A Merry Christmas Message to Corridor Auto Dealers

by Chris Law

A Merry Christmas Message to Corridor Auto Dealers  

Very few industries felt the crunch of the recession harder than the automobile industry.  According to this article from the Automotive News at least one analyst predicts auto sales to rise above 14 million units in 2011.  While the others aren’t as optimistic all project solid growth, and virtually everyone gets to the same spot in their two year projections. 

The bright spot appears to be the likely loosening of credit markets.  That combined with projected job growth should spell good things for auto dealers (new and used) here in the corridor in the next few years.

Read more about it here....

Truth in Advertising

By Julie Hein

There’s a story out now about Dannon Co, international yogurt makers.  Remember all the ads with Jamie Lee Curtis talking about Activia and being “good to go” in the digestion sense?  And they said DanActive drinks could ward off colds and flu.  Well, apparently there is no medical information to back up those claims.  They’re in trouble now.  $21 million in fines and they must stop making the claims.

I’d hate to be in that marketing department right now.  Find the truth about why people buy your product or service.  What do you do better than anyone else, 99.99% of the time?  There’s your story.  Now find a compelling way to tell it, honestly.  We'd love to help.

The Joy of Giving

By Kellie Lala

In 2005 I traveled to Tanzania in East Africa for my first safari.  It was a life changing experience in ways that I never expected.  My trip leader and guide was Modest Bayo.  One afternoon, he asked the group if we would like to go to his school that he had started.  At that time there were just 75 students in elementary grades.  He had started the school in his own home.  I was so touched by that experience and the children that I met, I began raising money for the school thru my church.  Today, the school teaches over 375 students thru 7^th grade.  There are 90 boarding students as well. 

This journey has been a deeply rewarding and touching addition to my life.  Why do I tell you this story?  Because as we are in the holiday season, it is important that we all look at ways that we give back.  That can be in many forms; a cash donation to a favorite cause, volunteering at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, taking a freshly baked plate of cookies to a shut-in and the list goes on.  Marketers are always looking for ways to reach the consumer.  Take note of how some big companies are “giving back” (Target gives a specific % back to every community in which they have stores).    What will you do?  How will you bring joy to others this holiday season?

         

The Sweet Business of Branding

By Glen Gardner/Z102.9 and 1600 ESPN consultant

How important is your brand? Several years ago the importance was
graphically displayed to me during a tour of a chocolate manufacturing
company. This company (which will remain unnamed at their request) is
located on the East Coast and produces chocolate bars and other candy
under its own label and also produces products for other companies.
The person leading the tour said he mostly gets school-aged children
touring the facility and was happy that he had a chance to show some
adults through. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him I
helped companies with their marketing and messaging. He looked me in the
eye and said, "In that case I'm going to show you something we don't
usually show folks who tour the plant." He said we were going to see
something called the "label room."

After touring the various parts of the plant that mixed chocolate and
formed it into bars, Santas, rabbits and other confections, he stopped
in front of a door that read "label room." He opened the door and there
were boxes stacked floor to ceiling with labels on all the shelves. The
labels were the outside wrappers for chocolate bars produced by the
company. He said this room is where the same chocolate bars get labeled
and then shipped to the various companies that wanted their own
private-label candy bars.

The tour guide picked up one of the bars that had a Dean and Deluca
wrapper. He picked up another that had a wrapper for a supermarket chain
out east. He said, "You see these two bars. They are exactly the same.
They are the same chocolate and the same weight. But the Dean and Deluca
sells for about $10 and the one you can pick up by the register in the
supermarket sells for about $2." Then he said, "Isn't that just the
darnedest thing?"

Your brand does matter matter. In this case it allows Dean and Deluca to
sell a product for five times what another retailer could ask. It's the
same exact product, but someone is willing to pay five times as much for
it because of the brand.

Think about your image and your brand. Would you rather be Dean and
Deluca, or discount your product by a factor of five because no one
perceives the added value?

The most effective way to brand is to repeat your message electronically
and make sure you repeat your value proposition. It can be a very sweet
deal for you!

".....which means...."

By Jill Dennis

Features and Benefits.  Isn't this the first thing you're taught in Sales 101?  Yet, the art of translating the feature into a benefit is often lost in advertising.  We assume that the customer has a level of understanding that they don't have.  We assume the information we're trying to relay is common knowledge.  And then, because we assume, the customer is not able to clearly see the benefit of the product we are trying to sell.

So, how can we guard against making statements about features without showing the benefit?  Well, in Roy Williams' book "The Wizard of Ads", he talks about his friend who trained himself to silently add the words "which means" to every statement he used to talk about the features of the product he was selling.  The result was that he constantly reminded himself to translate the objective, intellectual features of his product into the meaningful, desirable benefits they represent.  He goes on to give an example.  If a salesperson were to tell you that the car you're looking to buy has a V-8 engine and you'll love it.....most likely, that will mean nothing to you.  But if the salesperson instead says, "This car has a V-8 engine, which means it will last longer because it doesn't have to work as hard as a smaller engine.  You'll also have the power to pass in traffic, and most important, you'll have the acceleration to get out of the way of traffic accidents before they happen."    

Learn to translate features into the language of the customer, whose only question is, "What's in it for me?"  The customer will hear you when you speak their language.

Radio's Future

By Kellie Lala

We all hear it.  Those new buzz words around social media.  There is much hype and excitement about these new ways to communicate with friends, relatives and even your customers.  Heck, I have been in the radio business for over 18 years and there are always new things to learn, know and use. 

I am excited about the role of traditional broadcast (Radio and TV) in the new media mix.  Prospects and clients tell  me all the time how effective “word of mouth” advertising is.  Yes, I agree that it is a powerful tool because it is like a personal recommendation and it’s free.  I go on to say that radio is like “word of mouth on steroids” because it reaches thousands upon thousands of ears each and every day and you control that message.  Social media is much like that as well.  People telling their friends how happy they are with a product, service or experience.  They can tell a few hundred people with the push of a button.  

A new September 2010 study by Cone, a division of the Omnicom Group , reveals that being a business that wants to attract followers or friends on social media is not that easy.  Their study says “Even as new media adoption explodes-up 48 % from 2009-loyal followers can be hard to come by for companies trying to reach consumers online.  With millions of the world’s brands a click away, new media users still choose an average of only 4.6 companies online, making this the most difficult way for a company to gain access.”    

While other traditional media struggles, radio and TV are becoming an even more important way to market and communicate to your prospects for many local advertisers.  Have a presence with social media, just don’t put all your eggs in that one basket.  There is a lot of competition to be one of those 4.6 “friends”.     

THE POWER OF RADIO

By Kim Peterson

The voice is an amazing tool.

If used properly a voice can turn someone’s mood from sad to joyful. It can also irritate you like nails on a chalkboard.  The right voice and message can mesmerize you and make you forget what you are doing - like just the right song with lyrics that take you back to a forgotten moment in your past.  The right voice and message can even convince you to stop by Hardee’s to buy some hand-dipped chicken strips that are available for a limited time only.   

Listen to the deep voiced movie trailer announcer and you can understand what I mean.  They try to leave an emotional audio imprint on your memory in hopes you will spend big bucks at the box office.  This is the same subliminal effect that radio can create.

It’s not just the timing and quantity of ads in the radio campaign you need to think about when advertising.  More importantly, it’s the message. You need the best creative production possible with messaging that speaks to the customer’s perspective, captures their attention, and helps them solve a problem. 

This brings me back to my last blog “Watch out for advertising clutter.”  My client was accustomed to advertising a laundry list of items in his commercials.  A trip to his store by our creative director, Mo, resulted in a beautifully written commercial message that was simple, captured attention, and was ultimately more effective than packing as many details as possible into 30 seconds. Combine the right voice with the right message and you’ll create the emotional attachment that sure to be a winner.    

Get the best creative production possible.  Don’t spend your hard earned money on a radio advertising campaign that falls short because the message isn’t one that leaves an emotional audio imprint.

Did you know that what comes through our ears stays in our minds for nearly five full seconds before it begins to fade? Whatever enters your eyes is gone in less than a second. Radio is such a great way for people to hear your message because the mind processes the message even when you aren’t listening.