They paid for a custom jingle that is meant to reinforce a single important message, both at the beginning and at the end of the spot. The important message? “Call today, Lasik today.”
Yes, that’s important — but only to Lasik, not to the targeted listener. They should be reinforcing the results that Lasik promises you.
Toward the end of the spot the announcer says, “For great vision tomorrow, call Lasik today.” That would be an excellent message to reinforce in a jingle.
The opening line is fine. Delivery is pure radio announcer-y, which is a shame. (As always, we can’t assume the VO talent is to blame. That might be exactly the kind of delivery the director wanted.)
But then he immediately tells people to call Lasik BEFORE he gives people a reason to call. (The reason is the “free consultation,” but he gives the reason AFTER telling you to call.) And he gives the phone number long before anyone could possibly want it.
“Our experienced surgeons” — That really sets them apart from their competitors who advertise, “Because our surgeons have never done this before, your eyes will help some beginner learn how to do it right.”
“$28 per month, per eye, subject to qualification”
Boy, does that make them sound like shlockmeisters.
The #1 objection Lasik needs to overcome is Fear. The only way to overcome the Fear objection is with Trust. Would you trust your eyes to someone who says, “$28 per month, per eye, subject to qualification”?
And I can’t wait to hear the qualifications: “Limit 3 eyes per customer. Eyes must be in-skull at time of procedure.”
One of the funniest movies you never saw is Larry Gelbart’s MOVIE, MOVIE. Joey Popchik wants to become a lawyer, but his sister is going blind. The only way to save her vision is with an operation that will cost $25,000 — “That’s $12,500 per eye!” I laughed out loud at that line, it was so outrageous. But “prices start at $688 per eye” is not, apparently, too ridiculous for a Lasik commercial.
After giving their numeric phone number twice, they reveal they have a “vanity” number: 877-WOW-2020.
HERE COMES THE CLUE TRAIN: If you use a vanity number in your commercial, use only that vanity number. Giving it both numerically (all numerals) and alpha-numerically (combination of letters and numerals) is what we in the advertising biz call “788-743.” That’s 788-743: S-T-U-P-I-D.
What Is This Commercial’s Core Message?
(The Core Message is the one thing you want the targeted listener to hear, to understand, and to remember.)
Free consultation?
Experienced surgeons?
$1,000 off?
See if you’re a good candidate for the procedure?
THE CLUE TRAIN RETURNS: A successful radio commercial has only one Core Message.
What Is This Commercial’s Call To Action?
What one specific action do they want the targeted listener to take? Is it to…
“Call for a free consultation”?
“Call to get $1,000 off”?
Visit “an office near you”?
What Is This Spot Actually Trying To Sell?
The free consultation. That’s the first step in Lasik’s selling process.
Therefore, the entire commercial should have one specific goal: to get you to call for the free consultation.
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When a Lasik place lists a “per-eye” cost, that’s an immediate red flag. But that’s good to know just in case I decide to get one eye zapped, and not the other.
In hospitals, when a surgeon is supposed to, say, amputate a leg, they put a big red “X” (or some other hopefully hard to miss sign) on the leg to be operated on.
If you decide to have only one eye done, presumably first they’ll paint a big red “X” on your eyeball.
“$28 Per Eye” is obviously a marketing ploy to make it sound less expensive than it really is. For those who get over the fear of the procedure, the second biggest obstacle is COST. I agree that the listener should not be looking for the cheapest deal for eye surgery, but high cost is a still a major concern, which keeps many people from having this very expensive procedure. Should that never be addressed?
If there is a large percentage of prospects who would have the procedure if only it were less expensive — and I’m sure you’re correct, that “Cost” is a major obstacle for many who otherwise would opt for the procedure — it would make sense to address and overcome that objection.
But not by sounding like the cheesiest of used car dealers.
To effectively address “Price,” you’d need to do two things:
1. Make overcoming that objection the focus of the entire commercial.
2. Build value. Instead of trying to convince people it’s cheap, show them why they really can’t afford NOT to have the procedure.
Perhaps I can create an example of that in a future blog post.
$28 per eye. Who’s their spokesperson? Peter Faulk??