Everyone knows that the secret to a successful marketing strategy is finding some way to engage your audience so that they will remember the product or business in the advertisement or commercial. Was there anyone that did not know the $5 foot long Subway song? How about the Arby’s commercial with the “It’s good mood food,” theme?
People love creativity. They want to be entertained all the time, not just by television shows, but by the commercials in between the shows as well. When you only have your audience for a limited amount of time it takes creativity to really grasp the attention of the viewer (or reader if it is a print ad or billboard; listener for radio).
Creativity is something which many facilities in the self storage industry have been tapping into for some time to get people to take notice of them.
Access Self Storage in Lancaster, Texas, has made creativity a regular part of how they engage new and existing tenants. In April they asked people to post a picture of their pet in an Easter outfit on their Facebook page for the chance to win a $50. They are having another photo contest in May as well; this time it is a picture of you or your family in their best baseball gear.
The move is brilliant on their part. One of the things people tend to use social media sites like Facebook for is to share pictures with others. One of the things people are more apt to click on is not a page that you like, but a picture of you and/or your kids or pet. When they do that they end up visiting the page for Access Self Storage!
Another great example of creativity in action is the Summer Film Contest that Access Self Storage is holding. In this case, they are stealing a page out of the Super Bowl ads that Doritos has grown fond of doing the last few years where they have people submit their best commercials.
Access Self Storage has challenged people to make a commercial for their self storage facility. The best commercial will win VIP passes for two to tour the studios at Los Colinas.
So in this case, not only does the company gain some positive press with the contest and rewarding the winner, but it also engages people and gets them interested in the company’s website and Facebook page. That in turn plants the suggestion in users (and viewers) that Access Self Storage is the company they want to use when the need arises.
Sources Used:
Access Self Storage and Truck Rental
“Creativity in Advertising - elements of creative advertising and roles in organizations.” Suite101.com; 18 November 1999.