If you drive through some of the southern states in the country, I guarantee that you will pass a billboard promoting a personal injury attorney named Alexander Shunnarah. He has a monopoly on the signs along every major highway. They’ve been sitting along the roadside for years. Next to his name and his photo is an 800 number. Every time I see one of his ads, I can’t help but wonder “Who calls an injury attorney from a billboard”? My guess is that it’s people who don’t have the resources to pay a retainer for a high-powered attorney and are willing to give up a large percentage of any awarded compensation if they win a case. I also wonder if any of Alexander’s clients actually meet him in person and when they do, if they recognize him from his decade-old photo. Self-aggrandizing or smart marketing? Either way, it attracts a certain type of client who would make the call from the billboard. Not everyone would – but I guess some do.
When I moved to New York City almost 30 years ago, there was a supermarket on the Upper West Side where every shopping cart in the store had the photo, name, and telephone number of one particular real estate agent. She had a byline with the promise of success for any homeowner looking to hire her. Every time I saw one of her ads, I couldn’t help but wonder “Who calls a real estate agent from a shopping cart”? I assumed it was appealing to people who wanted to hire a discount agent in order to pay a lower commission. I also wondered if any of these clients ever met her in person and when they did, if they recognized her from her decade-old photo. Self-aggrandizing or smart marketing? Either way, this attracted a certain type of client who would make a call from the supermarket.
This week, while driving into the city on the Long Island Expressway, I passed a fresh new billboard of a real estate agent promoting himself with a huge photo and a number of questionable claims including a call to tweet. I wondered to myself “Who would tweet an agent on the Long Island Expressway for an apartment?” Certainly not someone who values discretion and confidentiality. Self-aggrandizing or smart marketing? Either way, this ad will probably attract a “special” type of client who would tweet from the expressway.
These marketing approaches clearly do something for the advertisers. If they didn’t, I doubt they would continue to pay the money for the promotion in these bizarre locations. The question is, “Who are they attracting”?
A large part of defining your brand and building your business is deciding where you want to be seen, who you want to attract, and what you want them to know about you.
Side Bar:
I’ve been following the Novak Djokavic fiasco this week. What a mess! Athletes are held to a high standard and whether they like it or not, they are role models and put under a microscope. If you haven’t seen Bryan Fogel’s documentary “Icarus”, I highly recommend it. Bryan is an athlete you probably haven’t heard about. He sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, but a meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into exposing one of the biggest scandals in sports history.
Let’s do this.
-Shaun