I Need New Tires

I NEED NEW TIRES

I parked next to Jason’s Ford F-150 in the parking lot. When I saw Jason a few minutes later, I said, “Not to bring up something so painful, but … you have really bald tires.” He said, “Thanks for reminding me” sarcastically. He said he’s been looking online for a set that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

I started thinking about that. If I needed new tires, where would I shop? I couldn’t think of one place that stood out among all the places that sell tires in my town. I could think of two. But neither of those two gave me a feeling of comfort or confidence.

What if your business is like that? What if nobody thinks of you when they need what you sell? That’s a branding problem. It’s because all of your ads are targeted towards the people who need you RIGHT NOW. So, your direct response ads are right there next to all of your competitions’ direct response ads. And still, nobody knows who to buy their tires from. You might have a sale that says buy 3, get one free, but so do ten other stores.

For me … I’m going to need new tires this fall or next spring on a Toyota 4-Runner. I don’t need the most expensive ones, but I would like a quality tire. And I’d like to know that I’m paying a fair and competitive price. If a tire store branded themselves with a good local radio ad campaign that spoke honestly and candidly about tires and good service, I would most likely REMEMBER that business when I needed to buy. I say “radio” because I like radio … and I don’t watch much live TV at all any more.

They’d say things in their ads like, “If you’re not a young kid with a hot car that needs the fanciest tires, you might want to see how we can get you a good tire that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Tires aren’t always very fun to buy. After all, they’re just tires, right?” And then the ads would continue on with a story about one of their customers who they helped in a special way. Or with something personal that made me feel like they understood me.

If you LOVE to talk about your business, then be the voice in your radio campaign. Help me trust you. Help me feel like you do everything just a little bit better than the rest. It’s the makings of a really great advertising plan.

Have a great day!

Duane Christensen

Non-Fat Advertising blog