Educational Advertising

Post your windshield repair tips, questions, advice! Note there is a sub-forum specifically for business development questions.
Post Reply
SuperGlassDave
Junior Member
Posts: 74
Joined: October 29th, 2008, 10:30 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Educational Advertising

Post by SuperGlassDave »

This is a concept we came up with to try and show the motorist the obvious conflict of interest and attitude of the replacement companies regarding the lower profit of repair and the bait and switch tactics they use.

We decided to use a cartoon illustration to stand out as different and to offer a simple, easy to understand message.
SuperGlass Windshield Repair is planning on running this illustration as advertising wherever and whenever we can.

We are also donating the artwork and concept to the windshield repair industry to use if you want to. We think the message is universal and serves every windshield repair company. Feel free to attach your logo and copy to the artwork and use it however you wish. Maybe some consistency in a message, all over the country, can make some educational impact.

Also, I thought the concept of the Lion Glass Company is very funny. I thought of it myself ‘) David Casey
Attachments
small_lions.jpg
small_lions.jpg (175.87 KiB) Viewed 5559 times
screenman
Senior Member
Posts: 3192
Joined: February 25th, 2004, 1:44 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: uk Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by screenman »

If I offered you $200 or $50 dear customer which would you rather have.

Does your repair company turn up for the job with a windshield ready to fit when their attempt at a repair does not work. Do you think they want to take that glass back with them.

Would you want your electrician fix your plumbing? then why use a replacement guy to do a repair only guys job.

I have a few more up in the old grey matter but for now they seem to be locked away.


Lion! sounds Purrr fect. I hope your idea is a roaring success.
Frank EU
Senior Member
Posts: 771
Joined: December 13th, 2005, 9:01 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Europe / US
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by Frank EU »

Good job.
Windshield911
Member
Posts: 168
Joined: March 16th, 2011, 8:07 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 3
Location: Ruston,La
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by Windshield911 »

Awesome, thanks for sharing!!!!
SuperGlassDave
Junior Member
Posts: 74
Joined: October 29th, 2008, 10:30 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by SuperGlassDave »

Thank you Screenman, Frank and Windshield 911. Glad you like the concept and I hope this would stand out in print advertising.

We are working on another regarding the factory seal and a very nice looking bear that is up in a tree because his replacement failed and he flew out the window!

Maybe a cartoon and a little sense of humor will appeal enough to the motorist for them to look further into it. I figure that anything that any of us can do to educate the motorist serves every windshield repair specialist so it's appropriate to share. It might even spark other creative ideas from repairers on how to get the message to the motorist, that they should call a repair specialist first.

I added a piece on the SuperGlass web site about "Why NOT DIY". I think it makes good points, pretty bluntly, about why the kit you buy at the auto parts store or big box store just doesn't work. Feel free to pass on that message as well. I think any reader here will agree with what I posted about the syringe kits.

Happy repairing! - David Casey PS - Frank, when are you coming to Disneyworld?
puka pau
Member
Posts: 157
Joined: November 1st, 2010, 4:05 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 3
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by puka pau »

Advertising the benefits of repair vs replacement should be part of the mission statement of the NWRA. Being that many of the NWRAs sponsors are the large glass companies any expectation that this would happen in our lifetimes is just whistling in the wind. Which is one reason I'm not a member.

Cheers;

Puka Pau
SuperGlassDave
Junior Member
Posts: 74
Joined: October 29th, 2008, 10:30 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by SuperGlassDave »

Hey Puka,

I think you mean that replacement companies are sponsors of Auto Glass Week, not the NWRA. Auto Glass Week includes replacement, tinting, repair and aftermarket products. Replacement companies sponsor this event but they do not sponsor the NWRA.

And, to expect the NWRA to advertise (you mean spend money on TV, Radio and Print) with the small membership and very small dues, is unrealistic. Sitting back, not being a member and just throwing darts at others efforts doesn't seem very fair. There are a lot of dedicated repairers and manufacturers that work hard for the NWRA, you shouldn't diss those people by belittling the NWRA. As far as repair, that's all there is.

If you don't wish to join, don't. You won't add to the effort but, I don't see a big reason for you to benefit from it either.

In closing, what did that have to do with trying to educate motorists with a cartoon illustration that is available to any repairer?

David Casey - SuperGlass
Frank EU
Senior Member
Posts: 771
Joined: December 13th, 2005, 9:01 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Europe / US
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by Frank EU »

Dave:
Indeed it is about time for me to book a flight and pack, Dave. Two years have gone by, without me being around at your end of that big pond.
Things are going great, I don't have to travel that much anymore (like I used to do before), but I plan to come over some time next year, we'll be in touch!
I've been to Orlando before, with Dave. We went to an Exhibition and Universal.

Puka Pau:
Re the NWRA, I see waht your saying, and I understand your point.
The thing is, that if we all would simply join, the replacers would be less influential. Our trade is a numbers game, so is the NWRA.
As much as I do dislike the way glass-replacing-chains are working, they too run a business.
And they too are active in our trade. Whether they act in a fair manner, that is a different thing all together, they are simply there.
So, we have to deal with them. With that being said, it is always good to have your ''enemy'' close to you, and try to work out at least ''something''.
Since ''something'' is better than nothing.

Now, the NWRA could be doing more, for us, repair only guys, if we would only join. Like I mentioned previously, they need numbers. That's all.
With the numbers, the input will come and the repair-only voices will sound louder. It is a very simple thing.
And before you ask: I have been a member, for some years, and cancelled my membership.
Reason? Simply because they deal with cc payments, and we're not -Europeans are not on cc's.

http://nwrassn.com/
SuperGlassDave
Junior Member
Posts: 74
Joined: October 29th, 2008, 10:30 am
Enter the middle number please (3): 5
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by SuperGlassDave »

Puka Pau,

Good response and thank you for replying. I think we are in agreement on pretty much everything you said. It's too bad that the replacement companies don't sub contract more of their repair work to repair only but, I am thinking that economics is driving that deal.

Hopefully, the education will pick up about the difference in a repair specialist and a replacement company that offers repair as a side line. Most motorists love their cars and do want the best quality if they know there is a difference. Especially when the price is no factor with insurance.

If we can grow the NWRA to the point where it is making the impact that you want to see, and can see actual benefits to you and the repair community, then I would be happy to do what is needed for the association to accept your check or other form of payment for membership.

I do agree that the NWRA is not all it can be but, it will best get there with the support and interaction with committed professional repairers that are willing to help grow the association and its influence. For now, the NWRA has been accepted by insurance companies and other commercial fleets as the go to source for repair information. The ROLAGS standards has been implemented as mandatory by major auto rental companies and many fleet managers are impressed that we do have a standard. I am grateful for those resources and look forward to helping create more that help our industry.

I think you will see the NWRA grow and become more of what you want to see. The web site has been redesigned to educate the consumer much more and the certification program is solid in place and a great thing to add to a resume. When we are there I will look forward to welcoming you to the association, hopefully in person at one of the major glass events.

Happy repairing and keep it up! Best regards - David Casey
puka pau
Member
Posts: 157
Joined: November 1st, 2010, 4:05 pm
Enter the middle number please (3): 3
Contact:

Re: Educational Advertising

Post by puka pau »

Dave;

My intent was to illustrate that it should be the responsibility of the Association (any professional association, organization or company) to educate the public about the products and/or services that are offered by its members or affiliates. Today, more than ever, there are myriad advertising techniques that are reasonably cost-effective. Surely you remember the "Got Milk" campaign - Dairy Farmers Association. How about those ubiquitous Novus TV spots that ran for years and years. And who can forget the "July is truck month at your greater metropolitan Podunk Ford Dealer" campaign. Ad campaigns like this are normally cost-sharing exercises; a generic, one-size-fits-all spot more often than not listing the local providers. If Novus, and its local franchisees could afford TV spots why can't the NWRA and its local members do the same? Good on you for taking the initiative that the NWRA lacks.

Frank;

I was soured on the NWRA pretty much from the beginning after I found out that a member of the first Board of Directors (he was either the Secretary or Treasurer, I forget which) was a recently convicted felon who had been incarcerated for income tax evasion to the tune of a few million dollars. And his wife was put under house arrest for about a year or so. The way he was found out was because a former employee/technician had gone to the unemployment office to sign up for benefits. Whereupon he was told that he was ineligible because his former employer hadn't funded his account. Former employee blew the whistle long and hard and the rest is history. I found it forehead slapping ironic that someone like that would be elected to a position in an association that was supposed to be an advocate for technicians. What I thought was really pitiful was that the NWRA had a perfect opportunity to get it right from the beginning - there was no entrenched history, no skeletons in the closet and right from the git-go they had to start acting like the Teamsters during the Hoffa years.

Cheers;

Puka Pau
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 48 guests