Bold Move Wins the Game

"Your Move, BMW," posts Audi, highlighting it's luxury line.

"Checkmate" responds the BMW dealership down the block, promoting its own luxury offering.

I know this is an old advertising war that made its way across the internet a few years ago but a student recently posted this picture to my class’s Facebook group (Marketing Minded) so I decided to look into it a bit further so I could use it for an upcoming lecture about promotion. If you aren’t familiar with this battle for attention, in 2009 an Audi dealer in Southern California put up a billboard that was in essence taunting the BMW dealership down the block.  A few weeks later, the BMW dealership countered the Audi message with its own billboard. While these dueling messages are an example of creative promotion and really quite entertaining, there was something else I found even more intriguing about their shenanigans.

And here it is….the Santa Monica BMW was just going to ignore the Audi ad.  It wasn’t until a small advertising company, called Juggernaut Advertising approached the BMW dealership with the “checkmate” billboard design proposal AND the billboard placement secured… just across the freeway from the Audi signage.  The BMW dealership loved the idea and went for it and the rest is marketing history.

The impressive part of this while story to me is the moxie that Juggernaut Advertising showed. Brilliant thinking is only half the battle…the ability to execute is critical.  This is true in sports, in politics, in business…and certainly in chess.  This little company proved that a bold move goes a long way towards winning the game.

A Sign of Things To Cut

Found this in my hood.  It is a prime example of a small business owner thinking they would save money by crafting their own signage.  Too bad the business owner doesn’t know that how a sign looks (perceptual benefits) communicates to potential customers as much, if not more, than the words printed on it. 

So what is this sign saying to me?  It is telling me that they don’t really care about how things look….even though they are in the business of trying to make people look good. The half-assed attempt at promotion makes me think their approach to my hair and nails will also be second rate. This sign screams “guaranteed beauty catastrophe here!”
Now, to be fair, this shop might give the best haircuts in town.  The owners might be the nicest people in the world and they might offer great service at a great price.  It’s really a bummer the sign doesn’t indicate these things at all.  With just a bit of an investment in color and design this business could easily bring in more customers who would be more confident in trying a new place for a new do.

At this point, the only cut I would allow is the sign itself. 

Want to Stand Out? Maybe You Should Sit Down.

Part of effective marketing is about getting your potential target market to notice you.  In this case, standing out meant showing the world what it looks like to sit down.  It’s memorable because it’s completely unexpected (and funny in a sort of gross kind of way). The memorability element of this marketing effort earns them an excellent in my book.

Funny thing is, most small businesses are lacking in the kind of confidence it takes to stand out in this way. New entrepreneurs often look to other businesses for leads on how to behave so as not to give the impression that they don’t know what they are doing.  These businesses end up impersonating everyone else which makes it harder for them to succeed.  

Potential customers have quite a bit of choice these days and if your business looks different from the other choices out there, you are giving yourself a leg up. To really stand out, I do encourage my clients to look at competitive businesses but instead of trying to fit in, I suggest doing the COMPLETE OPPOSITE.  Do whatever it takes to be unique!  For instance, years ago I had a client that started a landscape maintenance business.  Rather than try to fit in with the hundreds of others offering the same service, my client had uniforms made for his crew that consisted of safari hats, shirts and shorts, and promoted his service as able to “tame your backyard jungle”. Silly? Maybe. Memorable? Yes. 

Standing out is critical…even if it means you need to sit down to do it.