Mr. Marketing: Water towers as marketing icons

It seems sometimes one can’t drive 100 feet without seeing roadside marketing. Billboards and highway sponsorships dot the landscape. Rest area restaurants beckon us. And gas station logos tower hundreds of feet in the air.

How does a building alongside the highway get a driver’s attention?

Drivers need to simultaneously see and react to everything around them. Too often the signs or visual cues they’re confronted by become a blur.

Plus, most of us are numb from the 5,000-plus marketing messages we’re exposed to daily. As we buzz by at 75 mph, we only half-see any businesses paralleling the freeway.

To help customers find you and reinforce your brand, well-planned signage is critical for drawing attention to any business, and especially new ones.

Perhaps a water tower breaks through the noise.

And with modern plumbing largely rendering water towers obsolete, having one is different. Very different.

Today, the best reasons to have a water tower atop your commercial building are image and visibility.

Water towers can be useful marketing tools. Santa Ana uses theirs to bill itself as “Downtown Orange County.”

The Peachoid (resembling a giant peach) promotes Gaffney, South Carolina and was featured on the televison series “House of Cards.”

Disney’s Hollywood Studios has The Earful Tower (complete with mouse ears).

There are water towers designed like houses, corn and castles.

Now Rancho Bernardo has gotten its very own water tower at the new Phil’s BBQ. My unscientific survey finds it’s the only water tower in the area.

Phil’s sits astride I-15 at the former site of the Elephant Bar. It will potentially draw thousands seeking escape from the plasticized food travelers typically rely upon.

Phil’s new construction presents quaintness reminiscent of the Old West. It appeals subconsciously to yearnings for simpler times.

And a water tower atop the building cleverly and silently tells its story from great distances.

This tower will undoubtedly be supplemented with a billboard down the road reminding drivers to look for the blue tower.

The combination of location, offerings, prices, service and the right kind of signage can make a huge difference in any business’ profitability.

My expectation: That water tower is about to become a local icon and make Phil’s a favored destination.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

Share your thoughts at www.askmrmarketing.com.