas. Big deal.
There's one sure-fire way to improve this embarrassing ad. Give the reader, especially if they don't listen, a reason to tune in.
Here are some ways to improve the ads
* Highlight a contest coming up, especially if it revolves around a car/gas promotion.
* Use just one station per ad, and feature a band from the station's playlist
* Better yet, combine an artist and a station's DJ into an image (For example, a picture of the King of Spades, with the station's DJ's face on it. Tag it with Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face')
Any of these ideas (that I thought up in 10 minutes) would be better than that embarrassing, generic one.
The point is this: When forming your advertising, make sure it will answer the simple 'Who Cares?' test. If nobody cares, don't do it!
Andy
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