I had never really thought about it. But then I did. On this exit, the Perimeter Mall Food Court paid good money to announce their existence to tens of thousands of commuters every day. But who is biting?
“Sandy, we’ve been driving for six hours, time for a break. I’m sick of all the decent places we eat. Let’s take the kids to some absolute fast food pit. Preferably at a mall that takes thirty minutes to park your car, yeah some kind of — hey, look at that sign! There’s a food court! Let’s take this exit!”
“Darn it! I was supposed to meet Willy at the Food Court, and I can’t find it. Where do you suppose it could — hey, look at that sign! There it is!”
I wonder if they’ve ever really converted anyone due to that marketing. Oh, and the restaurant in the lower left panel is right next to the food court, so they already get spillover traffic from that.
On the other hand, my wife thinks it’s really weird that McKendricks, a high-end steak house is up there also. “Boy, I could sure use a bite. Hey, look at that sign! Want to blow $150 on dinner?” True, but they only need to convert a few people to make their money back, the Food Court has to move an awful lot of popcorn chicken to get some ROI.
My wife also thinks it’s weird that I took the picture while driving. How else was I going to?
So McKendricks is wasting money then. Those people aren’t swing purchasers, they were already going to McKendricks. Maybe you increase retention a little because less people give up and go home, but it can’t be enough to pay for the cost of those signs.
You were actually in motion when you took the picture?? If so, you should change professions…
The McKendrick’s makes sense for people who knew they wanted to go there when they got in the car, and need a little help/reinforcement with their directions. Same can’t be said for the food court…
Well, duh. My first example was supposed to be a long-distance commuter. It was poorly written, I revised it a little. But are you ever on a road trip and decide you want to go to the local mall food court?
Muttrox, these signs are NOT advertisements for everyday local commuters. They are more for people who are traveling through our great interstate highways. For example, when I do long distance driving on the interstates, I actively look at those signs and it helps me determine when to pull off the road based on what’s available at which exits…
Good entry, Muttrox. Some good laugh lines on that one. Inner workings of the Muttrox mind like this is why your fans keep coming back for more on Muttroxia.