Cut Waste From Advertising

CUT WASTE FROM ADVERTISING

This advice on reducing the cost of your advertising program by eliminating 'waste' comes from Gerald Schoenfeld, who wrote this article for Boardroom Reports. We thought you'd find the information useful.

• Stop running so many different ads. Most advertisers prepare and pay for far too many ads and commercials. They are acutely aware of every ad they run, so they think the public is, too. Fact: It takes three or four insertions just to get to the point where most people note-let alone read -- a company's first ad. What to do instead: Find the best-selling message. Instead of spending money to prepare second, third, and fourth versions, put the saved dollars into more insertions. Famous ad man Rosser Reeves summed it up: My job is to stop my clients from changing their ads.
• Don't run any ad that fails to stand out. Paste a copy of the proposed ad into a newspaper or magazine. Let someone thumb through it. Ask them what they remember. If your ad isn't one of the two or three best remembered, it's too dull. That means it's not worthwhile.
• Stop paying for space you do not need. Buying one column less than a full page is a smart move, because it usually gets you editorial matter on the same page, adding to the readership. Ten-second television spots can be even more effective than '30s,' if the product story is simple.
• Offer a free booklet, a free trial, or put a phone number in every ad or commercial. Reason: Marketing can compare the effectiveness of one station or publication with another. Any station or publication that doesn't deliver its share of inquiries should be cut.
• Trim stations and publications that don't reach your main audience. Most advertisers can't resist the 'bargain' of a special rate offered by marginal publications and stations. Such bargains are expensive if the advertising doesn't end up reaching its best potential customers.
• Take advantage of seasonal and quantity discounts. Once you are convinced that a station or publication reaches your best potential customers, negotiate for discounts on the basis of frequency or season or category. Speak personally to a representative of the station or publication. Tell him or her you're prepared to buy a considerable schedule if the buy is attractive. This works better than placing an impersonal, automatic buy.
• Maybe you shouldn't be advertising in the first place. Advertising without 'news' is sheer waste. Better to put your money into improving your product or service, even if it means postponing all advertising until such time as there is something worth talking about.