The Perfect Hydration Choice...right?
The 2012 Summer Olympics in London are in full swing. China and the US have traded the lead once or twice, with China presently ahead in Gold, Silver, and Overall medals as of writing this. This may change once or twice more before all is said and done. Who will come out on top is clear, however.
Coca-Cola. And McDonalds. And Visa. And many of the other Olympic "sponsors" who's advertisements continually bombard audiences captive to the feeds, both live and "tape-delayed," of NBC (as if anyone actually uses "tape" these days). And though the commercials are themselves somewhat heartwarming, I cannot watch them without my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, because I know that most athletes eschew such consumable products, even if they endorse them. (One is reminded of the scene in Forrest Gump where, after his memorable stint on the US Olympic Ping Pong Team, Forrest winds up endorsing ping-pong paddles he doesn't use. His mother assures him that such endorsements are "little white lies" that hurt nobody). Heart-disease aside, the modern olympic athletes are simply doing much the same.
So what does this have to do with you, O small business owner?
For a long time, I debated whether such luxurious advertisements were worth it. Everyone in the world knows what Coca-Cola is. Most of them have had one. Many have one a day. For such people, seeing a Coke commercial isn't usually about creating an instant desire so much as it is about maintaining a continual relationship -- I hesitate to use the word "friendship" with a product, though at times it seems like such companies as Coca-Cola want to be more to us than mere refreshment.
What such advertisements are geared towards is building an image, a reputation, and keeping themselves in the forefront of your subconscious, so that the next time you want a refreshing quaff, the quaff you quaff is Coke.
You could get more customers if every time someone thought about the kind of business you do, you were the first company that came to mind.
To this day, I still remember the jingle for a pizza company in Lawrence, KS, because it was catchy. Their pizza wasn't the best, and I don't live there any more, but were I to visit, and to simultaneously want pizza, I could call them without having to grab a phone book (or, more likely, without having to Google them, since the yellow pages are dead).
Building a Facebook page, sponsoring a local event or charity, or even releasing a press release are all ways of getting your brand, your company, your reputation, into the minds of your potential customers and clients.
