You may not realize it, but turning on the television, radio, and Internet can teach you new marketing techniques and strategies.  Each day, companies are bombarding us with their marketing messages.  By the age of 65, the average American will have viewed over 2 million television commercials.  And that doesn’t begin to take into consideration the ads we see in newspapers, magazines, online, on billboards, or hear on the radio.

Some companies choose to use catchy jingles and slogans so that we constantly find ourselves humming along. Others tug at our heartstrings in order to establish an emotional connection, and some (purposely) annoy us.  Here are a few quick lessons we can learn from these companies: 




Try to keep it simple.  Nike says, “Just Do It”; McDonald’s “loves to see you smile,” and Calgon can “take you away”.  Creating a simple, catchy, and easy to remember slogan can set your product apart from the competition. 

Capture your target market’s emotions and they’ll become loyal customers.  Back before people had unlimited long distance, phone companies created commercials featuring a depressed older lady who brightened up and became happy when her son called her from across the country.  Back then, long distance phone charges were expensive and people were careful not to rack up a big bill.

The phone companies knew that people considered long distance a luxury item.  In order to get people to use it, they pulled at their heartstrings and featured the lonely old woman.  People were moved by this ad and immediately thought of their own mothers and how they could instantly brighten their lonely, old mother’s day by calling her.

Savvy marketers know that causing a bit of an annoyance isn’t always a bad thing.  Take, for instance, the product Head On! and their annoying commercials which featured people with headaches, saying, “Head On” over and over again.  The people who saw the commercials may have been a bit annoyed, but they remembered the product and some of them became customers.

Marketers are also discovering that moms are the ones that make the purchasing decisions for their families.  Major companies are learning that if they want to sell more cars, more Florida vacations, or more potato chips, they need to make their product more appealing to moms.

These are just a few of the strategies that you can see on a daily basis.  The next time you need some marketing inspiration, try turning on the television or picking up your favorite magazine.  You may even want to keep an idea file, full of ads you have seen and particularly liked.  The next time you are trying to come up with a marketing campaign, look through your idea folder and adapt one of your clippings to your own product or service and see what happens.