Comments on: So What?

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:05:36 +0000

Yeah, that advertisement is the worse. But you gotta love businesses like this eh? It just leaves the door open for businesses with better marketing and advertising efforts to climb their way to the top.

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By: Tom Long

Tom Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:45:28 +0000

Thanks for bringing this up. Unfortunatley businesses focusing on their own promotion instead of the customer needs is too common. However each time I see one of these promotions, it gets me thinking about what could be done differently. Thats the positive element.

By: Karen Marchetti

Karen Marchetti — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:49:34 +0000

With billboards, as with print advertising, the largest element — the (should be arresting) visual — is key and should communicate the benefit and/or the branding. Not sure the word “EXIT” makes sense as the largest visual here. A curious branding strategy, to focus your entire company’s brand around a negative word.

By: Jeremy Meyers

Jeremy Meyers — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:35:24 +0000

This is something that companies fall prey to all the time: drinking their own kool-aid.

If you’ve done nothing to inspire anyone to care about your success, then either bragging about your success or discussing your ambition comes off as contemptuous.

“We’re growing in sales!” if I’m not invested says “More and more of you suckers are giving us your money!”

If you’ve taken the time to let me behind the curtain and empower me to be part of the community, it means “You guys are helping this thing that you love get out to more people!”

By: So What? | MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog « Cat_A_ListS

So What? | MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog « Cat_A_ListS — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:32:15 +0000

[...] What? | MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog So What? | MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog. by Steve [...]

By: Joe Cascio

Joe Cascio — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:41:43 +0000

Churches down south excel at this sort of advertising... check these out.

By: Craig Landes

Craig Landes — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:16:52 +0000

It reminds me of Warren Schmidt (About Schmidt.) He would write these long letters to a child he was supporting financially in a Third World country. “Dear Ndugu..” Very caring, very altruistic, right? No. These letters wound up being a way for Warren Schmidt to vent about his lousy life, his daughter and the no-good jerk she was about to marry … they were, um, About Schmidt, not about Ndugu.

At least Exit Realty doesn’t even bother with a pretense of being about us

By: steve woodruff

steve woodruff — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:14:35 +0000

Actually, it will be a good test of Exit Realty’s use of social media – will they contact ME to explain? Or enter the conversation here? If so, I’ll at least be impressed by that…

The lack of call to action (including lack of contact info) is the big flaw here, beside the boasting tone. There’s no there there.

By: steve woodruff

steve woodruff — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:10:38 +0000

It is possible that the sign is targeted toward other real estate agents – but then, I would think they’d add “Join us!” and give a website or something. As it is now, there’s really no telling what they’re after….

By: Rich Bailey

Rich Bailey — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:52:32 +0000

I heard once that Exit’s branding strategy is to leverage the existence of a great preponderance of EXIT signs throughout the United States. You see “exit” signs it in every building, on every highway, and so on. Sounds good in theory, though in today’s economy, it connotes images of “Exit Strategy”.

Of course, it limits going international; would you call it “Way Out” Realty in London?

I think Stephanie has it nailed; that sign to me seems to be targeting agents. Or it’s simply more branding of the name.

By: Don

Don — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:04:53 +0000

Ann, a lot of churches do that weekly. I suspect that there is a book or website that they are all relying on, but as you say it actually makes you stop and think. I also bet that the church website has the service times listed directly below.

Steve, do you think there is any more to the story? Like should we see construction just below/adjacent to the sign of the new Exit office? Is it part of a tiered campaign (your indication that is has remain unchanged for months would suggest not) where next quarter it says “to serve you better” etc.?

Otherwise, given the expense of the billboard a site or phone number would be a better use of that space below the branding.

Stephanie may have a point as well, however, it has no call to action and leaves us all wondering what it means — but not caring to follow up and find out. Will you Steve be contacting Exit to get a better understanding? Like the Mini-Cooper ad follow up a month or so ago, I’d love to see what they were thinking and what they and us can learn from it.

Finally as regards the name, is it exit as in leave, or exit as in next to highway exit 25 or are they sellers agents advertising to people getting out of their locations vs welcoming new buyers in? I’d need to know much more to judge that one.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:47:34 +0000

I see this differently. In my opinion, it is an employment ad targeted to agents, not homeowners.

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:47:01 +0000

This reminds me of a little white church near my house; it makes excellent use of its billboard space. The other day it read, “Extreme makeovers start here.” A few weeks ago, “Why pray when you can worry?”

I don’t attend the church (nor am I particularly religious), but still, I’m impressed: Someone at the little white church is a marketer who knows the benefits of focusing on the “customer”!

By: Joe Cascio

Joe Cascio — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:45:37 +0000

As in the comment from Mickey about the car dealer saying, “We’re gonna be #1″, Exit Realty gives you the definite message that they care more about themselves than they do about you, the customer. A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post (ok, partially a rant) about how a website is not advertising but rather customer service. I finished it up by saying that your site should be about what your customers want to know, not what you want to tell them. Same applies to this billboard. And yeah, the name is a puzzlement isn’t it? Why Exit? It sounds like stage direction in a script: “Exit Realty, stage left.”

By: Matt V

Matt V — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:33:30 +0000

Couldn’t agree with everyone more. My first reaction to that billboard was, “Good for you” , and my second was “Why the hell should I care?” . I’m sure not exactly what they had in mind, or maybe it was.

By: Crispin Heath

Crispin Heath — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:32:47 +0000

Funny though that this has probably recieved more attention through social media than it possibly could ever have achieved any other way. Some times things are so bad they work. I hasten to add that this is not typical of one of those times.

By: Mickey

Mickey — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:53:05 +0000

Agreed. There was a car dealer in Atlanta that for years would say “We’re gonna be #1!”. That was their primary marketing slogan, and it was everywhere. I really didn’t get it, and I never bought a car from them.

For a while I thought I was missing something (“*should* I care?”), but later determined that they were the ones missing something…

By: Rosey Dow

Rosey Dow — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:47:37 +0000

Excellent point, Steve. Unless you’re helping other people build their businesses, bragging about your own success isn’t hitting the mark. What people want to know is What’s in it For Me as you expressed so well.