The Gas Station Marketer

From a marketing and advertising standpoint the gas station sign has always intrigued me. From its early days of the flashing arrow, harkening you to come in and purchase trinkets including the occasionally over-cooked hot dog. The gas station sign has become a part of Americana. It not only gives us the price of gas, but reminds us that a slurpy is only $.99 and is for a limited time only. The funny thing about the gas station sign with its pre-spaced letters is the limited amount of space you're given to convey a message. Companies will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year looking for way to incorporate a theme into every inch of packaging. (Which to be honest, the gas station sign is packaging.) Need an example? Take for instance Snapple, with its phrases underneath the cap. Bingo you just been sold to! So the fact that a company would spend thousands of dollars on a sign and then let someone who makes like $8 bucks an hour use it for advertising is beyond me. None-the-less. While driving back from lunch one day I made it a point to drive by this gas station whose sign always gives me a chuckle, and usually causes me to think. But usually not think in marketing terms. So today’s sign was:

Chicken
Tenderloin
Pizza

That’s it? What's so special about that, I thought. Are they now selling the worlds first chicken-tenderloin-pizza? And if so, good god how gross could that be! Or are they selling chicken, tenderloins, and pizza? More than likely its probably the latter, as they mostly get construction workers in and hand held food is the way to go for lunch. ( I don’t mean that in a derogatory fashion , but it is true.) Then I thought, way to go $8 dollar-an-hour-gas station-attendant-wanna-be-marketer! You just got me so intrigued about the product your selling that I almost want to check it out. And you did it without the use of flashy billboard style advertising. Of course he must still bow his head to the greatest of all $8 dollar-an-hour-gas station-attendant-wanna-be-marketers, that person resides in Cleveland, just north of downtown. Where in his infinite wisdom he placed the words:

Fried Chicken
Baked Fish
Praise Jesus

Not only did he get product placement its due justice, but reminded me to be religious. And the whole time I thought. I probably would need to praise Jesus after eating any of the first two.

The Selling Point: No matter what your budget is, take a cue from the gas station in Cleveland and BE CLEVER! The best advertising is one that causes conversation and not amnesia.

Sales Quote: Today, many companies are reporting that their number one constraint on growth is the inability to hire workers with the necessary skills.
-Bill Clinton