The Salesby5 Blog

The number one question I get all the time regarding the ”Your Wife is Hot” billboard article, is “did someone from Jon Wayne company ever call you?”  The answer is still no.  I have called them back and attempted to ask the owners about the billboard, leaving a total of four new messages in the last two weeks. So far, I have seen about three places in San Antonio where these billboards reside and can’t understand why my calls were never returned. Jon Wayne Air Conditioning, are you worried about something?

My plan was to write about a billboard that finally caught my attention. After building and owning a top design firm turned ad agency and working in branding for about 24 years, I am always amazed by the story behind what you see. We use Beyer Boys for my house.  They do not have any funny or cool billboards but they do return your call, even if you want to talk to the owners. Great marketing is just hype if you don’t have the execution to follow-through!

Remember, the data shows that there are so few people that followup and are lacking in execution that you can win if you just stick with it.

This weekend I passed the billboard seen above. With a little research, I found out that Your Wife is Hot was the most popular among the respondents to the recent NEWS online survey on the effectiveness of billboard advertising.

I was pleasantly shocked; it made me look three times and I wanted to take a photo. That has only happened once before, when I encountered the worst billboard I had ever seen, and I only wanted to take a picture then so I could show people what not to do. At SalesBy5 we are not usually fans of billboards because most lack a call to action or the ability to track performance. However in this situation, with the South Texas heat already breaking 100 degrees a few days this year, their advertising was spot-on.

A few months ago we wrote about brand promise and brand experience, so I called Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning yesterday to talk to them about writing this blog. After a few rings an automated phone system answered and promptly hung up on me. I called back, which I would not normally do, but I was in search of answers. This time their system worked, so I asked if there was anyone available I could talk to about their billboard. Unfortunately no one was available, and I was told to leave a voice mail. Persistent, I then asked if I could get the cell phone number of someone to talk to, and was once again told to leave a voice mail. Finally, I offered to leave my name and number and have the person call me back as soon as possible, but was once again told to leave a voice mail. Dejected, I ended up doing as I was told.

It is rare that we see good advertising, let alone great. We are exposed to so much clutter that letting something through our subconscious gate keeper is huge! I have mentioned this billboard to about 15 people now and also wrote about it on Twitter. As Seth Godin puts it; if something is remarkable, people will remark about it. I say people are going to talk, so give them something to talk about with your ads, pitches, and brand.

No one from Jon Wayne was heard from as of press time which is now 24 hours later!

Photo courtesy of Derrich.com