| The infantry teaches its soldiers the valuable survival | | | | small signs draw in millions of people as they were |
| skills of cover and concealment. As civilians, we often | | | | driving along? Part of the answer lies in the genius of |
| think of camouflage face paint when we think of | | | | the construction of the ad campaign. Burma Shave |
| concealment; but simply not moving is another critical | | | | signs made us anticipate. In an earlier article we looked |
| component in concealment. Motion easily gives away | | | | at the importance of story for small business |
| the soldier's position; soldiers quickly learn to move | | | | marketing. |
| slowly and stealthily to stay hidden from the enemy. | | | | The build-up is a critical component in story. Through |
| Small business marketers need to learn from this vital | | | | movies, soap operas, novels, even comic strips, we |
| lesson: if you don't want to be seen, just don't move. | | | | humans engage in story wanting to be entertained, to |
| Unfortunately many marketers have yet to learn the | | | | be pulled through the adventure of the narrative, to the |
| corollary to this rule: If you want to be seen, leverage | | | | conclusion. It's the reason we listen when the girl two |
| motion to catch your customer's eye. | | | | cubicles over stops by to tell us about the latest outfit |
| Motion means money for the marketer. Motion | | | | she just bought (and the deal she got on it). Anticipation |
| interrupts the customer's routine--just enough--to pull | | | | breaks up the boredom of the routine. |
| her attention away from what she's doing and steer | | | | And what can be more mundane than driving through |
| her in your direction for just a moment. Engage her | | | | the endless fields and pastures of the Midwestern |
| attention, then immediately guide her toward the next | | | | United States? In twenty words or less the clever, |
| action: send a salesperson to talk to her, or attract her | | | | compact Burma Shave jingles supplied something to |
| to inspect your merchandise. Remember, motion is the | | | | look forward to--a break in the drive's monotony. |
| shiny lure on the end of a line that's tethered to a hook; | | | | Plus, the Burma Shave signs moved the people in the |
| but it's only the lure, not the hook itself. | | | | car to share a laugh or possibly a groan. Think hearing |
| In the first several decades of US motoring, a series of | | | | the kids in the back seat talk about those little signs |
| small, sequential road signs helped build Burma Shave | | | | boosted Burma Shave's brand recall in mom and dad's |
| into a nationally known brand. A quick Google search | | | | mind |
| will show you several websites that have examples of | | | | ? |
| the Burma Shave slogans. Typically there were | | | | And all because Burma Shave combined the motion of |
| between four and six signs per ad. If you take just five | | | | the car with the anticipation of story. |
| minutes to look at some Burma Shave sign examples, | | | | Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your |
| you'll quickly get a feel for this unique campaign. | | | | Face to the Customer) + People (customers and |
| Why did Burma Shave signs work? Why did these | | | | employees) = Marketing Success. |