This is one in a series sharing my admiration for the genius of Leo Burnett, who after years of studying is in my estimation the most creative ad man of the past century.
“Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.”
Mr. Burnett would be amazed at the volume of ‘information’ reaching consumers today – it’s mind-boggling. But without a doubt, well-designed Tier III messages clearly deliver the desired traffic by following his formula, beginning with good advertising ‘penetrates the public mind.’ Our ‘public mind’ is the shopper who intends to buy in the next 3-10 days. The objective is to elevate each shopper’s ‘belief’ in your store as the best choice to fulfill their ‘desires’. Great Tier III advertising achieves this only when clearly presenting the reasons to buy, buy this week, and buy from you. Are there hard and fast rules? One for sure and that’s the discipline to not mix Tier I and II into your Tier III message.
Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an advertising executive who created the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, Toucan Sam, Charlie the Tuna, Morris the Cat, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7up “Spot”, and Tony the Tiger.
He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
This is one in a series sharing my admiration for the genius of Leo Burnett, who after years of studying is in my estimation the most creative ad man of the past century.
“I have learned that any fool can write a bad ad, but that it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.”
Once again Mr. Burnett’s point is well-made and reinforces that responsibility starts at the top, no matter what business you are in. In my agency if a bad ad makes it outside our office, the accountability is 100% on my shoulders. The converse is also true in producing a great creative product. It is 100% my responsibility to employ trusted professionals capable of producing creative beyond my expectations or expertise. Does this mean I have to give up my Master of Micro-Management degree? Only if someone says, “Who hired that fool?”
Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an advertising executive who created the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, Toucan Sam, Charlie the Tuna, Morris the Cat, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7up “Spot”, and Tony the Tiger.
He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Since I am prone to sharing old sayings, this has to be a favorite of many of us: figures lie and liars figure. So let’s start out with some figures: 558 x .33 = 184.14. The 558 is the gallons of gas used in a year by the average driver, with the number being provided by no less than H&R Block – see the link. The .33 represents the 33 cents increase in gas prices year over year, with the figure provided by U.S. Energy Information Agency as of February 27th. So $184.14 represents the added cost faced by drivers at the pump – for a year. So if that figure is divided by the number of months in a year, the monthly figure is…$15.35. There are hundreds of ways to do the math and yes, it obviously takes a larger amount of money to fill the tank but an added $15.35 a month is not what I call a ‘bite’. This may be where you call me a ‘liar’, but just putting it out there.
You can jump on the ‘woe is me’ bandwagon that includes political candidates, talk-show hosts from the right and left, and an assortment of doomsday advocates from every walk of life. Or you can move forward and merchandise the ‘hot’ vehicles in terms of fuel mileage and bring traffic into your showroom today. If you have trained your sales team properly, there should not be any problem in clearly demonstrating the significant savings of nearly every vehicle on your lot. With warranty protection and no charge maintenance packages, those savings alone cover way beyond $15.35 a month.
No, don’t go with ‘woe is me’ but yes, step out and touch your market that is mentally positive in spite of our national news media and tired of that average of 10 year old vehicle! They will come to your showroom ready to buy, so sell them; if you don’t someone else will. And remember that figure – they drove their last car for an average of 10 years!
This is the third in a series on gas prices and how they affect automotive retail. View part one. View part two. View part three.
This is one in a series sharing my admiration for the genius of Leo Burnett, who after years of studying is in my estimation the most creative ad man of the past century.
“I have learned that you can’t have good advertising without a good client, that you can’t keep a good client without good advertising, and no client will ever buy better advertising than he understands or has an appetite for.”
This astute evaluation of the client’s role, needs and desires was no doubt a foundation of Mr. Burnett’s success. To me, this is clearly referring to establishing and maintaining a level of client/agency communication that is open, wide-ranging and mutually beneficial. The bottom line of quality dialogue is the highest possible ROI in regards to time, energy and money for everyone involved. As an agency, I feel our greatest responsibility is to focus on what we do best to best meet a client’s unique needs. When you establish this sense of mutual trust and personal respect in building a plan, the relationship will endure and grow.
Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an advertising executive who created the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, Toucan Sam, Charlie the Tuna, Morris the Cat, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7up “Spot”, and Tony the Tiger.
He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Automotive ad pro Jack Griffis told me about a dealer he worked with who visualized his market as “Joe and Gladys”. Every commercial they produced was crafted on the premise of how Joe and Gladys would respond. This made me think about how our 2012 market perceives the current gas price surge as compared with 2008, and there are two huge differences.
First, there is no comparison between the vehicles designated as ‘economy’ cars in 2008 and the 2012 models. When it comes to vehicle content and value available today – the Unique Selling Propositions [USP] – it is no contest: warranty protection is longer and more comprehensive, regular service and maintenance are now no charge, vehicles are available with Bluetooth and satellite and individual climate control and hands-free devices and GPS and the list goes on.
And when you read about the consumer’s still-confident mindset, now is the time to powerfully present the Tier III mantra: a reason to buy, a reason to buy today and first and foremost to buy from your store. Remember, it is the responsibility of Tier I and Tier II advertising to talk-up the USP and MPG so don’t let your message miss the mark: your hottest merchandise with an attractive price will generate traffic!
Here is a suggestion to help your sales team see beyond MPG to the USP. Pull a 2002 model off your used car lot and park it side-by-side with a 2012, then discuss the value advances in the past decade. And why compare vehicles with 10 years of difference? Because “Joe and Gladys” will most likely pull up in a 2002 model – the average age of today’s vehicle – and yes, they are ready to trade with you!
This is the third in a series on gas prices and how they affect automotive retail. View part one. View part two.
This is one in a series sharing my admiration for the genius of Leo Burnett, who after years of studying is in my estimation the most creative ad man of the past century.
“I have learned to respect ideas, wherever they come from. Often they come from clients. Account executives often have big creative ideas, regardless of what some writers think.”
This is why I admire Mr. Burnett – the creator of many of advertising’s most memorable campaigns was also a skilled listener. What a powerful admission: “I have learned to respect ideas wherever they come from.” In his famous “When to Take My Name off the Door” speech to employees in 1967, Mr. Burnett said remove my name “when you lose your humility and become big-shot wisenheimers….a little bit too big for your boots.” We do not have a Creative Suggestion Box in our office but I have learned when an employee asks if I have a minute to discuss an idea, they get my respect. And yes, as an account executive, I appreciate Mr. Burnett saying we are capable of ‘big’ creative ideas.
I’ll tell you about the next ‘big idea’ that you need to take advantage of on Monday in our March newsletter.
Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an advertising executive who created the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, Toucan Sam, Charlie the Tuna, Morris the Cat, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7up “Spot”, and Tony the Tiger.
He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
The tsunami that rocked Japan and eventually disrupted the entire retail automotive market occurred March 11th of last year, and will undoubtedly be remembered as the Big Blow of 2011. In my book, the Big Blow of 2010 is The Credit Crunch and for 2009 it could be The Bailout or is it The Subprime Mortgage Crisis that resulted from the 2008 Big Blow which was…I hope you get my point. There is not dealer I meet with who can’t produce yearly financial statements and show you some ‘car scars’.
So here we are in 2012 and judging from Internet headlines and network TV interviews with economic experts [generally from some ‘Institute’}, we have the first Big Blow of 2012: MPG VS FUGP! That’s right, miles per gallon versus fluctuating upward gas prices and yes there are other words to describe this petrol price problem. But it is what it is and the need for efficient and effective marketing is a necessity today as much as ever.
I wrote earlier about the resilience shown by today’s consumer – confidence is still high, and with the growing number of newly-created jobs it is not false hope. And just as we experienced in every FUGP moment, whether it was in 2008 or last year, the consumer will consider more economical transportation as a fallback. Now look out those big plate glass windows and take heart because you have what the buyers want; at the same time, consider if they are going to shop you or the competition. Stick to the plan, in fact, pump up the plan to promote hot merchandise. Absolutely trucks and SUV demand could diminish, but there will still be buyers who need those vehicles.
In my decade of experience, one truth is so rock-solid and I quote, “I have never seen a problem that could not be solved by increased traffic.” The baseline premise is clear, hot traffic solves cold merchandise.
This is the second in a series on gas prices and how they affect automotive retail. View part one.
