Steve Hoffacker's Sales Quips

Thursday, I posted Nike's 60-second commercial, Throwdown, with no announcer, no voice over, no spoken words that showed how well a commercial could be done if a little thought and effort went into it - compared to the lousy crop of Super Bowl ads from last Sunday.

As they were filming that one, apparently they took some of the footage and made a 30-second spot focused just on women. This one is just as good and equally compelling to watch.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other blog homesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Forget about that sad crop of Super Bowl commercials we suffered through on Sunday.

I saw this one today, and I can watch it several more times. It's great. It's got excitement, action, and unexpected elements. It's fast-paced and honors a lot of physical accomplishments and achievement. There are no special effects because the real deal is even better.

Had Nike shown this commercial on Sunday, we'd all be talking raving about it.

Here's a feel good commercial that you can watch again and again - and you don't  even know what the product is until the last frame - except that I just told you.

All of the creative minds that made a collective mess on Sunday could learn much from this spot.

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For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other blog homesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

In yesterdays post "Ads, commercials, and turn-offs" and then the sequel to that this morning "Ads, commercials, and turn-offs - II" I started out reflecting on the recent barrage of political ads and then went from there.

In the original post, I was talking about Geico ads and how I think they are lacking in continuity - but as a whole body of work they do make you remember the brand and talk about - often in a negative light.

However, speaking of insurance companies, there are 3 other ad campaigns that I want to look at briefly - one makes no sense, one is brand new,, and one is extremely well done.

The one that makes no sense is Nothwestern Mutual - "the quiet company." When they first started advertising The Olympics (I think that's right, but I don't remember the year), their slogan fit them very well because they had not advertised. Unless you were a policy holder (which I was) or well-versed on insurance products, you probably hadn't heard of them. Well, now many years later with a fair amount of print and televised advertising, they are still trying to get away with that "quiet company" message. It doesn't ring true anymore.

Then there's Old Mutual which over the past couple of weeks has come out with some humorous spots. Still don't know who or what the are but they have a catchy slogan.

Now the one that is so well done that I didn't immediately think of it because it's not gimicky - just a very solid "pay-it-forward" message. I'm talking about Liberty Mutual. They have run a couple of urban scenarios and now there's one on that takes place at a carnival. Nothing about the product, but a memorable, core belief message.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

In yesterdays post "Ads, commercials, and turn-offs" I was recounting the recent political ads and the less than stellar crop of ads that have been broadcast recently. Many commented about bygone ads, and I appreciate that.

Here's an ad campaign that I completely forgot about as I focused on how much I like the Bud/Bud Light ads and dislike the Geico ads. I think the Apple-PC spots are really clever and have stayed consistent with their format. Even the current Vista ones where the PC guy is allocating money between advertising and fixing the system and puts it all into advertising - or the one with the buzzer to block out the mention of "Vista." To me these are clever and well-done and warranted a "Part II" to the original post.

BTW, do you think these 2 guys can ever do another commercial where they don't play these parts?

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

The recent elections were great for ad people and marketers. I’m sure they were working overtime. Ads were seemingly being cranked out in just a matter of hours.

Some were fairly memorable and even pleasant to watch. Some made us cringe.

That got me thinking about good ads and bad ads – of course by my standards.

The Super Bowl – except for this past year – is usually a great display of creativity. My favorite commercial this past year – and one of only a couple that I consider to worthy or rewatching – is the story of Hank the Clydesdale and his Rockyesque training regimen that he is put through by his friend the dalmation.

Anyone else turned off by the Geico commercials? I would never buy their product. Their incessant, wacky commercials are enough for me to feel this way but I’ve had experience also. What’s next the Geico channel? I mean they tried the caveman TV show.

Any commercials really bother you to the point that they have wasted their money trying to appeal to you?

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.