What Steve’s Pest Control Of Columbia, Missouri Can Teach Madison Avenue About How Advertising Really Works; The Secret: Be Known Before You’re Needed
These days Madison Avenue is obsessed with the science of measuring the short-term sales effect of advertising and converting existing demand.
How advertising really works: Meet Steve’s Pest Control of Columbia, Missouri
1,095 miles to the west of New York City lies Columbia, Missouri, the home of Steve’s Pest Control, “Missouri’s number one choice for pest control.”
Steve’s Pest Control knows what Madison Avenue has forgotten. To generate substantial sales and profit, a business needs to create future demand rather than just obsess over converting existing demand.
Steve Hotsenpiller and his wife Anita started their business over three decades ago with one truck. They bought ads on a small radio station.
Each year, they devoted about 8.5% of their revenues to advertising. As they grew, they bought ads on more radio stations and soon became one of the largest advertisers on local radio.
Their ads are charming, funny, and entertaining. They usually end with the jingle that exclaims, “Now you’ve got a friend in the pest control business – Steve’s Pest Control!” Today, with over 90 trucks, Steve’s Pest Control is now the undisputed leader in the pest control business.
To understand the magnitude of the brand Steve’s Pest Control built with long-term advertising on AM/FM radio, the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® commissioned MARU/Matchbox to conduct a study of 98 consumers in the Columbia-Jefferson City DMA in December 2023.
Why local retailers have to continually advertise: People are moving into your town who have no awareness of your business
The longer people have lived in the area, the greater the awareness of Steve’s Pest Control. 43% of consumers who have lived in Columbia-Jefferson City for 10+ years were able to name Steve’s Pest Control on an unaided basis. 19% of consumers who have lived in the area for less than 10 years were able to name Steve’s Pest Control unaided when asked about pest control services.
This is great lesson for local retailers. Your business might be super famous but every day new people move to town who have never heard of your business, an important reason to continuously advertise your business. Also, advertising memories fade.
Compared to other categories, Steve’s Pest Control owns its category as the best-known brand
Consumers were asked to name Columbia-Jefferson City brands they could recall on an unaided basis for twelve different retail categories such as hospitals, home improvement, roofing, auto dealerships, HVAC services, injury attorneys, window replacement, etc.
“Don’t know” is the most common response for most of the categories measured for unaided awareness. For example, when asked to name a firm that specializes in roofing, 60% said “don’t know/none.”
AM/FM radio advertising works
Among AM/FM radio listeners, Steve’s Pest Control awareness is +18% greater than in the overall market.
Steve’s Pest Control’s AM/FM radio ads are memorable; AM/FM radio ads are most associated with Steve’s Pest Control
In addition to the MARU/Matchbox brand study, System1, a leading creative testing firm, was commissioned to survey 150 respondents in the Columbia-Jefferson City market to measure Steve’s Pest Control AM/FM radio ads in December 2023.
According to System1, Steve’s Pest Control ads were some of the best testing ads in the U.S. compared to System1’s audio creative databank of U.S. AM/FM radio ads tested.
Easy to mind, easy to find
By patiently investing in brand building advertising to create future demand, Steve’s Pest Control has made his service “easy to think of and easy to buy.” His lighthearted and humorous ads have “created positive feelings and associations” with “broad reach ads that people find interesting and enjoyable.”
In the end, Steve’s Pest Control’s lesson for Madison Avenue is that advertising is not just about manically measuring short-term performance. It’s about “being known before you’re needed.”