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MyerEmco TV Ad Campaign Delivers ‘Specialty’ Message
Not-so-subtle spots contrast specialty dealer concept with electronic alternatives.
Mainstream ads (like this Peyton Manning classic Sony ad) control the home electronics conversation, but MyerEmco’s campaign attempts to educate consumers on specialty and custom electronics.
TV commercials about home electronics are all the same — give or take a Manning.
They tend to run together with stores touting their expertise, their in-store experience, their product selection and their installation ability. A common denominator is that it’s almost always big-box stores or mainstream manufacturers doing the talking.
With relatively small advertising budgets, specialty electronics dealers and custom installers are relegated to their couches, watching as big companies control the national home electronics discussion.
In some mid-Atlantic TV markets, however, the conversation is changing because specialty electronics retailer MyerEmco Audio/Video is running an aggressive TV advertising campaign.
The Gaithersburg, Md.-based nine-store chain's ads aren’t subtle. They make a clear attempt to differentiate what it does versus what big-box retailers do, emphasizing its salespeople’s ability to be home electronics consultants. (Watch 5 of the ads below.)
“The only way you can show the value-add you bring is by contrasting it with the alternatives, and the alternatives are by no means one company,” says MyerEmco president Gary Yacoubian.
He adds that the specialty and custom electronics industries need to promote itself more. “I would like to see more of this,” Yacoubian says of his campaign, because the specialty industry is “severely messaging challenged.”
That “messaging challenged” problem, however, doesn’t cancel out the advertising-money challenge that the specialty and custom electronics industry faces. There have been frequent calls for some sort of central advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness of the custom electronics industry.
Home Entertainment Source, a 500-plus dealer buying group, has developed a national Web site concept for its companies. It has also tinkered with launching a TV campaign for its dealers to run in local markets, but that seems to be stalled.
Yacoubian acknowledges that marketing money is a challenge, although MyerEmco ranks No. 8 on the 2009 CE Pro 100 list, posting $14,100,000 in custom revenues.
The campaign isn’t a reflection of MyerEmco having a larger-than-normal marketing budget, Yacoubian says. It’s just that it has thrown all of its marketing budget into the TV campaign.
The investment was made easier for two reasons. First, Tweeter and Circuit City went out of business, unveiling an opportunity. MyerEmco pounced with an aggressive TV campaign, but it’s not that simple.
Yacoubian says the campaign is more of an “indirect result of Tweeter and Circuit City.” MyerEmco already realized it was time to invest in growth and it was nudged along when “the selling environment improved because of the demise of a couple of key competitors.”
Second, old-school marketing is getting much less effective. MyerEmco has used the traditional specialty retailer marketing techniques: newspaper ads, radio ads and direct mail. They don’t work as well as they used to, Yacoubian says.
“We used to advertise in the Washington Post and it has become increasingly less effective, yet the price doesn’t decline,” he quips.
Radio has become less significant, especially for MyerEmco’s affluent customers, who are probably listening to satellite radio, Yacoubian points out. Direct mail, he adds, seems to be viewed more negatively since the influx of mail can be perceived as non-green.
TV and Internet promotions offer the best bang for MyerEmco’s buck, according to Yacoubian. He acknowledges that local TV stations aren’t at their peek of popularity, but “the good news is that they are much more willing to work a deal where the value corresponds to the price we pay.”
MyerEmco opts for 15-second ads instead of 30-second spots. There’s not a "quantity benefit" in terms of price to doing longer ads, Yacoubian says, and “in 15 seconds we strive to deliver one impact, which I think is about what you can realistically except to accomplish in 30 seconds anyway.”
MyerEmco hopes to raise awareness and regard for what specialty and custom electronics dealers offer. Does it accomplish it?
Watch these 5 MyerEmco ads and let us know.
They tend to run together with stores touting their expertise, their in-store experience, their product selection and their installation ability. A common denominator is that it’s almost always big-box stores or mainstream manufacturers doing the talking.
With relatively small advertising budgets, specialty electronics dealers and custom installers are relegated to their couches, watching as big companies control the national home electronics discussion.
In some mid-Atlantic TV markets, however, the conversation is changing because specialty electronics retailer MyerEmco Audio/Video is running an aggressive TV advertising campaign.
The Gaithersburg, Md.-based nine-store chain's ads aren’t subtle. They make a clear attempt to differentiate what it does versus what big-box retailers do, emphasizing its salespeople’s ability to be home electronics consultants. (Watch 5 of the ads below.)
“The only way you can show the value-add you bring is by contrasting it with the alternatives, and the alternatives are by no means one company,” says MyerEmco president Gary Yacoubian.
He adds that the specialty and custom electronics industries need to promote itself more. “I would like to see more of this,” Yacoubian says of his campaign, because the specialty industry is “severely messaging challenged.”
That “messaging challenged” problem, however, doesn’t cancel out the advertising-money challenge that the specialty and custom electronics industry faces. There have been frequent calls for some sort of central advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness of the custom electronics industry.
Home Entertainment Source, a 500-plus dealer buying group, has developed a national Web site concept for its companies. It has also tinkered with launching a TV campaign for its dealers to run in local markets, but that seems to be stalled.
Yacoubian acknowledges that marketing money is a challenge, although MyerEmco ranks No. 8 on the 2009 CE Pro 100 list, posting $14,100,000 in custom revenues.
Reasons Behind the Campaign
The campaign isn’t a reflection of MyerEmco having a larger-than-normal marketing budget, Yacoubian says. It’s just that it has thrown all of its marketing budget into the TV campaign.
The investment was made easier for two reasons. First, Tweeter and Circuit City went out of business, unveiling an opportunity. MyerEmco pounced with an aggressive TV campaign, but it’s not that simple.
Yacoubian says the campaign is more of an “indirect result of Tweeter and Circuit City.” MyerEmco already realized it was time to invest in growth and it was nudged along when “the selling environment improved because of the demise of a couple of key competitors.”
Second, old-school marketing is getting much less effective. MyerEmco has used the traditional specialty retailer marketing techniques: newspaper ads, radio ads and direct mail. They don’t work as well as they used to, Yacoubian says.
“We used to advertise in the Washington Post and it has become increasingly less effective, yet the price doesn’t decline,” he quips.
Radio has become less significant, especially for MyerEmco’s affluent customers, who are probably listening to satellite radio, Yacoubian points out. Direct mail, he adds, seems to be viewed more negatively since the influx of mail can be perceived as non-green.
TV and Internet promotions offer the best bang for MyerEmco’s buck, according to Yacoubian. He acknowledges that local TV stations aren’t at their peek of popularity, but “the good news is that they are much more willing to work a deal where the value corresponds to the price we pay.”
MyerEmco opts for 15-second ads instead of 30-second spots. There’s not a "quantity benefit" in terms of price to doing longer ads, Yacoubian says, and “in 15 seconds we strive to deliver one impact, which I think is about what you can realistically except to accomplish in 30 seconds anyway.”
MyerEmco hopes to raise awareness and regard for what specialty and custom electronics dealers offer. Does it accomplish it?
Watch these 5 MyerEmco ads and let us know.
MyerEmco's Collapse
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About the Author
Tom LeBlanc, Senior Writer/Technology Editor, CE Pro
Tom has been covering consumer electronics for six years. Before that, he wrote for the sports department of the Boston Herald. Migrating to magazines, he was a staff editor for a golf publication and an outdoor sports publication. Now, as senior writer/technology editor of CE Pro magazine since 2003, he dabbles in all departments and offers expertise in marketing. Follow him on Twitter @leblanctom.
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