One measure of advertising effectiveness is the perception you create, not only in the mind of your potential customer, but in the minds of your employees and the employees of your competitors.
Perception is the 'Share of Mind' component of your advertising. The idea or thought that, hopefully, has sticking power in the memory. On several different occasions in the past two months, I've been reminded of how powerful perception can be. A customer of a dealer client told me about her car shopping experience while we videotaped her comments for use in a television ad. She took me through her shopping process which included a visit to one of our client's competitors. She was amazed at the response she received when she told the competitor's salesperson she had already been quoted a price by our client's dealership. "His face dropped to the floor when I mentioned (our client's name)," she said, "I knew right then and there he didn't want to compete with this price. I knew I had a good deal." Even more amazing, the salesperson affirmed her thoughts by telling her the only reason our client could offer a better price was the fact that our client's dealership was a volume operation. The competitor's salesperson obviously heard our advertising. And believed it! The competitor's salesperson did point out that the customer would get better service and personal attention from a smaller dealership. No points here. She took delivery of her new car from our client the next day.
Only a week before this incident another client related a similar story to me. A customer had written a thank-you letter for her experience at the dealership. This customer had visited a competitor's (hi-line import) franchise near her home because of an advertised price special. Although they, in fact, offered her the advertised special, the competitor told the customer that she would do better by selling her trade on her own. The customer recalled hearing our client's radio ad emphasizing the need for good, used vehicles and that our client's dealership would even buy vehicles for cash, regardless of whether another vehicle was purchased in the transaction. The customer wanted to know if this was true. Our client's salesperson said, "Absolutely! Come on in, we can make you a better deal with your trade!" The customer took delivery of her new vehicle from our client that same day. In this instance, reality matched the customer's perception of our client's dealership and buying experience.
Several years ago a client friend told me he regularly surveyed employees to make sure their favorite radio stations were included in his advertising mix. He felt it was important for dealership personnel to know about current promotions and general advertising themes. About one third of this dealer's ads refer to the exceptional quality of employees at the dealership. Frequently he receives comments from employees thanking him and telling him how proud they are to be "on the team."
Probably the best example of perception in advertising is the case in which a dealership general manager preceded a sales event with a staff meeting in which he described the massive amount of advertising that would be aired during the following three days of the sale. The meeting was held on Thursday morning, and although the sale ads didn't break until Friday morning, the dealership beat their all time Thursday delivery record. Either the enthusiasm of the sales meeting or perception that the ads had already started inspired spectacular results from the sales team.
It's important to remember that a message featuring only price is not advertising, it's promotion. The elements that create a memorable Share-of-Mind help to build recall-equity for your dealership. A message that offers only a call to action for this weekend may affect roughly twenty percent of the people it reaches. An advertisement that creates urgency while building a position in your customer's thought process may affect a much higher percentage of potential buyers, now and in the future.
For most of us, perception is reality until proven otherwise. The perception you build in a customer's mind should not be just a figment of imagination. Nothing turns a customer off more than discovering they've been misled in the perception building process. Don't paint a picture of unlimited inventory if that isn't the case. If your dealership is in an out-of-the-way, hard to find location, a customer may get frustrated trying to find your supposedly "convenient" site. The reality of the purchase experience should always reflect perception. After all, when it comes to good advertising, it's all in the mind!