A Clear, Simple Message

I frequently see a commercial later in the evening that is an excellent example of conveying a marketing message in a clear, simple manner.  The commercial is for 1-800-ask-gary, an marketing arm of the Louisville Injury Clinics, Inc. that offers legal and medical referrals.  In the commercial a young couple has an accident and asks their phone what to do.  The phone suggests that they contact 1-800-ask-gary, the 24/7 auto accident helpline.  The spokesperson states, “1-800-ask-gary can find you help fast and even have you talk to an attorney.  Over the past ten years, over two hundred thousand people have dialed 1-800-ask-gary to find them legal and medical help.”

What particularly struck me about this message is the name, the memorability, and the call to action.

Using Gary, a person’s name, creates a feeling of comfort. Gary sounds like someone you know, a neighbor, or a friend.  Gary sounds like someone reliable.  Gary sounds like someone you can trust.   When a person is in an accident or have a crisis that requires medical or legal help, he or she wants to turn to someone who feels trustworthy.  The name Gary does that.

Gary is also an easy name to remember.  It is short, easy to say, and quick.  In fact, the entire marketing message 1-800-ask-gary is easy to remember.  That number is repeated several times during the commercial, impressing it on the viewer through repetition.  A marketing message presented in this manner is similar to hearing a message in a jingle.  The recipient is likely to remember it.

The 1-800-ask-gary contains within it a call to action, “Ask Gary.”   Get medical or legal assistance by asking Gary what to do.  The message implies that Gary has the answers.   In addition, every repetition is this phrase, “Call 1-800-ask-gary,” which is another call to action, making the call.  Thinking about it, I don’t recall seeing two calls to action in one marketing message.  That gives a double call to action effect.  Calls to action are important because they tell the recipients what to do and encourage them to do it.  They are an important part of effective marketing.    

Very few marketing messages are this simple and clear.  Whoever developed this message invested a great deal of thought into creating it.  They wanted to make it easy to use and memorable.  They wanted the message to convey trust.  They wanted it to project a call to action.  They achieved all of that.  Their thinking created a more profitable message than encouraging people to contact Louisville Injury Clinics. 

Consider the difference that thought made.  How can you apply that in your business?           

How to Communicate Trust

I watched an interesting story on 60 Minutes last Sunday.  A financial marketing expert, Michael Lewis, had detected something strange happening with stock buys.  He found that high-frequency computerized stock traders were controlling half the stock market and making tens of billions of dollars in the process.  “The US stock market is rigged,“ Lewis stated.

Lewis had a conversation with Brad Katsuyama, a trader from the Royal Bank of Canada who had been experiencing the same problems.  When he placed an order for stock, only part of the order would be filled at the current price.  The balance of the order would not be available or be available at a higher price. 

When the two talked, Brad realized that he was not alone in his experiences.  Brad decided to pursue this problem and hired an Irish telecom expert on fiber optic networks, Ronan Ryan, to assist.  Ronan discovered that someone regularly detected the orders while they were in progress, bought the stock, and drove up the price.  The traders doing this were using a faster electronic route.  Ronan offered a solution of rerouting the orders, which worked.    

Based on that success, Brad quit his job with Royal Bank of Canada and started a new stock market, IEX, the investor’s exchange.  In this stock market, traders are not subjected to increased prices or incomplete orders.  He approached several large hedge fund operators and financial companies, including T.Rowe Price, The Capitol Group, Fidelity, and Vanguard, to explain the problem and his solution.  When they grasped what was happening, they were shocked.  One said, “I knew something was wrong, but no one had told us.”

Many have signed up for the new stock market as a result. 

How has Brad been able to establish his new stock market quickly?  Lewis notes, “When someone walks in the door who is actually trustworthy, he has enormous power.  And this is the story, the story of trying to restore trust to the financial markets.”

Brad has been amazed at the response.  “We are selling trust.  We are selling transparency.  Who would have guessed that trust could be a differentiator in a service business?” he remarked.

Sadly, today people are yearning to deal with companies they can trust.  Customers encounter too much manipulation and skimming.  They deal with too many companies who focus on the company rather than the customer.  Management at those companies doesn’t embrace developing profitable customers for long-term success.  They are taking all the money they can amass today with no thought of the customer tomorrow.

Your focus on what’s in it for your customer is important to your customer.  Check that you and your employees are communicating this focus in what you do and say.  Don’t do it by saying, “You can trust us.” 

Do it by telling the truth about a customer’s problem and offering a solution that benefits the customer.  Just as Brad did, communicate trust by actions and focus.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What experience have you had where trust was the differentiator?  E-mail me your answer.