Activia. Do you really sit around with a bunch of girlfriends and talk about how a creamy, delicious yogurt helps with your digestive system? And, do you sing about it afterward? Absolutely not. You may have a close friend who is your travel buddy and you may laugh about your eclectic collection of tums, because you both like to eat hot sauce in foreign countries; but I would have to say that would be the extent of it. And, you certainly do not sing about your Tums collection/tummy problems. There are two things Activia does right however. First, they advertise during mealtimes which apply to anyone experiencing such issues, but there is another way you can look at it. I personally do not want to shove more food down my throat if I am already having some problems. Second, the tune is catchy and memorable. Something to think about when it comes to marketing. Unfortunately, I cannot get it the Activia tune out of my head.
Poligrip or diet toothpaste commercial? I highly recommend if you see this commercial, that you turn it off halfway. It starts out with a very overweight woman, somewhere in her early 50’s talking about how much she loves to eat. There is quite some detail here. Then, mute her or not. A doctor pops on and starts talking about Poligrip. If you had the sound off, you would think this is the latest diet gimmick on the market, a.k.a., diet toothpaste. Since Poligrip does have brand recognition (a good thing in marketing), you would do a double take because if you had the sound on you would think it was a diet commercial. My point? Don’t get too long-winded with the blah-blah, because your audience will miss the point of your marketing message, television commercials or not.
The Amberen Affect. The Amberen product is advertised as a pill to overcome menopause and weight gain. The obnoxious radio commercial ‘I heard the other day didn’t mention menopause, but featured a woman leaving a 20 minute message on a supposed “girlfriend’s voicemail babbling about her weight loss. First, do you do this to your friends? I personally would not babble about anything that long on anyone’s voicemail. Maybe if you had something urgent and needed to leave details, but for the most part I don’t call girlfriends and spend 20 minutes leaving a message about my period, my dog’s bowel movements … you get the point. This commercial had me thinking about leaving messages in the business world in general. Here are two do-not-dos: Do not leave a message and say, “Hey – its Chris call me back.” I get this often and I A. Do not know what company Chris works for, B. Really have no idea who this person is, and C. Have no idea what Chris wants. What comes to mind is that this is someone trying to sell me something, which does not get on the priority list of returned phone calls. The other is “The Aberen Affect”. The babbling nonsense for 20 minutes, which really does not have a clear point, but simply a brain dump of info. My point? I recommend leaving who you are, what you do and the point of your call. Short, simple and to the point.
