A Reader Asks:
It’s a constant challenge for us to write copy for car dealers and come up with something new and different. The usual approach these days is for a screaming guy to tell you all the reasons why people with bad credit should shop at a particular place. They all sound the same… and are obnoxious.
We have a client called “Courtesy Ford” that wants a new approach. The ideas that immediately came to mind were playing off the word “Courtesy.” We thought about using the “Politeness Police” going around to other fictitious car dealers and busting them for being rude, and then coming back to Courtesy and saying we couldn’t find any infractions there.
We also got out the thesaurus and came up with a bunch of phrases like agreeable, thoughtful, respectful… maybe offering a “politeness guarantee.” But we’re stuck as to how to proceed.
They’d like an ad with a :15 second donut to talk about specific deals. Any ideas you could throw my way would be much appreciated.
My Reply:
Although I’m sure you could come up with a series of cute commercials centered on “Courtesy,” you wouldn’t be doing the dealership a favor by airing them unless they truly are more courteous than the competition…which I doubt.
In reality, they’re probably no more courteous than other car dealers. So every time a potential customer experiences a less than courteous encounter with this dealer, they will remember this ad campaign and think, “Yeah, right.”
And even if they are more courteous than the competition, I have never heard of a customer who chose one car dealership over another because of the politeness factor. Customers choose car dealerships on the basis of price and trust.
Rather than base an entire campaign around a word in the client’s name, I would go back to the client and ask a series of questions designed to uncover a demonstrable advantage of buying a car from Courtesy Ford… their Unique Selling Proposition.
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lol courtesy ford in tampa? i suggest going with truth in advertising and going over the details about what ford is doing differently than the other car companies… also that ford is i believe the only automaker not about to be owned by the us govt! play on that! p.s. is this craig taylor, the jester??
Safety is big on peoples mind in cars, as is fuel economy along with, as Lenny said STABILITY of the company.
If it were ME, I would sell what it is about THOSE things that make Ford as a company and manufacturer stand tall, then remind them where they can get THEIR fantastic Ford product.
Then you say, well ….. what stops them from going to ABC Ford in *neighboring town 50 miles away* based on that ad.
Nothing at all.
They were probably going anyway. All your job is is to get them IN THE DOOR, nothing else. Too many times clients want you to give a laundry list of all the great things their company provides, when all you NEED are bullet points that won’t get lost in the mix to get them in the door.
It’s up to THEIR sales team to handle it from there.
tjk