How hard are your ad dollars working?
May 3rd, 2007
I took a short road trip up to Charlotte, NC last week to connect with my mom who was on a southeast tour with her senior singing group from my hometown, Dallas. Yes, us Jones’ are a multi-talented bunch.
So I found myself in a Southern Baptist church with a Southern Baptist preacher who – interestingly enough – talked about branding.
He stared off his talk by throwing out taglines and had the congregation yell out the corresponding company. Which ones did he choose?
Always low prices.
Expect more. Pay less.
It’s all inside.
We get it.
And, of course, Just do it.
But you know what? The congregation stumbled on all of them except Nike. All those ad dollars. All those “impressions” and campaigns. All those media buys. And that target audience didn’t have a clue as to the difference between Wal-Mart’s tagline and Target’s.
I had to smile a little. Sure, taglines are important to a point (and sometimes to a fault). But they aren’t going to solve anything. That’s the easy stuff. There’s gotta be some substance there besides a clever tag. A conversation.
When will the big boys learn that?
P.S. The other interesting thing the preacher said was when he was talking about evangelism and how it’s the spreading of good news. That’s a cool way to look at customer evangelists - not as those who are out shouting from the rooftops about your company, product or service, but those that believe they are spreading the good news of their love.
Other posts by Spike.
Steve Mitchell says:
The big boys are in their comfort zone. Customer conversations as a function of viral ideas is new thinking and whats new to the big boys is risky. They’ll get it eventually but it may be too late for some.
Great post! I just discovered you guys blog. Say hi to Bryan Martin for me.
May 4th, 2007 at 10:09 amBecky Carroll says:
Great post! To me, it says companies that are trying hard to get customers to relate to a tag line or even a “brand promise” are missing the opportunity. Building mindshare, and ultimately relationships and share of wallet, takes doing business differently!
I also love your comments about evangelism. Customers that have had great experiences with companies do indeed spread the “good news”. Great perspective!
May 5th, 2007 at 10:13 amEduardo says:
Interesting….it reminds me of a preacher in our town who use humor on his church sign to make the big sale (get us sinners inside) you can see it here…
http://www.reddeerblog.com/2007/04/when-student-is-ready.html
Truthteller site
May 7th, 2007 at 5:28 amhttp://www.reddeerblog.com
Spike says:
Steve, I think that comfort zone is shrinking by the day, eh?
Great point, Becky. Relationships is where it starts. And THAT starts with a conversation.
May 7th, 2007 at 6:34 am