Grab a Larger Share of Your Market Using Carefully Crafted Television Commercials
During the last 15 years or so, I’ll wager that I’ve written, directed and/or appeared in about 50 television commercials to advertise my self-service laundry business – or to help promote other laundries belonging to clients around the United States who have engaged my television production consulting services.
Having been a laundry machinery distributor for decades, as well as the owner of a large self-service laundry in Detroit for many years, I have come to the conclusion that properly conceived television commercials are the single best way to effectively advertise a laundry and increase market share, because it’s a visual medium – and that “visual” aspect is what people are most susceptible to.
Yes, I’ve done some radio spots as well, but these are not nearly as effective, solely due to the lack of visual input. Radio is largely the “theater of the mind,” so the listener essentially is left to supply his or her own interpretation of what the advertised laundry is really like.
In other words, visual advertising touches two human senses – visual and auditory – while radio is just an auditory experience. Also, the better part of radio is listened to in automobiles, where the listener can’t jot things down and is commonly referred to in the advertising industry as “giving the listener some windshield time.” Whereas, I like to describe television advertising as both show and tell.
What’s more, radio listeners, especially older individuals, may conjure up images that don’t accurately reflect today’s modern self-service laundry. Hence, for the purposes of this article, I’m going to concentrate on television commercials, which not only are the most effective way to advertise but also can be done well within the framework of economic sanity.
Of course, some laundry operators today have successfully placed virtual tours and/or promotional videos on their websites, which is a great. However, to view these clips, potential customers must intentionally and actively access those stores’ websites.
By contrast, with traditional television advertising, many more potential customers will be reached simply due to the large number of people who watch television. In reality, it’s likely best to do both television advertising along with online videos and virtual tours, if you have a website.
Also, watching a TV advertisement may catch the attention of individuals who, prior to seeing the ad, had no interest at all in using a self-service laundry; for instance, those who need your commercial-grade equipment only for their larger items, such as comforters and blankets. On the other hand, a video or virtual tour of a laundry placed on a website or somewhere online requires the viewer to proactively look for that specific laundry business. In this regard, television advertising greatly increases the probability of reaching more people and creating more gross impressions.
The principal advantages of using television advertising are that you have a large and targeted audience and that you can arrange to have your commercials seen primarily in your specific marketplace. This can’t be done using radio commercials, which is why they are often much more costly. Also, with TV, obviously you can show your store and your charming and friendly self, if you choose be to the “on-camera talent.”
So, how does the typical laundry owner begin the process of producing and running a television commercial? I’ve discovered that the general perception within the industry is that it must be extremely complicated and expensive, which is why many operators give up on the idea before they even start – electing to promote their businesses through mailers or some other form of print media instead, or not advertising at all.
However, with my television production system, making a TV commercial is not complicated or expensive. Technically, there are five basic steps involved in the production of a television commercial. They are:
Writing the Commercial
It’s probably fair to say that most laundry owners are not copywriters, so you will have to engage the services of the cable television provider in your area to compose the TV spot, or hire an independent scriptwriter. Nearly all television commercials are required to be exactly 30 seconds in length, so the words must be carefully chosen.
It’s extremely important to note that I recommend using a cable provider only and not reaching out to the major networks, simply because network advertising covers too large of an area (similar to radio ads) and, therefore, is quite expensive. When advertising a self-service laundry, you need to cover just your reasonable area of draw. Cable companies sell advertising by the “insertion points.” In other words, you can limit the geographic distance in which viewers will be able to see the commercial, thus making this form of advertising less expensive.
Filming the Commercial
Television commercials can be shot either in a studio or “on location” at the actual laundry; in both cases, a teleprompter will be used, so no memorization is required. Commercials shot at a studio (which is typically a bit less expensive) are done so in front of what is called a “green screen.” After the shoot, images of the laundry then can be superimposed behind the performer to create the look that it was filmed in the actual store. As matter of interest, major motion pictures also are often done in this manner for certain scenes, rather than on location.
Selecting the On-Screen Performer
Having produced a lot of television commercials, I firmly believe the on-screen talent should be the laundry owner. The job of a properly scripted commercial is to provide plenty of information about the laundry and to create a proper image for the store owner. While I understand that some people suffer from “stage fright,” it’s a good idea to try to overcome this issue, because the benefits far exceed the few minutes of jitters one might have to go through.
Of course, you can hire an actor to do the on-screen performance. However, it’s not remotely the same as having the viewing audience get familiar with the sincerity of the actual owner – and it can be expensive to pay someone to do this for you.
Post-Production Editing of the Commercial
Once the commercial is shot, it will require post-production editing, which is handled by the cable company’s editing specialist so that the raw footage can be transformed into a viewable product to be shown on television. This will require, among other technical things, the placement of on-screen graphics and usually the insertion of what’s called an appropriate “musical bed,” which plays behind the voice of the on-screen performer.
Developing an On-Air Schedule
Once a commercial is completed and the insertion points are selected, the stations (or “channels” ) on which the commercial will air need to be determined. Choosing the most appropriate stations is a function of determining which channels and programs your target audience commonly views. This can be accomplished with the technical input of the cable company or by conducting your own customer surveys in your store to see what people are watching.
There is an old and wise saying that, when doing advertising, “repetition is more important than reach.” In this regard, you will need to determine how many times the commercial will be shown on a time interval basis and on what channels. In other words, people need to see your commercials fairly often for them to be effective.
The price per on-air spot will vary by channel and the time of day it airs (during the daytime hours or what’s referred to as “overnights” ), and often will be determined based upon the amount of times it runs.
Developing a television advertising program is usually quite effective, because you don’t generally see self-service laundries advertised on television, so people find it interesting. It’s also important that the script not involve references to seasonality, specific dates or events so that these commercials can enjoy a reasonable shelf life.
Additionally, I always suggest to my clients that we do multiple commercials at the same time so that they can be rotated and remain fresh and interesting. Just creating one commercial is not recommended under any circumstances.
Most of my commercials involve humor of some type, but this must be done very carefully. After all, you’re not in the entertainment business – you’re in the laundry business. Funny and amusing commercials are great and often memorable, but not if the viewers can’t recall the product being advertised – namely, your laundromat. That’s a bad situation and one to be avoided at all cost.
Perhaps an example of just one of my television spots will help to illustrate some of the points above. Here is one specific script that I wrote, directed, performed in and edited. It was focused on promoting more drop-off comforter business for my laundry:
SCENE LOCATION: In my laundry, in front of some frontload washers.
COMMERCIAL LENGTH: 30 seconds.
ON-AIR PERFORMER: Me
SUPERIMPOSED GRAPHICS: Words with appropriate fonts, mimicking what I’m saying on camera.
MUSICAL BED: Appropriate music, volume and pace.
PROP: A multi-colored comforter, which I held just out of camera view.
SCRIPT: “Stephen Bean here from the fabulous, 24-hour, sparkling clean Woodward Coin Laundry, located on Woodward just north of Six Mile in Detroit.
“About 100 machines, big-load washers and dryers that start hot, stay hot and dry fast. Our attendants are the friendliest people in the business, and we have snacks and drinks and video games.
“And did you know that, at Woodward Coin Laundry, you can wash and dry your comforters for a fraction of the cost of drycleaning and (raising the comforter up to my cheek so that it’s on camera) you don’t have to leave them overnight.
“Now that’s a comforting thought… isn’t it?”
When I did that commercial, for some reason I envisioned the viewers out there with tears rolling down their faces, because they had just found an inexpensive solution to the embarrassment of not having clean comforters for an extended period. The power of television advertising is amazing.
Now is the time for you to show off your laundry business on TV.
