Build Recognition with Billboards - Smart Marketing Move

This week’s smart marketing move goes to South of the Border for their ingenious billboard marketing.

South of the Border would be nothing if it weren’t for its billboards on I-95 South going towards Florida. I remember as a kid being excited every time I saw one. Why? Well, they counted down the miles to Florida and they were amusing!

South of the Border has one way of marketing and they do it extremely well. These billboards, are a play on words like “Pedro’s Fireworks, Does yours?” they count down the miles on every billboard and they get you excited even if you don’t know what it is! I know I was as a kid. Yes, many say this is a tourist trap, but even if it is, it doesn’t mean they are doing it wrong. They’re doing it all right. Their target audience is tourists and tourists travel on I-95 which spans the entire east coast. So their CAPTIVE target audience is traveling I-95, this is a no-brainer if you ask me! Many travel from NJ, PA and NY to drive to Florida. They have nothing else to focus on and after so many billboards kids are excited as well as parents.

It’s a good reason to stop and be a tourist. South of the Border, you’ve done it right and now it’s time we learn from you.

Lesson Learned: Know who your target audience is, learn where they are going, what they are going to do, and learn what they want to spend. South of the Border has everything from Fireworks to beer to small kitschy items. Even though they don’t tell you exactly what they offer and who they are, you know it’s a tourist area. So for your marketing, don’t be over wordy but make sure your target audience knows what your business is and why they would want to use your business. Learning about your audience can pay off big, just like it did, and still is, for South of the Border.

Law Firm's Phone Number - Smart Marketing Move

This week’s smart marketing move goes to Black and Older Law Firm.

Law firms are not generally known for the smart marketing but Black and Older did something that easily gets through the massive amounts of ads we see everyday, including their competition. It’s not their brilliant use of words on a billboard, their catchy music on a radio ad, or their off the charts website, it’s their phone number!

Everyday we are bombarded with ads and all of those ads have numbers, so how are we supposed to remember them? Even if we try it’s hard. Well, the Black and Older Law Firm secured a phone number that you won’t forget, EVER! It’s their local area code, plus 5-6-7-8-9-10. Yep that works out to a phone number! They’ve also played up the numbers even more with their catch phrase, “The Number You Can Count On 5-6-7-8-9-10”, what a smart marketing move!

Lesson Learned: Even something as simple as a phone number is just as important as any marketing you may do. Don’t forget to look at the small things, they add up to something memorable and catchy!

Be Open to Change - Smart Thought

{A "Smart Thought" (quotation) is a succinct way of stating a powerful point. How one interprets that point impacts the actions one takes.}

It's easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out-of-date." - Roger von Oech

Smart Thought: Be open to change because the odds are your competition won't be.


If you have a Smart Thought you'd like to express with your interpretation email MarketingSmartly@aol.com, with the subject line SMART THOUGHT SUBMISSION. At the end of each month, we'll choose one for a small but stimulating prize.