Other than editing out the personal information- this e-mail was received by the Dayton Bombers:
I have a number of health and physical problems, at age 72, and need to laugh more. For the first time tonight I saw your “Rumanian” ad on TV with Yannick Tifu and had a good one. Does his “cup runneth over”? LOL! Good work by whoever came up for the idea for that ad…it does catch one’s attention. Some “soft” adult humor, like this ad, flies right over the heads of kids, so no harm done. It made me want to attend a game, or maybe regularly.
I no longer drive and sold my car last December. Does RTA stop AT THE DOOR of the Nutter Center? I walk with a cane and easily get winded. What is the number of that RTA line? (Cabs cost a FORTUNE now.) I live at the Oakwood-Kettering line between Far Hills & Ridgeway Rd. and use #5 or #14 for trips to CBD.
What is the lowest cost for a single game ticket? Are they always available on game dates at the Nutter box-office?
What is the lowest cost for one seat at a series of home games bought in advance (for different game counts)? Five games, ten, etc. Is there a seniors’ discount? Golden Buckeye card?
What is the temperature in the stands? Us old folk chill easily so would I need a sweater or jacket or is it always very warm in the stands?
When does the season end? Please mail me some general brochures.
I guess I’ve BOMBARDED the BOMBERS with enough questions for now. I know…that is NOT funny and you hear it all the time. Thanks!
The spot that the new, 72 year old, hockey fan saw?
It was aired on broadcast TV- and was enough to get an old guy, in poor health, motivated to seek information on how to ride the bus to the Nutter Center (not an easy trip from where he lives).
When was the last time your advertising did that? Especially a spot entirely in Romanian?
Of course, they also got a call: “this is America, you should do your commercials in AMERICAN!” (see our post on Casa d’Ice and their signs for more on this subject: http://thenextwave.biz/tnw/?p=174
Everyone knows the 80/20 rule, in fact an extension of this idea has become known as “the Long Tail.” However, the 80/40 rule might become the most important rule to marketers in the age of search engines and advertising effectiveness.
First- a reminder of what the 80/20 rule is:
Pareto’s Principle - The 80-20 Rule
n 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto’s Principle. While it may be misnamed, Pareto’s Principle or Pareto’s Law as it is sometimes called, can be a very effective tool to help you manage effectively. Where It Came From
After Pareto made his observation and created his formula, many others observed similar phenomena in their own areas of expertise. Quality Management pioneer, Dr. Joseph Juran, working in the US in the 1930s and 40s recognized a universal principle he called the “vital few and trivial many” and reduced it to writing.
In an early work, a lack of precision on Juran’s part made it appear that he was applying Pareto’s observations about economics to a broader body of work. The name Pareto’s Principle stuck, probably because it sounded better than Juran’s Principle.
As a result, Dr. Juran’s observation of the “vital few and trivial many”, the principle that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results, became known as Pareto’s Principle or the 80/20 Rule.
Traditional media based advertising has a major flaw: all ads are temporary. The ad in todays paper is in tomorrows trash, the spot in the TV show is over and gone (or skipped by Tivo- or ignored the second time it’s viewed) and most importantly- the old John Wanamaker adage about half his ad budget being wasted- only he didn’t know which half- still, even in todays hyper-targeted media, is pretty close to true. I’ve seen many ads for feminine hygiene products- but will never need them.
The difference between spending your budget on old-school media campaigns and putting your best efforts into online strategy- is that only people interested in your product or service will be interacting with your site- and they are there actively looking for information to substantiate their buying decision.
This is where the 80/40™- rule comes into play- insight directly from The Next Wave: 80% of Internet usage begins in search, 40% of people using search- type your URL into a search, instead of a direct access to your site- and get search results- which could include people talking about your business negatively- or trying to steal your eyeballs- even after you have spent millions of dollars promoting your URL.
Once they get to your site- what do they get? If your site is in Flash, often times they get frustrated. Also- remember, since 80% of use begins in search- are they able to access the specific information they seek? Or just get to your site? Many Flash sites do not allow your visitors to link to interior content with an exclusive URL.
One of the new realities in advertising and marketing is that people are depending on the Internet more for researching purchases- even having access when mobile to the web through WAP enabled sites- or soon- to any site with the introduction of the Apple iPhone. Everything is changing rapidly- and if you don’t make your information search friendly- you won’t be relevant in the decision making process.
How do you solve the 80/40 rule™? Building sites to be search friendly is just the start. Also, remember, it’s not about chest-beating ego sites- it’s about delivering information to the consumer that answers their problem (and the consumer can be a B-to-B customer just as easily as a B-to-C consumer). Your site should be searchable as well. Make every piece of relevant data available- in a web friendly form- and don’t remove material- always update it with relevant news (since links shouldn’t be broken by your maintenance).
But most importantly- always be aware- that when someone is looking for you- 40% of the time, they may get search results instead of directly to your site and someone else may have the answer and steal your lunch- and that is a much bigger problem than the old 80/20 rule.
This before and after ad example will never win any awards, but, it could make the difference between being looked at- and being ignored.
The call came at 6pm tonight: Can you take this ad and make it better? In an hour?
This isn’t how to run a business, or how to get the best possible work, but it’s often the reality in advertising: you can have good, fast or cheap- pick any two.
The original isn’t really an ad at all. It’s an announcement. There isn’t really any type of call to action, or anything that would speak to the consumer emotionally. In fact, it’s mostly about the client- “the first place Dayton Bombers.” The ad was done by the ad department for a previous paid placement- you buy the space- we’ll have a flunky design something.
This is what we had to work with- plus the Kelly Cup logo. Some information could be stripped out- it wasn’t important to the customer: AA Hockey- well, there isn’t another team in Dayton, 1st place- doesn’t really matter in the minors as much as the majors, and the flow of white space is just all over the place.
So- take the elements that they have used all season- and try to make them work. The visiting team logo is only important to the hardcore fans- no one is coming to see the visiting team play so we can make that smaller. The McDonalds promo isn’t happening- so we loose that too. We’ve looked at the audience- and know that this is a NASCAR, WWF, Tough Man crowd- that loves to see fights- and to taunt the other team- so making the word “Fighting” a key part of the ad- may get some attention.
In less than an hour- this is the result. Not an award winner- but, at least bold, clean and making some sort of appeal to the emotional side of the fans.
What do you think?
We also threw together a low-budget TV spot to promote the game. Since we had no existing game footage to use (and couldn’t count on any great stuff in one game) we had to construct a concept that we could control. We were told the leading scorer spoke Romanian (not true) and thought we could have fun with a Borat style low budget spoof. The idea was to do something that would cut through the clutter of local ads (none have ever aired in Romanian in Dayton OH) and get people to look to their sets to see what’s going on. We also posted it on YouTube- where it has received over 600 views in 24 hours. The translator obviously knows less Romanian than we did.
