There's No "I" In Advertising

Um, actually, there are two of them. But that's not the point. The point is that when you advertise, you're not just selling yourself, you're selling your company, your message, your future... Hell, you're selling your destiny. Am I getting too heavy already? First paragraph and I'm talking about how together we can change your life? All right. I'll slow down.

I was talking to a potential customer of mine today. He runs a company that's part dry cleaner and part carpet cleaner. They service most of New Jersey and the Philly market (I'm a Mets fan, so guess which word in that sentence hurt me the most to write). They don't have a marketing budget. They survive through word of mouth and their website. Naturally, we talked about how radio could take that word of mouth and shoot it with some Jose Canseco-flavored steroids right into the butt of his company. (I didn't really use that analogy, but it's fitting, don't you think?) He was, and is, interested. The program we talked about had to work for him. Then he said something that bothered me: "I've been talking to a really well-respected marketing person. She told me to ask you if we could test for a week or two and see how it went."

Want to know my response?

Well, first I said that you don't "test" anything for a week or two when you're advertising, unless it's a Super Bowl ad that 50 million people (that's 100 million eyes, give or take a few pirates with patches) are going to see. On a local level, like in Northern New Jersey, you need to commit to a plan. To try this for "a week or two" and then that other thing for "a week or two" and then that third thing for "a week or two" isn't going to show you much of anything. Advertising is about frequency and consistency. It's that simple. Think McDonald's and Geico and Miller Beer. I can write this blog post and never write another. You think anybody's going to follow me? No. I need to keep at this, every week, every month, for years in order to get people to give this blog credibility. One post and out means I'm a guy who had a good idea but didn't know how to execute. Think you want to work with a guy like that? I don't.

There was something else I wanted to tell my new dry cleaner/carpet cleaner friend. This "well-respected" marketing person didn't really know what she was talking about. Did I have the guts? Actually, I did. But he interrupted with another question and we never got back to the subject of the well-respected person who, to me, doesn't know the most simple 2 facts about marketing and advertising:

Get Frequency
Be Consistent

It makes you wonder what the destinies are of the companies this person works for if she's giving out uninformed advice.

Now, for your song of the day: I'm a big Beatles fan. We play a lot of Beatles on WMTR (1250 AM here in Northern New Jersey). One of my favorite Beatles songs is "Hey Bulldog." I don't know why. It's just got a cool groove and John's sharp wit. So here, for your viewing/listening pleasure, is "Hey Bulldog."



Thanks for reading!
Dave

David Philp
Account Executive
WMTR-AM/WDHA-FM
Greater Media Broadcasting
55 Horsehill Rd. Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
ofc: 973-538-1250 x1377
e: dphilp@greatermedianj.com
fax: 973-538-3060