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MONDAY RADIO COMMERCIAL SMACKDOWN: Romano’s Macaroni Grill Ad Campaign

radio advertising expert

First, the commercial.

This is a well-intentioned attempt to sell by educating the consumer.

But a successful restaurant commercial gets the targeted listener to imagine eating the food. It immerses the listener in that particular restaurant’s dining experience.

This commercial doesn’t talk about the listener; it talks about “chefs along the Italian Mediterranean.”

Clearly the intent of this campaign is to reassure people that Romano’s Italian food doesn’t necessarily mean “heavy sauces” and “overpowering sauces.” But they don’t paint pictures of that message. They paint pictures of chefs along the Italian Mediterranean.

And the writing?

We’re told the chefs “expertly grill skewers of fresh seafood.” I suppose that would stand in sharp contrast to the rest of the world’s chefs, who incompetently grill seafood.

Grilling seafood actually isn’t difficult. Do those chefs grill seafood differently? In some special way? It certainly doesn’t sound like it.

Telling us the seafood is “expertly grilled” is like bragging that the tables at Romano’s are “expertly set.”

I applaud the attempt to sell by educating. But to educate, first you need to get the attention and the interest of the targeted listener.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Mike June 14, 2010, 5:11 pm

    In other words, don’t tell me about your grass seed — talk to me about my lawn!