There are many forms of marketing and like any business, you need to stand out.
Running the same boring ad will not catch the attention of audiences anymore.
I like to change my ads depending on the audience and the medium.
As many of you know I run a chain of successful Laundromats. When was the last time you heard or saw an ad for a Laundromat? I have run a variety of ads and continue to explore new avenues.
I use radio ads a few times a year for short bursts to stay in peoples minds. This may be during Spring Cleaning, Holidays or other special days.
The radio station I work with most is a Rock station. Occasionally we run a few ads that are somewhat “Typical” announcer type ads. But at other times we like to switch it to something that really gets the audience’s attention.
Last Valentine’s Day I paid $5 to a guy on Fiverr.com to do a voice over for me.
Let me set the scene of when I first heard the ad on the radio…. I was driving home from the store and enjoying some Godsmack, I believe it was 1000hp
(If you really want the full effect watch the video and then play the ad..)
Now bring on the Washin Golden Springs Coin Laundry ad…..
Personally, I almost drove off the road I was laughing so hard. The switch between the two was smooth and sudden.
This type of transition is called a pattern break. There are many forms and you may see a few (intentional and unintentional) in some of my videos.
The idea of the pattern break is to make your audience stop and think about what you did or said as it was unexpected.
I was watching the explanation in one of the online marketing courses I was taking.
During a Webinar, the host stopped what he was saying mid-sentence and asked…..
“Do you smell popcorn? I definitely smell popcorn and now I’m hungry. Sorry, what was I saying?….oh Yea…..” and the Webinar continued.
The Webinar comment bar had been quiet and he figured he might be losing his audience. After the popcorn question, there were all kinds of comments from others that said they smelled popcorn as well, or they were hungry and other comments.
The point being he had interrupted his pattern and caused his audience to rethink what they had heard and become engaged again.
This was the effect we were looking for and found with the radio ad.
And actually, it gets attention to my ad, the next ad, and the radio station.
Listeners that had the radio on and were ‘listening” but not really paying attention would have stopped and wondered if the station had been changed, they focused on my ad and then the next spot on the radio became valuable as well as the audience tried to determine if they had to adjust their radios.
Pattern breaks can be subtle or dramatic.
Apply this technique in some of your advertising methods and see what works. You may not be able to get a Barry White commercial on a Rock station but it never hurts to ask.
Now it’s time for popcorn…
Ken
