When I see a sign like this my mind begins to spin with questions on how Sanderson Ford made a decision to use advertising/marketing dollars to sponsor valet parking. Thus begins my not so in-depth analysis of this particular advertising tactic.
I have to wonder, is Sanderson Ford sponsoring valet parking all over Glendale or just at Westgate? How do they measure if the valet parking gave them any kind of return on the investment? Did they just have some left over budget and needed to throw it at something to prove they used it? Maybe someone in the marketing department is related to someone at the valet company and they had a bright idea at a family picnic. Of all the things in the world to choose, why did they choose sponsoring valet parking at Westgate?
This little perk isn’t on the website; they don’t have a Facebook page with information. I talked to the Valet guy; he knew how to identify a Sanderson Ford vehicle, but not how the sponsorship came to be.
So, I called Sanderson Ford and asked “if I purchase a car with you or use your service department, are there any special perks I get from being a Sanderson Ford customer?” I talked to three different people and no one knew about the valet parking perk at Westgate.
Seriously, I can’t imagine someone making a buying decision based on the valet parking perk, especially in a location where there is an abundance of parking anyway, but I was probing just to see how far this marketing effort went inside Sanderson Ford.
Having participated in countless marketing meetings over the past 25 years, I know how it goes. Someone had to believe in this, in order to “pitch” it to others and get the preverbal check cut, approve artwork and sign agreements.
And how come they dropped it at just that? Why wouldn’t they cross promote it on their website and make sure the staff is up to date on the marketing efforts? Are there a bunch of other little perks that can only be discovered by happenstance? What if valet parking was one of dozens of little perks around town?
At the end of the day, I will probably never find out how Sanderson Ford made the decision or if it fits into some larger marketing plan. However, my curiosity over how marketing decisions are made will probably never go away.
