I first realized the irresistible power of advertising when I was just 16 years old.
My father, who was a textile salesman back when sewing plants were still a thing in the South, made me a partner in his side hustle where he secured overruns of clothing from these businesses and sold them at regional flea markets. He sourced the merchandise. I handled the sales.
In the fall and winter months, we sold jeans and flannel shirts. In the spring and summer, it was shorts. And as you would suspect, we saw seasonal peaks and valleys.
One weekend in late August, we were set up with hundreds of pairs of shorts to sell at one of the bigger regional markets. We had a great booth location. The place was packed. But we couldn’t give away our shorts, not even for our bargain price of 3 pairs for $10.
As the first day was winding down, my dad had stroke of genius. He took the neon yellow posterboard sign that was taped to the front of our booth, flipped it over and made a new sign: Back to School Shorts, 3 for $10.
Within two minutes, shoppers began stopping in their tracks to notice our newly positioned “back to school” shorts. And sales took off.
My father, a true salesman if there ever was one, brought two new signs for the final day of the sale. Each one read: Back to School Shorts, 3 for $20.
We were barely able to keep our tables stocked with shorts, and by midday we had sold out. Time and time again, people read the signs out loud and came to the conclusion that if they missed out on getting some “Back to School” shorts for their kids, they would never forgive themselves.
Our product didn’t change. The market conditions didn’t change. Heck, we even raised our price. The only change was giving people a new reason to buy the same old thing. Market insight combined with pinpoint messaging. It was that simple.
Sometimes advertising is really just that easy. People try hard to make it complicated, but the right message delivered to the right audience in a way that gets noticed, that’s a formula that works.
For your next campaign, try getting out of the way and give your advertising a chance to resonate with your customers.
Eric Christopherson 