Ben Dunne's recent radio campaign to promote his gyms' business was pathetic.
The punch line of his radio advertising was
(Another line in one of the ads was "exercise is good for you". I know this-my mother told me. Frankly nobody cares. This is as useful and persuasive as telling me to eat my greens).
The target market for his gyms are people looking to lose weight and/or improve fitness. So his ad should speak directly to these people and their pain.
And it should speak to the benefits of gym membership, that is, what will membership actually do for the listener.
It could also give a good "reason why" he was offering such a good deal.
So his ad could have gone something like this:
And even allowing for their fee Ben Dunne gyms would get a far better return on its advertising spend and increased membership sales.
Ben Dunne is probably a very wealthy man and he mightn't be too concerned about the effectiveness of his radio advertising. And he clearly likes being on the radio.
If that's the case, good luck to him.
But if you are a small business owner-like me-who needs to look after the few bob fairly diligently and can't afford to indulge yourself, there might be a lesson here for both of us.
Note 1: the suggested wording here is just an example and is for illustration purposes only; it is not based on the price of gym membership or any other features of this gym membership or the ad.
The punch line of his radio advertising was
"if Dunne can't do it, it can't be done".What exactly is that? Some old saw he might have heard as a child? Verbal masturbation? A meaningless play on words?
(Another line in one of the ads was "exercise is good for you". I know this-my mother told me. Frankly nobody cares. This is as useful and persuasive as telling me to eat my greens).
The target market for his gyms are people looking to lose weight and/or improve fitness. So his ad should speak directly to these people and their pain.
And it should speak to the benefits of gym membership, that is, what will membership actually do for the listener.
It could also give a good "reason why" he was offering such a good deal.
So his ad could have gone something like this:
Are you fed up being overweight and not being able to get nice clothes in your size? Are you sometimes embarrassed or depressed about how you look? Do you pass up opportunities to go out with your friends? Do you hate looking at photos of yourself?
We know that losing weight is bloody hard. You have probably tried every type of diet and exercise program going. It's almost certainly not your fault. Some of us just struggle with it and have to work harder.
For the months of May and June, Ben Dunne Gyms are offering membership to any of its Dublin gyms at a 37% discount off the normal price.Why are we offering such a good deal?
Because traditionally the months of May and June are really quiet for some reason and, quite frankly, to smooth out our cash flow.
We are fairly certain that a Ben Dunne gym membership will help you finally reduce that hard to shift weight... permanently.Because our personal trainers are qualified professionals and our equipment is state of the art.
Imagine what you could do with the extra energy and drive you will feel within weeks. Imagine shopping for much smaller clothes sizes.
Sean from Kildare and Mary from Churchtown both joined in January and they have lost a combined 3 stone. Their lives have been transformed.
Call 01/xx xx xx xx zz now for a no obligation meeting at a Ben Dunne gym of your choice. Don't delay though because we expect this deal to be pretty popular and the number of memberships with the 37% discount are limited to the first 300 people. (See note 1 below)If Ben Dunne got one of the Dublin footballers or hurlers to do the voiceover it would be far more effective too.
And even allowing for their fee Ben Dunne gyms would get a far better return on its advertising spend and increased membership sales.
Ben Dunne is probably a very wealthy man and he mightn't be too concerned about the effectiveness of his radio advertising. And he clearly likes being on the radio.
If that's the case, good luck to him.
But if you are a small business owner-like me-who needs to look after the few bob fairly diligently and can't afford to indulge yourself, there might be a lesson here for both of us.
Note 1: the suggested wording here is just an example and is for illustration purposes only; it is not based on the price of gym membership or any other features of this gym membership or the ad.
