Thousands of dollars are spent on highway billboards each year by small businesses hoping to make a big impression. Sometimes it pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t. Yet 50,000 people a day drive by Acuity Insurance in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and form a positive impression of the company because of its flag pole.
Granted, it’s one of the world’s largest flag poles, standing 338 feet tall. It’s so tall, that it requires a beacon light to warn aircraft of its presence. The 120 x 60-foot US flag at the top is meant as a tribute to veterans, not as a symbol of commerce.
And veterans have noticed. In July 2005, when the huge US flag first unfurled, it was viewed with tears and much pride. Some even said that it put Sheboygan on the map.
Soon our flag will be flying from a new and improved flag pole in the same location. It’s six-feet wide at the base and hollow, with a ladder on the inside and its own HVAC system to prevent moisture build-up.
At first glance, it sounds like a lavish expense, although appreciated by all. But as I read about this project in The Business News, one sentence jumped out at me. In regard to the total cost of the project, Acuity’s Director of Communications Bret Blizzard said, “It is a fraction of one-percent of what our competitors typically spend on advertising, yet 50,000 people a day drive by it and form a positive impression about Acuity, Sheboygan, and Wisconsin, despite the fact that we never intended it to be advertising.”
There’s a lesson here for all of us as small business owners. Advertising and attention are not the same thing. Although we pay for advertising, what we really want and need is attention. How might you generate attention for your business this year? Can your small business serve a need in your community? Can you partner with another small business for the greater good?
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Excellent point and a great example. It’s attention businesses are after. Advertising is just one method of getting that (and not always effective).
Very true. I agree with the suggestion to get involved in the community. That’s what America represents, anyway. Every one person and business is dependent on the other in some way, and beneficial in some way if we do it right.