The lines that reference the pinstripes and the unusual shape of the dial are there to trigger the curiosity of people who notice and like watches. This radio ad is an example of using low-cost, untargeted mass media to reach the unfiltered masses and then target through copy writing.

QUESTION: “Why not use digital media to target known watch buyers?”

ANSWER ONE: Retargeting is the only truly efficient and cost-effective way to sell online shoppers. For the uninitiated, retargeting is “following” people who have visited your website with ads that visually tap them on the shoulder with a gentle smile and remind them of what they found there.*  But you can’t retarget people who haven’t yet visited your website. The bulk of money invested in online adverting is spent to attract visitors to your website for that all-important first visit. When used consistently, radio and television advertising are – by a wide margin – the most cost-effective ways to drive people to your website. The fact that they will also drive customers directly to your store is a secondary benefit you get at no extra charge.

ANSWER TWO: Do your own research. Compare the cost of targeted Facebook ads, Google Adwords, etc. with the 43 cents per person/per year we’re spending in San Francisco to reach the average citizen 156 times this year with a full-length 60-second radio ad. This means we’re paying less than three-tenths of one cent** to engage a customer for a full sixty-seconds. The key to making radio work, of course, is to gain and hold the listener’s attention. This requires good ad writing.

1. San Francisco visits our website because we connect with the average citizen 156 a year through radio.
2. We become the jeweler people think of immediately and feel the best about when they finally need what we sell.
3. A few of them come to the store right away to see the Feature Item.
4. Visitors to our website find our carefully curated Community Content on the Shreve blog.
5. Customer bonding begins with the radio ads and is deepened through the blog, where the customer will encounter the same personality and style of interaction they experienced on the radio. The more time San Francisco spends with us on the radio (156 minutes per person this year!) and the more time they spend engaging with us through our blog, the more likely they are to buy from us. The store that wins the customer’s time is the one most likely to win their money.

A blog – like this rabbit hole – is Community Content for self-selected insiders.

Discovery Content wins short-term engagement from the customer.
Community Content wins long-term engagement from the customer, the essential goal of true branding.

* Used properly, retargeting is highly efficient
but most advertisers spend more than they should by
(1.) following the customer too many times a day and
(2.) for too many days.
Please don’t make these mistakes.

** $0.00275641 to be exact