Continuity

A few days ago a television commercial caught my attention. At the end of the commercial, the advertiser stated “We service and maintain peace of mind.”

“Whoa! What was that? Who was that for?” I shouted as I reached for the remote to replay the commercial.

The commercial was for Bonfe, a company which offers plumbing, heating, cooling, electrical, drain cleaning, appliance repair, and indoor air services. I was excited. “Someone did a marketing plan!” I exclaimed. “That company knows why its customers buy. Wow!”

Wanting to share this with you, I went to Bonfe’s Web site to find out more about the company. When the home page came up, my excitement turned to disappointment. The headline on the home page was “Bonfe for Your Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning, Electrical, and Appliance Repair Needs.”

“Oh, no,” I moaned. “They didn’t carry it through.”

At the top of the page was Bonfe’s logo with a tag line of “The trusted name in home comfort.” Bonfe had discovered why customers buy from them, but company personnel had not continued that message onto the Web site.

Scrolling further down the home page, I found another reference to peace of mind. “Save $400 today. Sign up for our Gold Peace of Mind Plan.” The company had taken the reason that the customer buys and tied it to a supposed discount of $400. I say supposed because often these are gimmicks of discounts that the company offers to close a sale.

That was a sad misuse of “peace of mind.”

Now I wonder if Bonfe did a marketing plan or just saw what appeared to be a catchy slogan, peace of mind, and used it. Whatever the case, my point to you regarding this situation is continuity. Once you establish a message such as “We service and maintain peace of mind,” that message should continue in a prominent position throughout all your communications. Do not use the message on a television commercial and use a different message, “The trusted name in home comfort,” on a Web site. Use the same message everywhere.

That creates continuity. Similar to a snowball rolling downhill and picking up momentum and snow as it goes, continuity adds impact and retention of your message in the customer’s mind.