Listening IN commercials

From a recent email I received:

Listen to Your Customers. Really listen. That’s Why Progressive’s Flo, the Sales Clerk, Ads Succeed

Posted: 13 Feb 2009 03:52 AM PST

She is listening to her customers and she is passionate about her products. So we believe Progressive is, too. And, through Flo, the company makes it a no-brainer to understand why we should buy from them and how we can do it.

I think we would all like to run into a sales clerk who cares as much about her customers as Flo does in the long running series of Progressive Insurance commercials that encourage viewers to visit their website, Progressive.com. She is probably now just as much of an insurance advertising icon as the Geico gecko.

Actually, the two advertising campaigns have something in common: they are amusing and memorable, but they make very clear points about why you will benefit from buying their products. Creativity never gets in the way of their goal to persuade you to buy stuff.

You need to listen to your customers. Really listen!

Flow is a genuine listener. She asks a question. She waits for the answer. And, then, she serves up a customized, cost-saving insurance solution from Progressive. If you haven’t seen the commercials, they are simple to explain. Flow is a passionate, caring salesclerk in a make-believe retail insurance store that is a metaphor for their website, Progressive.com. In the series of TV ads, she helps a variety of customers, each of whom has a different insurance need. In the very first, she helps a young woman who confides that she hasn’t bought insurance in a long time to which she replies, “And you’re worried that you’ve been paying too much.” In response, Flo explains you can use their website to compare policies from different companies to make sure that you’re getting the best deal even–if it doesn’t turn out to be Progressive.

Although the series of commercials deal with different situations faced by different customers, all of them make two simple but salient points:

1. You will save money by buying insurance from Progressive.
2. You can customize your policy to meet your needs exactly.

It would be impossible to watch even one of their commercials without absorbing those points. But, they don’t stop there. They close by asking you to act by visiting Progressive.com. And, who wouldn’t be responsive to the lovable Flo?

Compare Progressive with Traveler’s TV ads. Traveler’s creativity trumps effectiveness.

Traveler’s has been reintroducing the famous red umbrella. That’s both good and important. All of the ads are very different and wildly creative. Almost the only commonality among the series is the presence of the umbrella. But we are pretty much left to figure out exactly how we will be protected by the umbrella. Traveler’s never offers up an explicit benefit. Nor do they ask us to take action.

Progressive makes it crystal clear why you will benefit from buying from them and how you can go about taking the next step toward a purchase at Progressive.com. I think it shows that they know a lot about effective advertising. I think it also shows that they have been listening to their customers and know exactly what is most important to them. That’s why they can perfectly nail those two points that they make again and again and again.

Something in Common: Effective Advertising and Successful Content Marketing.

Both require that you listen, really listen to your customers so that you understand the problems they want to solve and why you are best suited to provide them precise solutions.

Want to meet Flo? Find her on YouTube.

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