When I drive down North Avenue on my way to the office each morning I make a point to look at a sign on the right side of the road. It sits in front of a modest building, nothing to write home about. The sign, however, contains a message that is usually clever or cute.
I find myself looking forward to seeing it, especially at the beginning of the week when it changes. Kind of pathetic perhaps, but it spices up my otherwise dull morning commute.
The saying on the board this week:
“A wise man is very good at Plan B.”
The sad part, I have no idea what this company does. I can’t even tell you the name of the business. I’m so distracted by these cute sayings that I don’t bother to look up at the building while I zip by at 45+ mph.
They do a great job at capturing attention, but fail to take it the necessary one step further that would make a passerby remember what they do, in the event that they need a service/product the company provides.
My advice to the company: Incorporate sayings or messages that pertain to your industry. Stick with the general idea, but also keep it relevant.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll look up at the building to find out what they do…
That is so true, I do that all the time with commercials, if they’re memorable we say “what were they advertising?” “doesn’t matter, it was hilarious!”. Which is interesting, because if I find myself disliking a commercial or it’s message I’ll make a point to see what they’re advertising to stay away from…
Loved the post cause it’s so true. A good example of this is a ski-gear shop in my town aptly called “The Ski Shop.” They’re known for having cute sayings on their sign, and recently did a great job of incorporating their theme. In response to the large volume of rain we’ve been experiencing in the Northeast lately, they’ve changed the sign to read “Imagine if this were snow.” Cute, creative, and relevant marketing strategy!
Thank you for your comments. After driving by several more times, I discovered the company does excavation work.
@Mark – Great observation. I find myself doing the same thing. I would rather pay $1,000 for a credit report than use freecreditreport.com due to their annoying jingle. Though I must admit I sometimes sing along.
@D – That is exactly the kind of thing I’d like to see this company do with their sign. Thanks for the example!
This week, the sign said:
“We don’t have H1N1, but we do have shingles!”
Cute and actually relevant because there is also a roofing contractor in the building. Looks like they got the memo.