Ok, I know this is a funny article coming from the guy who struggles with spelling, but typos can kill a brand.
I just got back from my Christmas trip with family in Houston, TX. After getting home and grabbing some food, the wife and I thought we would throw on some mindless TV to chill and ease back in to our normal home life and work week.
So as we are watching TV, this commercial comes on. It is for Courtesy Nissan and they are advertising that they some some great luxery cars for up to $30,000. So I figured these were used cars they were selling. I personally do not think of Nissan when I AM THINKING of LUXURY CARS. Nothing against Nissan, I think they probably make a quality vehicle, I just do not see them as a luxury vehicle company. Here is a screen shot of the ad.
Of course Courtesy Nissan of Richardson, TX does not sell Luxury cars. They sell “LUXERY” cars. So if you are looking for Luxery cars, does this mean you are looking for a fancy car on the CHEAP? Is this a rich mogul who sees the error and know (s)he can get a deal? Or is it the person who normally woudn’t be able to afford a Luxury car from a Luxury Car Dealer?
Either way, we think Courtesy Nissan made a serious mistake. If you hadn’t caught it yet, they misspelled “Luxery.” So you have to wonder how much did an ad like this cost? And why would you pay this kind of money to promote a campaign without the use of a proofreader? Does a major misspelling like this undermined your brand? You bet it does especially if you are trying to cater to the wealthy or upper class who are usually well educated.
Granted we all make mistakes. Heck if you read this blog on a regular bases, you know I have my own share of typos. The problem though is making sure the main words you use to attract your target audience is spelled correctly. In this case, I would bet their audience would never buy from them.
Here is my quick advice to Courtesy Nissan:
- Pull this ad
- Rework the ad and use a proofreader
- then run the new ad
Here is my real recommended advice for you or Courtesy Nissan:
- Don’t run TV ads unless you have a big budget for ongoing advertising and proofreaders
- Turn to the web since this is where most people hang out these days
- Try some Facebook advertising, LinkedIn advertising or some Pay Per Click advertising to reach the exact target customer especially if you are tied to a local geographic region
- Try blogging it’s much cheaper and has a longer return on investment that gives back for years to come (as well as it is easier to fix typos)
- Hire a professional firm to help you in this space, the results you can get will happen much quicker if you work with someone who is a trusted advisor and does this stuff day in and day out
We hope these tips help you and also help Courtesy Nissan. Remember communication is the key to getting new customers. If you fail the communication then customers will go elsewhere, it is just too easy to find a competitor in todays marketplace.
This is a mistake my editor made and I take responsibility for not checking it before it was up loaded.
Mistakes happen and we do our best to proof read everything that goes out.We produce about 100+ TV ads per month and in most cases we catch typos before they ship.It is being corrected as we speak.Thanks for calling us and letting us know this issue.
Q. If a beautiful woman has a small mole on her face is she not still a beautiful woman?
This is a mistake my editor made and I take responsibility for not checking it before it was up loaded.
Mistakes happen and we do our best to proof read everything that goes out.We produce about 100+ TV ads per month and in most cases we catch typos before they ship.It is being corrected as we speak.Thanks for calling us and letting us know this issue.
Q. If a beautiful woman has a small mole on her face is she not still a beautiful woman?
Hi Shelley, glad to help. Again hope this was helpful to save money and get more business in the future. This is why I shared it with you. I know when you are running multiple ads or campaigns at one time it is easy to overlook things from time to time. This is why I needed to share this solution with my readers. It happens to the best of us for sure, but it is important to understand that when these things happen (and they will) have some systems in place to jump on them quickly.
Here is my answer to your question.
A. Sometime a mole can add uniqueness and be beautiful something that makes the woman even more attractive.
So how does this question and answer tie in to the topic? Here is the answer to this… the “mole” in question is not the typo mistake made in the ad, the mole is how you deal with the mistake that makes a company more attractive. As in this example, Shelley reached back out to me to share with us that a solution was in the works and she did it in a public place. Look we all have mistakes but Shelley let me know she is working on it. This is a good thing. How you handle negative situations in public is what can make or break your brand reputation.
Good job Shelley! Taking responsibility for our problems (moles) and having the ability to say we’re human and make mistakes is the sign of a real and successful company.
And for this I commend Shelley McBride @ Radio Vision Inc & Courtesy Nissan for hiring them. Great crisis control guys!
Hi Shelley, glad to help. Again hope this was helpful to save money and get more business in the future. This is why I shared it with you. I know when you are running multiple ads or campaigns at one time it is easy to overlook things from time to time. This is why I needed to share this solution with my readers. It happens to the best of us for sure, but it is important to understand that when these things happen (and they will) have some systems in place to jump on them quickly.
Here is my answer to your question.
A. Sometime a mole can add uniqueness and be beautiful something that makes the woman even more attractive.
So how does this question and answer tie in to the topic? Here is the answer to this… the “mole” in question is not the typo mistake made in the ad, the mole is how you deal with the mistake that makes a company more attractive. As in this example, Shelley reached back out to me to share with us that a solution was in the works and she did it in a public place. Look we all have mistakes but Shelley let me know she is working on it. This is a good thing. How you handle negative situations in public is what can make or break your brand reputation.
Good job Shelley! Taking responsibility for our problems (moles) and having the ability to say we’re human and make mistakes is the sign of a real and successful company.
And for this I commend Shelley McBride @ Radio Vision Inc & Courtesy Nissan for hiring them. Great crisis control guys!