Do you remember hearing the Empire carpet jingle at the end of their television commercial? Come on — sing it with me — “588-2300 — EM-PIRE!! (Today)” (You can listen to the jingle here). Even my 10-month-old has heard it often enough to recognize it and turn her head when she is sitting in her high chair and hears it in the background.
What is the key to this company’s name and advertising staying in our minds? Repetition.
Absolut Vodka uses repetition in its ads to capture staying power in the minds of its customers
No matter how annoying you think that commercial may be, which company name comes to mind when you need carpet installed next day in your house for less?
What we can learn from this example is not only do our advertisements need to be memorable, but we need to repeat them (run them) often enough for people to catch on, and for us to build a top-of-mind awareness about our brand.
How can we be memorable and create such a following for our brand? Here are some ideas to start:
- Build a unique or memorable marketing campaign (one of my favorites is the Absolut vodka ads seen in many magazines over the last decade)
- Have a unique phone number (perhaps one that spells out something — like a local plumber in Indianapolis who uses the 867-5309 from the 80’s song)
- Be annoying in your ad (although this may backfire, it can work in your favor. Take the monotonous-toned owner of the Shane Co. jewelry store in Indianapolis as an example)
- Get a memorable spokesperson/people or character (remember the Bartles & James guys?)
- Use a memorable or catchy jingle or song in your ad (such as the Ricola cough drop ads where it sounds like a mountain climber is shouting it and it echoes across the hills)
- Have a special tagline, slogan or catch phrase that you associate with your product or service
- Use humor in your advertising because if it’s funny enough, people will talk about your ads – and remember them. Just make sure your product/service isn’t overshadowed by the ad and they forget your name!
What can you be known for? How can you be memorable in your advertising? Send me your best examples of memorable ads and brands, and I may use them in a future post.
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