Business Attitude: Advertising: That Works - That Does Not Work - Case 2: Having a "Blue Light" Special When No One is in the Store

January 25, 2013

Advertising: That Works - That Does Not Work - Case 2: Having a "Blue Light" Special When No One is in the Store

So here I go dating myself again. K-Mart used to have unannounced, impulsive-like sales in an attempt to both clear slow moving product and/or create an exciting experience for the shopper.

Modern Look of a
Blue Light Special

K-Mart would have Blue Light Specials at peak traffic times in the store - they created a sense of excitement and urgency in the store which brought more people into the store. Everyone's heads would pop up when they heard "K-Mart Shoppers, we're holding a Blue Light Special in Housewares - 75% off.... for the next 10 minutes". OK.... We had no life in the 70s.... OK.!

I learned from these E-Ticket experiences (cough) that advertising is about getting to a group of people in your target market - both; and good advertising for you is never cheap, but at the same time, it is never too expensive. The real cost of advertising is based on the return it provides.

"Doing business without advertising

is like winking at a girl in the dark;

you know what you are doing

but nobody else does" - Stuart Henderson Britt

Advertising is not a generic product and there is a plethora of good choices - Pick the best one for you.

Avoid ROP* packaged buys as you will be packaged into slots where no one reads/listens/watches bringing down your cost per ad in the package. They sound real good because your cost per ad is so much lower, but in reality, what you are buying is dead air.

After you have found the advertising opportunity that seems to fit your business's needs (verified because you ask people if they read/watch/listen to it and when), test it and then ask people if they saw it.

Remember, K-Mart never held a Blue Light Special for an empty store.

~B

ROP Definition: "Run Of Paper" is an advertising term used by newspapers referring to an advertisement that may be placed anywhere within the paper. Similar acronyms are used in other mediums meaning the same thing.