Sound Advice

Judy Jones, Owner, Toyota Carlsbad

"The primary reason that Toyota Carlsbad uses radio is the intimacy that the medium affords us. In any retail organization you're always trying to build rapport and connect with your customers. And I find that you can connect with your customers very easily through the medium of radio."

Driving their point home

"One thing that we really shoot for in terms of results is name recognition and top of mind awareness. And we have achieved both of those. One of the things we have done is to try to differentiate ourselves by using radio and humor in our messages. We think the shortest difference between a business and its customer is humor."

Accelerating good feelings

For more than twenty five years, Judy (along with her late husband, Lou) has strongly believed in the value of radio and its ability to portray their company as a relaxed, friendly and professional place of business. "As a good business retailer, we want to provide listeners with information they can use. But in addition to that, we want them to enjoy what they are hearing, and laugh and chuckle and be glad they heard the spot rather than miss it. And that's what humor does. The punch line is the payoff and it rewards the consumer for giving us 60 seconds of their time."

Gauging your audience

"We use research to determine what radio stations to choose and that research comes from a variety of sources. The radio industry itself is very informative and Toyota provides information on the profile of our customers. And then of course, we survey our own customers in the service drive and take counts of the setting on our customers' cars when they come in for service. It is important to understand the character traits of your customer and it is very important to understand the audience of the radio station that you use."

Tuning in

"Our approach to radio is that we give the dialogue, but we don't fill in the visual. It's an advantage because what we're doing is presenting a slice of life that calls for the consumer to fill in the rest with his or her imagination, and that gets them engaged in the spot. It gets their attention."

It's all in the transmission

"One of the beauties about radio is the fact that it does offer very affordable frequency. The more we hear something, the more likelihood we're going to respond to it. It's just the way human beings are wired. And radio allows you to do that very cost effectively."

Honk if you think we're funny

"When people ask me where I work and I say, 'Toyota Carlsbad,' they immediately start laughing. When I ask, 'Why is that so funny,' they tell me, 'We just love your commercials.' Radio makes them memorable."

San Diego Radio Advertiser Profile

About the business: Established over 30 years ago

Headquarters: Carlsbad

Store Locations: One, in Carlsbad

Using Radio: 25+ years

Radio Campaign: 12 months per year

Media Mix: Radio, television and newspaper