Pleasing Everyone
By Nathan Johnson

Is it possible to please everyone with your advertising? Probably not, but there is a way to be smart about pleasing existing and prospective customers with your advertising strategy.

To illustrate, I’ll share the story of Taxi Mom.

Taxi Mom is a transportation service focused primarily on taking kids to and from school. It’s designed for kids who live too far from school to walk and too close to ride the bus (many districts require kids to live a certain distance from the school to qualify to ride the bus).

Taxi Mom owns a fleet of vehicles (mostly SUVs), with each vehicle featuring signage as a sort of mobile advertisement, but Taxi Mom takes a unique approach with this signage. It’s removable, and, in fact, Taxi Mom removes the signs before dropping children off at the junior high and high school. You might be wondering why that happens. Why would a business remove a key type of advertising at what is arguably one of the best times/locations for displaying it?

I don’t know if you remember what it was like to be in junior high, but it’s a pretty traumatic experience for a lot of kids. Everything is focused on image and on being “cool,” and one thing that is definitely not cool is being dropped off at school by a shuttle service with “Mom” in the name that also takes elementary school kids to their campuses. If you need a little help imaging why that’s so heinous, think of your child stepping out of the vehicle and having other kids accuse them of riding the “bus for babies.” Most junior high kids don’t want those types of “mortifying” insults hurled their way.

Taxi Mom knows this, and, as a way to better serve customers – in this case, the kids who ride the shuttle – the company has come up with a clever way to make the whole process easier by removing the signs. It has the effect of turning the shuttle into an otherwise non-descript SUV. As a result, those kids are far more likely to keep riding with Taxi Mom, rather than complaining to their parents and asking for another transportation option.

In addition, word gets around about things like that. Parents (who write the checks to Taxi Mom) want to spare their kids from trauma, and a small touch like removing the signs for that part of the morning trip could be the deciding factor in who they choose to take their kids to school.

For its part, Taxi Mom does display the signs during other portions of its morning route – namely at the elementary schools. That helps to advertise to parents of the younger children, creating a customer base that is likely to remain strong as those children transition into their later school years.

When it comes to advertising, Taxi Mom has a smart strategy. The company hits a number of targets, including existing customers and potential new riders. In the process of trying to please everyone, the company does a pretty good job of generating more and better business.

Coming up with a great advertising strategy requires careful thought about all of your targets. It’s not always an easy task, which is why it pays to seek out the counsel of a trusted advertising agency – one that can help you identify your targets and the best way to reach them. It can definitely help you get where you’re going without having to worry about dodging the insults.

E-mail the author: Nathan Johnson

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