Advertising Archives - Page 3 of 6

COPYCATS ARE AMATEURS

September 11, 2013 by Scott Flood

Ever tried to be cooler than a teenager? It just doesn’t work. By the time you hear and learn the meaning of the latest expression or newest tidbit of slang, it’s ancient history. The first time you try to use it in front of said teenager, you’ll get a withering look that will add decades to your age.

The same holds true for advertising concepts. When a major national campaign captures the public’s interest, it’s usually because of an amazingly clever or innovative approach. Unfortunately, many company decision-makers are too lazy or unimaginative enough to come up with their own clever or innovative approach, so they simply copy the popular approach.

LESSONS ABOUT COPYWRITING FROM MY DAD, THE SALESMAN

July 24, 2013 by Scott Flood

I said good-bye to my father for the last time a couple months ago. His death wasn’t a surprise; his health had been increasingly poor for many years, and despite his doctors’ best efforts, his body just wore out.

Dad was a straight-commission salesman for nearly all of his adult life. In fact, he continued to sell well into his late 70s, when his health got in the way. He sold chemicals for industrial processes and maintenance. When a refinery needed to clean up after an explosion or a steel mill needed to degrease a rolling mill, he got the call. In his later years, most of his competitors were chemical engineering grads, but his customers placed more trust in his practical knowledge, despite the fact that he barely made it through high school. He was an extraordinary salesman, and that’s not just a proud son singing his praises — he received a constant stream of job offers right up until his retirement. (In fact, a salesman from a competitor once told Dad that his boss had instructed him to check the obituaries every morning, and if Dad’s name appeared, he was to target every one of his accounts. That’s praise, disturbing as it may be.)

WHEN IN ROME, ADVERTISE LIKE ROMANS

March 20, 2013 by Scott Flood

Many advertisers — even large national ones — seem to be completely unaware of the environments in which they place their advertising. I don’t mean that in terms of the desired audience; rather, it’s in creating ads that will work with the audience and environment.

Case in point was Greatcall, the national advertiser offering a medical response system (ala “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”). I found their ad on the back cover of the large-print edition of Reader’s Digest magazine. Given the demographics of the magazine — especially in its large-print version — the audience is well worth the extra money this company has shelled out.

SUCCESS STORY: ATTENTION TOWARD A SECONDARY MARKET

May 23, 2012 by Scott Flood

When you operate the largest hotel adjacent one of the nation’s top tourist attractions, you don’t have to do a lot to entice out-of-town travelers to visit. But what do you do during weekends, when the tourist trade isn’t quite so robust?

The Chicago Hilton & Towers Hotel, which sits at the corner of Grant Park, set its sights on the many suburbanites who travel downtown for concerts and other cultural attractions, and Scott Flood created a special tent card to catch their attention.

SUCCESS STORY: BLENDING THE OLD WITH THE NEW

April 18, 2012 by Scott Flood

Being an established business or organization can easily cut both ways. On the one hand, longevity can inspire confidence and respect. But on the other, it can easily saddle you with an image that’s old-fashioned and stodgy.

That’s a particular problem for community-based banks. While they may be the bedrock of their communities, many have been slow to modernize and embrace technologies that their aggressive big-city counterparts have promoted.

STOP! YOU’RE BOTH RIGHT!

March 14, 2012 by Scott Flood

Within the world of advertising and marketing, there are several subgroups of professionals. One of those groups is the so-called “creatives” — the writers, graphic designers, and art directors who come up with ideas for communications tools and then execute those ideas.

Within the community of creatives is an unending debate about whether design or content is more important. It shouldn’t surprise you that writers tend to advocate for content, while designers and art directors focus on the importance of design. I’ve listened to more of those arguments than any person should be expected to bear.

HOW TO WRITE A BETTER RADIO COMMERCIAL

February 22, 2012 by Scott Flood

The vast majority of people listen to radio to be entertained, informed, or a combination of the two. If you have to write promotional or public-service copy that will be broadcast, it’s important to keep those points in mind.

It’s also important to remember that radio doesn’t have a rewind button. In fact, that’s more important than most people who create radio announcements realize. With a print ad, a website, or a brochure, it’s easy for the reader to scroll back, glance back, or turn to a previous page if he or she misses a key piece of information. That can’t happen with a radio commercial.

SUCCESS STORY: GAS, NOT HOT AIR

November 30, 2011 by Scott Flood

You’re the largest natural gas marketer in the state, and the people you need as clients have never heard of you. What can you do to convince them of your size and expertise?

During the early days of energy deregulation, Proliance Energy — a joint effort of two of Indiana’s largest utilities — quickly established itself by offering purchase expertise to commercial and industrial customers. Their success at keeping a cap on what those customers would have to pay for natural gas ballooned the company into the state’s biggest. But name recognition was still minimal.

SUCCESS STORY: FRIES WITH THAT?

November 23, 2011 by Scott Flood

You’re opening your 25th bank branch in a location that isn’t very visible from the road, in an area that’s already saturated with competitors, and far from your other offices.

Still, Cragin Federal Bank wanted its grand opening to be a huge success in terms of traffic and money. The bank set up a cross-promotion agreement with a local McDonald’s franchisee. Using that tie-in, Scott Flood and Ace Art Director Mike Reiser created what became the bank’s most successful promotion, called the “Great Savor Grand Opening.”

SUCCESS STORIES: DIRTY LAUNDRY

November 16, 2011 by Scott Flood

It’s hard to get excited about dry cleaning. So how can you convince potential customers that your approach to what they see as a commodity service is different?

Morellis Cleaners was a new chain that took dry cleaning to a new level. Forget the images of steamy, stinky roomfuls of strange machinery and employees who looked like they’d been steamed for hours. The company had attractive spaces staffed by knowledgeable employees who took time to educate customers about dry cleaning.