The infantry teaches its soldiers the valuable survival skills of cover and concealment. As civilians, we often think of camouflage face paint when we think of concealment; but simply not moving is another critical component in concealment. Motion easily gives away the soldier's position; soldiers quickly learn to move slowly and stealthily to stay hidden from the enemy.

Small business marketers need to learn from this vital lesson: if you don't want to be seen, just don't move.

Unfortunately many marketers have yet to learn the corollary to this rule: If you want to be seen, leverage motion to catch your customer's eye.

Motion means money for the marketer. Motion interrupts the customer's routine--just enough--to pull her attention away from what she's doing and steer her in your direction for just a moment. Engage her attention, then immediately guide her toward the next action: send a salesperson to talk to her, or attract her to inspect your merchandise. Remember, motion is the shiny lure on the end of a line that's tethered to a hook; but it's only the lure, not the hook itself.

In the first several decades of US motoring, a series of small, sequential road signs helped build Burma Shave into a nationally known brand. A quick Google search will show you several websites that have examples of the Burma Shave slogans. Typically there were between four and six signs per ad. If you take just five minutes to look at some Burma Shave sign examples, you'll quickly get a feel for this unique campaign.

Why did Burma Shave signs work? Why did these small signs draw in millions of people as they were driving along? Part of the answer lies in the genius of the construction of the ad campaign. Burma Shave signs made us anticipate. In an earlier article we looked at the importance of story for small business marketing.

The build-up is a critical component in story. Through movies, soap operas, novels, even comic strips, we humans engage in story wanting to be entertained, to be pulled through the adventure of the narrative, to the conclusion. It's the reason we listen when the girl two cubicles over stops by to tell us about the latest outfit she just bought (and the deal she got on it). Anticipation breaks up the boredom of the routine.

And what can be more mundane than driving through the endless fields and pastures of the Midwestern United States? In twenty words or less the clever, compact Burma Shave jingles supplied something to look forward to--a break in the drive's monotony.

Plus, the Burma Shave signs moved the people in the car to share a laugh or possibly a groan. Think hearing the kids in the back seat talk about those little signs boosted Burma Shave's brand recall in mom and dad's mind ? And all because Burma Shave combined the motion of the car with the anticipation of story.

Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + People (customers and employees) = Marketing Success.

2006 Marketing Hawks