Originally posted – Oct 21, 2014
In past columns, I’ve mentioned that communication is controlled by the receiver – not by the sender. And it is so true.
People hear and interpret what others say through a series of built-in personal filters, which include their age, educational history, cultural background, mood and many other private perceptual aspects of their personalities.
Therefore, when it comes to writing advertising copy for your laundry business, I would suggest you be mighty careful with regard to the words you use and the messages you attempt to send to the target audiences.
In the United States, more than ever now we reside in a multi-cultural society, thus making it absolutely critical that we choose our advertising words very carefully – and with little chance of them being misunderstood or misinterpreted by the diversity of individuals who read them. Advertising is relatively expensive; however, if it is structurally flawed, it can become even more expensive, causing you to possibly lose some existing customers and most certainly potential ones as well.
For example, be extremely definitive when it comes to advertising your hours of operation. And, if you have a “last load” policy, be sure to explain exactly what it is.
Also, if you offer various loyalty programs – which enable customers to enter to win, for example, free gasoline or free groceries – be specific as to exactly what they must do to enter, how often they can do so and what it takes to win the prize. By the same token, if you offer drop-off service, be specific regarding prices, minimum order sizes and turnaround time.
Being vague about the benefits and features of your laundry business can easily lead to misinterpretation, cause disputes, and confuse and irritate customers who will quickly turn into former customers.
In advertising, having your good intentions misinterpreted can cause you major public relations problems and place significant stress on your attendants who have to deal with the customers.
As I have said before, all of your advertisements must contain the quality of “verisimilitude,” which simply means that they must be perceived as being honest and truthful down to the last detail. Your goal is to establish trust and credibility – always give the reader permission and easy reasons to believe your ads.
Since many self-service laundries have multi-cultural customer bases, I strongly suggest you be extra careful that the ad language you use cannot be misinterpreted because of the diversity of lingual backgrounds of the target audiences in your marketplace. Many customers will buy from you not because they understand your offer or your products but because they feel you understand them.
Before launching an ad campaign, it’s always a good idea to run your advertising copy by some sort of “focus group,” which can consist of a single individual or a group of people and/or current customers – to make sure they are receiving the actual message meanings you are intending.
When it comes to word selection, even large, international corporations make mistakes with regard to writing advertising copy. And these miscues can grow into very serious, very expensive P.R. nightmares.
Here are a few of the most costly advertising blunders by large multi-national companies. They illustrate just why ad copy must be carefully developed. After all, let’s not forget that the person who invented the ship also, inadvertently, invented the shipwreck.
General Motors
When GM introduced the Chevrolet Nova a number of years ago in Belgium, it highlighted the fact that it had a “Body by Fisher,” which translated in Belgian to a “Corpse by Fisher.”
Sears
A number of years ago, attached to every Sears hair dryer was a tag that read: “Do not use while sleeping.”
Bacardi
Bacardi once created and advertised a fruity drink in Germany with the name “Pavian.” However, the company soon learned that “pavian” means “baboon” in German.
American Airlines
On American Airlines’ packets of nuts was printed: “Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts.”
Pepsi-Cola
Years ago, Pepsi launched a marketing campaign in Taiwan. Unfortunately, the literal translation of the brand’s slogan – “Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation” – in the local language meant: “Pepsi Will Bring Your Ancestors Back from the Dead.”
Now, my personal favorite from…
A Large Drug Company
This famous company marketed a new stomach remedy in the United Arab Emirates. To avoid any mistakes, it used photos instead of words. The first image on the left was of someone feeling ill, the next was of that person taking the medication, and the final photo showed the person looking happy and well. However, this company overlooked the fact that in the Arab world people read from right to left.
As a veteran of the ad business once said, “Advertising is not about just delivering a message. That’s what we have Western Union for. It’s about causing some specific measurable and ultimately mutually profitable behavior to take place.”
Advertising – and marketing in general – is about creating and sharing effective content to attract and convert prospects into customers… and customers into repeat buyers. Essentially, the type of content you share is there to educate people as to exactly what you sell. In other words, you are enlightening people so that they know, like and trust you enough to want to do business with you.
When developing advertising copy for your self-service laundry, I suggest you always start out by thinking like the target prospect. This means you shouldn’t project your own values and likes into the ads. Instead, be certain your content is designed to completely fulfill the needs of your customers. Clearly, many customer bases are culturally diverse, so be careful to develop an understanding of what each customer wants, needs and values.
Here’s a simple example:
If your laundry is located in a neighborhood where many people don’t have air conditioning, make a point of saying that your store offers that feature and benefit.
At first, you may not think to advertise this fact because you may be used to living in a fully air-conditioned home, but don’t assume this is true of everyone. And, of course, there are many other examples.
In advertising, objectivity is the key. Remember that you are never advertising to yourself. You are advertising specifically to the marketplace that is within your trade area radius – and the features and benefits of your laundry must, in every instance, be appropriate for the recipients of the ad.
Advertising and copywriting are creative skills. You can develop these skills through constant practice and also by reading effective ads of other businesses in a wide range of industries.
Lastly, always remember that people today are bombarded with advertising. As a result, they are often disbelieving of much of the ad content they encounter; it’s a common response known as the “Yeah Sure Phenomenon.” So create ads that stand out, and always make sure they demonstrate the quality of verisimilitude.
Although advertising is serious business, on a somewhat humorous note I once read that, “One of life’s greatest disappointments is discovering that the person who writes the ads for the bank is not the one who makes the loans.”
Now, that’s a marketing lesson you can take to the bank.
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