Recently I saw the movie “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” which looks at product placements and advertising in movies.
During the movie Morgan Spurlock went to Sao Paolo where since 2007 advertising has been banned in this, the largest city in Brazil. There are no billboards on buildings or by motorways. Taxis and buses are free from banners. The same is true for bus stops. Even leaflets are banned.
The place just looked so “clean” and people commented they could see and engage with nature more because they weren’t being bombarded all the time.
But what really struck me was when Morgan went and spoke to a few business owners. They commented that they could no longer use their usual ways of finding customers. They had to change their game plan.
However, this didn’t mean their business suffered.
They relied on word of mouth. They needed to focus on giving their customers something memorable so they would want to come back.
Shouldn’t that be the aim for all small businesses?
Providing memorable products or services
that ensure people come back for more
We don’t need to wait until the mayor of our city forces us to think about our business differently. We can make time now to engage and connect with our customers rather than filling the natural space around us with our words and logos.
If you are interested, photos showing the difference in Sao Paolo from before and after the ban can be found here.