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Finding Ad Inspiration
Gain a competitive advantage by studying your competitors' advertising.
Q: I'm opening a new business, and I'm wondering where to get my ideas
for advertising. Would it be best to pretty much do what my competitors
are doing?
A: For ad placement, yes! Study the competition with booming businesses—the
ones that have been around for a long time. Keep track of what TV programs
and radio stations they're on and the location and size of their print
ads and outdoor billboards. Whatever they're doing is working, which
means they're reaching their/your target audience.
But when you're deciding what message you want to send and how to deliver
it, rely on your own instincts. Trust yourself to develop a distinctive "look" to
your advertising. Remember that it was your own individuality and unique
vision that made you open your business in the first place. So have confidence
in your concepts, and don't be afraid to make a mistake. No one is perfect,
but your wacky/serious/straightforward/odd ideas might turn out to be
very successful. Some of the best creative work can be found in trashcans
at advertising agencies because clients are afraid to try something new.
Besides, trial and error is the only way to determine what works best.
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K-Mart dumped its famous Blue-Light Specials and have now brought them
back. Borden advertised Elsie the Cow until we felt like she was grazing
in our backyards, then they all but retired her, and then brought her
back. Mr. Whipple squeezed toilet paper on TV, then disappeared; after
a while he popped up and squeezed more toilet paper. These are all memorable "gimmicks" designed
to deliver a message/brand to us, and they were so powerful that they
stayed in our minds even through the times when we weren't seeing them.
That is remarkable!
Resource Guide
Learn the secrets to creating a lasting impression with your ad in Hey,
Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Adsby Luke Sullivan.
Leave your competitors in the dust with Differentiate or Die: Survival
in Our Era of Killer Competitionby Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin.
Make your commercials unforgettable by breaking away from the "normal" look
of your industry's ads. It's the only chance you have of breaking through
the clutter of big-budgeted competitors. For instance, most diet commercials
show before-and-after shots of women who have lost weight, while car
commercials show vehicles traveling at high speeds up mountains or shooting
around narrow, curvy roads. In that game, the companies with the biggest
budgets win, because they get to run their ads the most. The smaller
companies end up simply reminding people that they need to shed a few
pounds or buy a new car, because when it's time to actually make the
weight-loss call or visit the dealership, the companies that ran the
most ads are the ones remembered.
If you can't outspend them, outsmart them. Ask your media reps for input,
especially your radio reps-I have always found them to be the ones who
most often assimilate into ad agencies during their careers. Tell several
of them what you can do that your competitors can't (are you faster,
cheaper, have better quality-you'd better have something!), then turn
them loose to develop some creative ads for you. You won't necessarily
have to use those ads, but you just might want to!
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