Take the Hay to Where the Horses Are

So, this morning I’m driving through downtown Orlando and I noticed something interesting. There is a tattoo shop I drive by every day that has been there for probably a year or so now. This morning I noticed a new business has setup shop just next door. Actually, they even share the same building. It’s a medical center offering services such as laser hair removal and microdermabrasion (I had to Google that for spelling). However, the interesting part is that amongst a list of services on their sign in big letters is ‘tattoo removal’.

After having a laugh about that I got to thinking about how smart that really is. It may seem obvious, but this is a great case of putting your business where the business is. This concept plays an integral role as a metaphor for where you need to market your business.

This reminded me of a campaign I once led for a local timeshare resale organization. This type of company helps (disgruntled) timeshare owners sell their units off. We came up with the idea of posting billboards and bus-stop posters around where the larger timeshare resorts were located. There are many that exist right at the entrance to the resort. This turned out to be a powerful campaign that still exists years later if you take a drive around the Orlando (I-drive) tourist district. Now that I’m actually working with one of those large resorts, I would love to get those taken down!

As an owner of an advertising/creative agency, myself, I get regular sales calls from a particular national magazine for creative professionals and advertising agencies. They call me about once a month in an attempt to get me to advertise in their rag. Now, why would I want to advertise to my competition? Although in some cases it may be a good political move to gain recognition within your own industry, it will do little to garner new business. I speak with many clients who initially suggest advertising in their own trade magazines. They like it because that’s what they know. Unfortunately, doing that may not get the required response.