Saturday night. Date night for many folks, a time to get away from the kids and spend some much needed time quality time just between the two of you. Away from the kids, the stress, the “can I have this” and “dad come quick – I want that” as a finger points towards the TV. We decided to go see a movie. If it was up to me I would have picked some raunchy or blow em up “guy” movie – Horrible Bosses, The Change Up, Friends With Benefits, Cowboys vs Aliens but it wasn’t up to me, the last time I got to pick the movie we went to see “The Hangover 2″ HYSTERICAL. It was her turn. Her is my wife – Aracely. Don’t try and pronounce it, it took me 2 months to do so. It was her turn, which by default means a romantic comedy or drama. “The Help”, “One Day” or “Crazy, Stupid, Love.
We had a limited amount of time. Leaving the kids with a babysitter reminds me of being in the military again. Once you go “on leave” you have a certain amount of time before you need to report back – for duty. 3.5 hours was our “leave”. Enough time to grab a bite to eat and hit the movie. As luck would have it, the only movie that fit into our window of freedom was “Crazy, Stupid, Love.. No time to figure out a plan, that was our window and that was the only movie that fit into it so “Crazy, Stupid, Love it was. We decided to head straight to the movie theatre and then get something to eat after – time constraints – ya know.
I always try and get to the movie theatre a little after the scheduled start so I can avoid the 15 minutes of previews and “warnings”. “Be quiet, turn off your cell phones, be respectful, screaming kids should be escorted immediately out of the theatre” that kind of stuff. The movie started at 5:40 so I figured 5:50 would be a good time to take our seats. We enter the theatre, find 2 seats together [we got lucky] and sat back to be entertained. Now remember, I am not exactly thrilled about seeing a “chick flick”, I was secretly hoping it was my turn again so we could see something where something blows up. Maybe it’s just my wife but after every chick flick my wife always finds a way to work in how wonderful some character is “isn’t he sweet, I loved it when he said [insert mushy saying no self respecting dude would ever say here]”. I would love to remind her that “HE” is just an actor but that would get in the way of me nodding in agreement “yes honey” “uh huh” “yep” [still nodding in agreement].
As we are waiting for the movie to start I can’t help but to watch the previews, I can’t use my cell phone as it’s “prohibited”. No Email, No texting, No facebook, No Twitter, No Google +. I look up at the screen and what is staring back at me is not the latest greatest movie coming out next week but a commercial. I hate commercials. Even when I am at home in the comfort of my own living room I will often wait until 15 minutes after my show begins so I can forward right through them. Commercials are the ultimate form of interruption marketing. I want to relax and watch a TV show or a movie and I am subjected to advertisers that want to interrupt me to show me their products and services that I don’t want, don’t need and didn’t ask for. Interruption Marketing, also known as “Push Marketing” was coined by Seth Godin, it’s when a person, company or brand puts something IN YOUR FACE to get your attention. It’s annoying and I don’t like it. The average consumer is inundated with over 2000 marketing messages a day. From the ad on the radio or TV to the ad on the city bus driving by, consumers don’t like it. We don’t like it so much that we have come up with ingenious ways to block them out. DVR, Tivo, Satellite Radio, Do Not Call Lists, No Soliciting, Blocked pop ups on our browsers and spam filters to name a few.
As I am sitting in my seat getting more and more annoyed by commercial after commercial [there were 7 I think] I can’t help but to draw a similarity to real estate marketing. My wife and I went to a movie to be entertained, to get a much needed break from reality only to be subjected to these ridiculous marketing messages. They had me right where they wanted me too. From looking around the theatre, I could tell my 150 other friends were not too happy about them either. We had no choice but to listen and watch their ads. A lot of real estate agents are still using Interruption Marketing methods to grow their business: postcards, flyers, cold calls, pop by’s, sports schedules, magnets – it’s all the same. I don’t get it. Why would you spend your hard earned money and time to send marketing messages to people that not only didn’t ask for them but most likely have absolutely no need for your services when your message arrives? It’s the spray and pray model, LAUNCH a bunch of marketing messages and hope one lands on someone that has a need. The rate of return on direct mail is less than .5%, really expensive if you ask me. When I have a need I go online to a search engine like Google. Like 94% of consumers that start their home search online, I ask a search engine like Google a question when I am attempting to solve a problem or gather information. “Homes for sale in Chandler Arizona, benefits of short sale over foreclosure, When to change real estate agents, 4 bedroom homes under $200,000 with pool in 85248″. The fact that I am asking a question means that I have a need. This is the perfect time for a business to capture my attention and possibly make a sale and all they have to do is help me “find” their website. This is also one of the best ways to grow your real estate business. Get a good website, fill it with content consumers look for when they have a need, have compelling calls to action to get the consumer to DO something – email you, call you, fill out a form or download a free report. This is called Inbound Marketing, getting “found” online by your ideal client.
I quickly forgot about the commercials when the movie began, I forgot about them in part because I didn’t have a need for a new sweater or car. As much as I hate to say this, that “chick flick” was actually really good. I enjoyed it as did my wife. What bad taste the commercials left in my mouth was washed away by a large popcorn, soda and a lot of laughs. If you are looking for a movie where stuff doesn’t blow up, “Crazy, Stupid, Love. would be a good bet. On our way home my wife started in with her favorite parts of the movie and ways I can be more like so and so. I didn’t hear much of it though I was nodding in agreement “yes honey” “uh huh” “yep”.
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