PC&D MAGAZINE
We couldn't miss your ad...
From Volume 24, Issue 8 - August 2000
Feature
Ads should be simple, well-placed.
by: George Akers
It all started with a bowling alley about a block from one of our Mr. Pride locations. The alley manager offered to put the Mr. Pide name, logo and a brief message on all the alley's score sheets, if we would split the cost with him.

The result was a score sheet with our logo in two of the four corners. The sheets also were done in a style called "half-tone" or "shading," where the entire background was covered subtly, but unmistakably, with our logo and the message "Ride With Pride In A Clean Car. Mr. Pride Car Wash."

Do you know the size of a bowling score sheet? They're approximately 12 inches by 18 inches! What amazed me even more is how many people bowl, how many leagues there are, and the number of hours alleys are open.

I was at the carwash when one of our customers came up to me and said, "I couldn't help but see your ad." Guess how many bowling alleys close to our wash I visited after that?

Find your customers

Our demographic also included golfers. Golf courses, including private, municipal and public courses, all have scorecards and are often looking to reduce the cost of producing them. Consider approaching your local courses and offering to share the cost of the scorecards in exchange for advertising your wash on them.

Just about any flat surface has the potential for advertising. I once had a meeting with a person selling advertising for an "in your face" type of program. It involved renting advertising space on restaurant and retail-store lavatory walls. The space being sold was right above the urinals, where people usually leave graffiti.

The material on which the advertisements would be placed was scratch resistant and washable, and the salesperson guaranteed people would see the ads.

The style and appearance of ads that had previously been placed in this medium were both tastefully and attractively done. I bought some space in a very nice restaurant that catered to many high-end business people and was located near one of our washes.

Again, the carwash personnel and I were inundated with customers remarking, "I couldn't help but see your ad."

Short and simple

We often were successful in our advertising campaigns because we kept the message simple, and the logo recognizable and uncomplicated. At Mr. Pride, we followed the "KISS" method - Keep It Short and Simple - whether we were doing a 14-foot-by-48-foot billboard or a coupon piece that was one-column-inch-by-two-column-inches.

Remember, the mind takes in only so much information in a short amount of time. If your information is brief and easy to understand, it will be remembered.

For example, one of our ads showed the side view of a dirty, white Olds 98 on a blue-black background. The car had a finger-written message on the side saying "Wash Me." In one corner we placed our logo, and in the other "Mr. Pride Car Wash."

Another ad showed a classic blue and white 1957 Ford Thunderbird, with a caption reading "Bird Bath" below it. We placed our name at the bottom of the billboard.

A third ad had a yellow 1964 Volkswagen Beetle. Its message: "Wash the Bugs Off." And again, we put our name, "Mr. Pride Car Wash," at the bottom.

Last, we had a plain white and gray background with the message "New Car -- $9.95" in the center. In the bottom corners were our name and logo.

All the billboards were 14-feet-by-48-feet and located on busy thoroughfares with fast-moving traffic. However, with eye-catching art work, and a few short words, you couldn't miss our ad.

George Akers is a carwash industry consultant, former partner in the Mr. Pride carwash chain and long-time contributor to Professional Carwashing & Detailing.

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