Yesterday while driving to work I found myself singing the Mavis Discount Tire song with the radio. Later I heard the familiar voice of the Winthrop University Hospital announcer. My friends Mike Welch and Jack Schultheis handle that advertising, but even so, I immediately knew it was Winthrop from the music and voice.
Radio is still a powerful ad medium. It’s a unique way, at a reasonable cost, to condition consumers to listen, associate and remember. When working on North Shore-LIJ Health System years ago, I used lots of radio to extent the TV work. It worked brilliantly.
But while singing the Mavis Discount Tire radio song I wondered if it was a reason to buy?
I reckoned consciously I knew the price is right, thanks to the name, but with the web and search so prevalent is name awareness enough to tip the scales? Has the ability to simply slip a phone from my pocket and say “best tire prices near me” changed the formula for advertising?
Search changes everything in marketing. The first page web experience is critical. We “twitch to buy” today. Radio needs to recognize and account for this.
My kids are in their twenties. Both have two phones. When they sing the discount tire song are they Google searching for other tire stores? You bet they are.
Peace.
