First things first: our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by Hurricane Irene. There was a lot more impact on parts of Upstate NY and Western New England than expected, areas close to home for me here in Syracuse. Personally, my family was fortunate in a different sense: we vacationed the week before Irene on the Jersey Shore, another area that got hit pretty hard. We enjoyed a pretty dry, sunny week in the Wildwood Crest/Cape May area and it's there where we start today's advertising & marketing tale.
Seasonal vacation areas like the Shore really drive home the point on having an effective ad campaign. Think about it...the season lasts three or four months and the streets literally are full of prospective customers. Cars from Jersey, NY, PA, DE, CT, MA, MD, DC are in the parking lots of hundreds (maybe thousands) of motels, hotels and resorts. Most folks are there about a week, so as a business you don't have a lot of time to build a relationship with shoppers/diners/buyers who don't know much about you. You want them now! How do you do that?
Two part answer to the above question. First, use the media that hits customers where they are. Airplanes fly by the beach all day towing messages from amusement parks and restaurants. Limited opportunity so it's probably pretty pricey from an ad budget standpoint. Not many billboards -- interferes with the view. Everybody is listening to an iPod-like gizmo so forget about radio. We're all outside so forget about TV. I watched a man come into our hotel one day and refill a rack with stacks of brochures from all sorts of businesses in the area. And those racks are in every hotel, restaurant, drug & grocery store, gas station and more. My family probably picked up 20 to 25 of these; we used one coupon the whole week we were there. I'm glad I'm not a media buyer for advertisers in that market because I didn't see anything that looked like a sure-fire winner. I hope the locals have a better feel for it than an educated visitor like me.
The second part of the answer is easier. USP. I hit on this a couple of blogs ago. It's your Unique Selling Proposition...that which sets you apart from your competition. In summer vacationland, shoppers make decisions quickly on where to go, what to buy, where to eat. Businesses that point out great value and unique qualities that only they can provide -- and point them out clearly and concisely -- will garner the lion's share of the business. It's no different where we are. Look at the speed of everything today: computers, internet, smart phones and such. Shoppers everywhere are moving faster and making quicker decisions. Be sure your ad message helps them do that, and pushes your USP and value to the max!
We at the Scotsman want to help you develop your USP message. Contact us at info@scotsmanmediagroup.com. Thank you so much for taking the time today!
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