Dealer Spotlight: PDQ Doors Goes B-I-G

According to Entreprenuer.com, in the 1970s, urban residents were exposed to roughly 500 advertising messages per day — today, that number has jumped to 5,000. During the 2004-05 television season, broadcast TV viewers were exposed to 100,000 products via product placement campaigns (a 28-percent jump from the previous season). In 2011, companies are expected to pump $28 billion into Internet advertising.

It’s safe to say consumers are wading through millions of advertisements each year. So, how does a door dealer keep his or her company at the top of customers’ minds and cut through the clutter of ads? Some are turning to outdoor advertising — advertising visible outside, typically billboards, but also bus stop posters, building murals and buses themselves. This medium has increased in popularity because, as the Outdoor Advertising Association of America reports, business owners realize that consumers spend far more time out of their homes than in them, and because outdoor advertising in “on” 24/7.

At least one garage door dealership is taking advantage of these stats, and not only picked up an aggressive outdoor ad campaign, but also launched itself to the forefront of its market share. Cincinnati-area-based PDQ Doors has been in operation since 1999, and is a medium-sized dealership with nine employees, five service/install vehicles and a 70-30 ratio of residential to commercial sales. One look at their Web site, and one can see the company aggressively advertises that it is the only IDEA-accredited dealership in its service area, and that it offers same-day service if the appointment is made by noon. These tactics are all marketing slam-dunks — but PDQ knows it takes more than a great Web site to nab a customer in the market for a new door or service.

PDQ General Manager Casey McCreadie says that the idea for a large-scale outdoor sign was on their marketing to-do list since 2001, and when the company moved its offices from Sharonville, Ohio, to Milford, Ohio, that year, the owners sought out a location that would allow them to erect an on-site sign that would be highly visible and gather the most impressions. They found the perfect locale in a building situated next to the busy Interstate 275, where 70,000 drivers pass by each day.

Caption: The company name portion of the sign measures 155 square feet.