Even If You Don't Succeed, People Will Remember Your Company!
Advertising is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to a business. Good advertising can make you the next Bill Gates or Sony, while bad advertising can make you the next Pet Rock. The last thing that you want to see is your products being offered at the local dollar store after you have run the company under. While the concept of advertising alludes most people, it is realitively simple. It is the simplicity that makes it so complicated. Here are a few words of advice, but remember; in advertising there is no wisdom.
The real key to successful advertising is to be the most annoying that you can on a tv commercial or radio spot. I am sure that we can all bring up some ad from our childhood that really stands out. You may be thinking that you hated that one jingle on tv in your youth, but I'd put money on the fact that you remeber the exact name of the company and what they sold. Having a tune that sticks or a catch phrase will build brand recognition. I still remeber the law firm Jacoby and Meyers from when I was a child and I would be almost certain that they are the ones I would think of if I needed an attorney. No matter what the product or service, I can recite several phone numbers from radio or tv ads. Corky's pest control here in San Diego is probably not the best in the business but they sure are the biggest because people remember their jingle and phone number.
One other little trick in the "ad biz" is to sell to kids. If you run your spot during saturday morning cartoons, kids will remember these things. Children naturally want to help, so when mom and dad need something that you offer, they make your sales pitch for you. Why else do you think lawyers and pest control and several other companies advertise on Cartoon Network and during kid's shows. They realize that the kids aren't going to hire them, but they sure will sell them.
Local sporting events are another way to get noticed. Many different teams (all of them I can think of) love to give things away to the first so many fans. Every one of these has a company's name and logo written right on it. This allows you to have people become walking billboards for the price of a hat. These are relatively cheap and you get people to want to wear your logo all over the country, some are even global travellers. They will also remember your company because they loved the freebie, or even if they hate it. Even if the people walk around saying "I can't believe how dorky that thing that [your company here] gave away was." They now know your company logo, name and product by heart. Even if they don't like the give-away, they remember you and link you to their favorite sports team. This type of association is priceless.
Comedy is a huge seller. How many comercials have you seen years ago that you still tell the jokes from today. I will never forget one Canadian salmon company's commercial. It was a Matrix style kung-fu fight between a man and a bear for a salmon that the man caught. I saw that comercial about 10 years ago and I still tell people about it to this day. If you can make a memoriable joke, people will be telling thier grandkids about your company.
The big thing is to be memorable. Whether you connect with people on a humorous level or on a common sports team level, you made a connection and can soon expect that customer base to greatly expand. Everyone loves free and funny, people remember annoying, and kids will sell anything. These are the keys to a good advertising campaign. No matter whether you run tv ads or radio spots, you can become a huge success if you just sell your product in a way that people remember. You can even hand out a flyer for free coffee on a street corner and people will remember who bought them that drink if you just put a logo on it.