I was driving by an electronic billboard today and what I
saw really made me laugh and then I thought about all the money this business
was wasting and it almost made me cry. On this electronic billboard was a huge
picture of a rather average looking man with a long phone number under it.
Perhaps the name of the business was on the previous panel, but I was only
exposed to the pixelated picture and the 800 number, which of course I can’t remember.
As a matter of fact, I can’t even remember my wife’s phone
number anymore. The only phone number I can remember is the one we had when I
was a kid. Technology has made “remembering” phone numbers irrelevant. All I
have to do now is say “Lauren” and the phone connects me to my wife via voice
or text. Putting a phone number on a billboard, in a radio commercial or on TV
is becoming a very difficult ask. Not only do we not remember a number, we don’t
even remember how to memorize it. Asking someone to remember a phone number is
akin to outfitting them with a bear skin and a stone knife in the year 2013AD.
I have become so impatient that the mere act of having to “dial”
a phone number feels like Hannibal’s trek across the Alps. I get past the area
code and start forgetting where I need to go next. Can’t I just click on
something or tell the phone to do something? What a drag.
Even in print phone numbers are a tough sell. That’s why you
see more layouts that feature elements that can simply be scanned with a smart
phone or tablet. The smart marketers know that phone numbers as a recall item
are nearly cooked. The world has moved on, get over it.
In the electronic media and billboards a much better call to
action is an easy-to-remember URL. A good case in point would be the board with
the average looking guy. Instead of 1-800-xxx-xxxx, it should have be www.averagelookingguy.com, I would
remember that and out of morbid curiosity I probably would have checked it out.
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