But What Do I Know?: The "Local" Concept

Maybe it’s just the OCD in me that gets me irritated when I see campaigns that don’t really drive the message home from start to finish… I don’t really know. But whatever it is, IT’S ALWAYS ON and “I can’t turn this thing off” (attributed to a few of my college friends who used that statement for everything, often leading to very funny results).

Here’s this week’s “but what do I know?” feature (enter sarcasim here): I noticed on my daily drive this week that Citgo is running a new billboard campaign emphasizing locally owned stations with something along the lines of “Local. Loyal. (the way it should be)”.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think that campaign would have a little more “umph” behind it if it featured a local owner standing in front of his local station. I know, I know… there’s more work and possibly a little more cost involved in running different prints instead of one same print everywhere, but we’re talking effectiveness here. Citgo’s probably shelling out millions in monthly marketing expenses – might as well make it good, right?

(Plus, I’m sure there are tons of local owners who’d be glad to have their station pictured on a billboard. Maybe even right below it or across the street? I know they’d do it for free and I sure don’t think they’d even need to help contribute to the cost, but I’m sure some would.)

I’ve always been very cynical of the fuel industry and its marketing (we have some great family friends who own a few stations and they make the majority of their money… you guessed it… in the store itself and not on gasoline), but if you’re going to try and tap into the local movement, at least put some crediblity behind it, ok? Pretty please? Thanks.

Posted by Lisa Jeffries Nobling

A good old-fashioned Southern girl - at home in the modern world.