Look For The Rip Current & How It Will Improve Your Ad Program
If you’ve ever visited a beach, you’ve most likely seen the signs telling you to avoid the rip and what to do if you get caught in one.
For those who don’t know – a rip current is a stream of water that flows away from the shore and back out into the ocean. All that water heading to the shoreline has to go somewhere. Rip currents are formed by a break in the sandbar allowing the water to head back out to sea. It’s easy to get caught in one and you, like the water, will quickly be heading away from shore.
Generally speaking, you want to stay away from a rip current. Unless you just happen to have a nine foot long piece of foam wrapped in fiberglass.
Surfers will often look for a rip when paddling out as it helps get to the lineup with little effort. Think of it like a water-based conveyor belt. Depending on the strength of the rip, you might not even have to paddle at all.
The thing about most rip currents is that they’re easy to spot. They tend to stand out and look a lot different from the rest of the ocean. And so should you and your dealership.
In his book “Selling the Invisible”; Bill Bernbach spoke on the importance of creating an identity that is unique and positive. He told the story of a start-up company that was sold and netted the founders hundreds of thousands of dollars. The sale took place less than ten years into this firms’ existence. This company had no real estate, no tangible assets, no inventory and no repeat customers.
What this company did have was a strong, positive and unique identity that consistently delivered on its promise to customers. That single element proved extremely profitable to the founders.
As an automotive marketer, you need to understand that your customers are hit with hundreds of messages every day. In this environment, you cannot assume that prospects, or even long-time customers, know all about you. You must find a message that is different from everyone else, while strongly communicating your value proposition. In our competitive environment of “look-a-likes”, you must be able to add value to what you are offering.
Morris Hite (one of the greatest ad men) puts it this way: “There’s no secret formula for advertising success, other than to learn everything you can about the product. Most products and services have some unique characteristic… and the really great advertising comes right out of the product and says something about the product that no one else can say. Or at least no one else is saying.”
Rip currents are easy to spot.
Is your dealership?
