5-31-2013
Elmer Zubiate (Zoo-be-AH-tay) grew up embarrassed that his name was Elmer. After losing everything he owned in 2005, Elmer started a little HVAC company. Last year he decided to make the most of the Elmer thing. This is the 30-second spot he put on the radio:
There?s Elmer Fudd, Elmer?s Glue, and Elmer me, Elmer Zubiate of Elmer?s One-Hour Air Conditioning and Heating. We?ll be there within one hour of the time we promised you, or whatever you need is free. No charge. There?s no way you?re going to wait for us all day. Great prices. Fabulous service. Elmer?s One-Hour. Dial two one oh, thirty-three Elmer.
[JINGLE]
Two one oh, thirty-three Elmer
Last year One-Hour Elmer did $3.8 million, and he?s trending toward $6 million in 2013. We have every expectation that he?ll bag $12 million in 2015. Elmer tapped in to the four principal indicators of successful ads for 2013.
The most effective ads today tend to share the following characteristics:
1. Intimacy. The ads reveal the advertiser to be vulnerable and imperfect, but openly willing to admit it. This is the signal of a friend to a friend. We don?t hide our imperfections, or our insecurities, from people we trust.
2. Authenticity. The ads are unposed, occasionally even awkward. ?Polished and professional? comes across today as ?phony and pretentious.?
3. Pace. The ads employ a series of rapidly evolving mental images. Big things happen quickly. Big thoughts are compressed into few words.
4. Details. The ads don?t make vague claims or use ambiguous terms. Specifics are always more believable than generalities.
Richard Kessler is known around the world as an extraordinarily successful jeweler. Here are a couple of the 60s he?s currently airing:
Three quarters of a carat is a big diamond. It will take your breath away. And a matching pair will take away yours and hers.
Put three quarters of a carat on each of her pretty earlobes and then look over her shoulder when she looks into the mirror for the first time. You?re going to remember that face forever.
This is Richard Kessler, and sometimes I get lucky. Extremely lucky.
Today I?m going to share that luck with exactly 22 people. But before I continue, let me say, ladies, that you don?t have to have someone else buy these for you. You can buy them yourself.
I know that. And you?re going to want to. Because I?m talking about a matching pair of fabulous three-quarter-carat diamonds ? a carat and a half total ? for just thirty-nine hundred dollars. Badda bing. Badda bang. But I?ve only got nine pairs of those. Fortunately, I?ve got 13 more pairs ? just a tiny bit smaller ? for just thirty-four-sixty. Badda boom. Today is your lucky day.
Kesslers Diamonds. I?m Richard
Kessler.
[No location tag.]
Let me pause here for a moment to say that I?m not giving you this ad copy to use for your clients. I?m simply providing three concrete examples from which you can learn. All three ads are copyrighted 2012 by Roy H. Williams Marketing Inc.
I was head-over-heels in love. And I was poor. I saved up for three months before walking into that jewelry store.
I was nervous and excited ? and a little bit proud of myself. I walked out five minutes later, crushed and humiliated. I remember standing there on the sidewalk, looking at my shoes. The man behind the jewelry counter had looked at my shoes before he looked at my face.
He asked me why I was there.
I told him.
He asked me how much money I had.
I told him.
He rolled his eyes and said, ?Well, maybe there?s something we can do, but I don?t know....?
Some things stay with you forever.
And now you know why Kesslers specializes in engagement rings. [Determined now ? a little bit defiant.] No one at Kesslers ? no one ? will ever look at your shoes. Or your clothes. Or the color of your credit card. The man I met that day was all about diamonds and gold. Me? I?m about people and relationships. Diamonds ? even perfect ones ? are much less valuable than people.
I?m Richard Kessler, and I want to be your jeweler.
[Those are the last words. No location tag. No Web address.
Nothing.]
The story Kessler tells is absolutely true. No one can tell that story but him. Every person has a lifetime of powerful stories inside them. But how many advertisers have the courage to share something so intimate? In 2013, it will be all the successful ones.
Roy H. Williams is president of Wizard of Ads Inc. E-mail: roy@wizardofads.com
(6/1/2013 5:51:51 PM)
Roy, these are really great. You're a great believer in radio and what it brings to the advertiser...BUT why do your media buyers treat radio stations so poorly in the negotiation process? It seems there the two sides to your mouth and we only hear from one in public forums like this Sooner or later your clients will suffer as the local radio stations refer to them as toxic key accounts that they dread the annual negotiation process....and the spots are freely shifted to the edges of day parts
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