Consistent voice-over announcer. Did you ever notice how some of the biggest companies pick one announcer and use them for years at a time? Well, they do, and it may be possible for you to do the same. Contact your radio spot producers to see if they offer unique voice-over announcers. If you simply have the station produce your spot for free, they often have a minimal selection of in-house announcers, each of whom represents many local companies. Using the same announcer as everyone else makes your ad seem run-of-the-mill. Therefore, you may want to consider hiring a radio or audio production company who can provide a variety of announcers. After hearing demos, select someone who has a memorable voice and who, in your estimation, ‘sounds’ like your jewellery store. Sometimes you can get away with using a store owner or manager if they have a clear and unique voice, but other times this ends up sounding awkward. An honest third party should help you assess in this case. Once you find your unique voice-over announcer, continue using the person for at least a few years and weigh your results.
Unique slogan. Slogans are very important for branding, especially since they can go in all of your marketing material (e.g. radio, television, outdoor, online, magazine, newspaper, social media, in-store signage, or letterhead). Ideally, if you mention your store to someone at a dinner party, for instance, they should be able to tell you your slogan immediately. Consider the following to help create a slogan. Not all are crucial, but using at least a few of them is wise.
- For the best memorability, use a rhyme every time. I would venture to guess you remember that last sentence better than any other in this article because it rhymed.
- Use seven words or less. Including just a few words increases the value of each of them, as well as the ease of remembering the phrase.
- Include your store’s key benefit. Make sure you know the one main factor that sets your store apart from others. Use clever wording to work in this benefit.
- Speak the language of your target customers. Stores targeting high-end purchasers might choose different words than those targeting value shoppers. Pay attention to how your best customers speak.
- Be fully original. This may be the hardest objective, as it seems like everything under the sun has been used. But it hasn’t. Think hard enough and you will create a fully unique phrase.
