The “Other” Two Guy On Marketing…for Sonic!
The 2 Guyz On Marketing live and grew up in California. Born, educated, trained in advertising and teach in California. It’s what we do. It’s what we love.
Over the years we hadn’t seen too many Sonic® TV spots, as Sonic was a Midwest chain, and while expanding, didn’t get to California until recently.
Sonic, “America’s Drive In,” has also adopted a new media strategy. They began advertising across the country, even in states they didn’t have drive-ins. They currently have more than 3,500 company and franchised locations around the country, but are only in 45 states.
We remember that in 2012 Sonic went back to the two advertising guys for Sonic after their CEO J. Clifford Hudson said their try at other new ideas and advertising executions “did not have the flexibility of moving across a variety of dayparts and messages.”
Sonic tried different executions for TV creative. They didn’t move the needle. Potential customers for Sonic didn’t see the spots in the sense that they were airing but didn’t get customers and fast food enthusiasts to go to Sonic.
For the 2 Guyz On Marketing it’s about more than generating awareness. It’s about making the cash register ring.
The TV approach and creative of their new campaign was the problem, Hudson told investors, that the length of time it took for one new commercial “to be even recognized as a Sonic promotion” was way too long. The 2 Guyz On Marketing would translate that into “Lack of sales. In retail, the goal is to make the cash register ring. When that doesn’t happen, people, and agencies, lose jobs.
So the 2 Sonic advertising guys are back. What is Sonic’s marketing objective? With a lot of experience in fast food and restaurant marketing, the 2 Guyz On Marketing (Larry and Brian) can pretty confidently say that is it to maintain or increase positive same-store sales growth. They advertise to support the stores and the brand, and know they are growing, so they are “softening the beaches” in the newer states.
We see the TV more. And they vary executions, frequently. They raise awareness. And they do plenty of promotions, about food and their food products.
The spots are interesting to us since they show product, and they make promotions work and generate store traffic.
Sonic wants brand recognition and wants a way to deliver copy points quickly and ultimately get store traffic and sales. That is what their 2 Sonic advertising guys do.
