ADI :PETE WILKINSON 6 You’re appearing in the vistaprint advert for small business, how do you feel about it all? I’ve used Vistaprint for all sorts of marketing merchandise from business cards, leaflets, postcards, congratulations cards, pens and even poloshirts. They are great value for money and really easy to use so I was happy for YES! to be associated with them. How did you get involved with the advert, and what made you go for it? I came home from work one day and my partner, Carol, told me about a message on the answer phone. I listened to the message from Crocodile Casting telling me about the Vistaprint Campaign and would I like to be involved. I initially thought it was a wind up but Carol convinced me to give them a call. This led to a 20 minute telephone interview and then a Skype interview with 3 key players from Vistaprintin the US. The following week the team from Vistaprint flew into London to meet with the shortlisted people, 6 of us. Due to work commitments I was unableto go into London, so they came to Dorset for the meeting. It was a little bizarre as I found myself sitting down to eat with 6 people who 7 I had never met before (including TV Producer and Director) and it was all filmed with the camera rolling throughout. This then led to the trip into London at the beginning of December for filming. I agreed to be involved because I looked at the US version of the adverts and they looked really well made with a strong brand presence for the business owner. I recognised the exposure which YES! would get from the ad campaign. 8 The advert looks brilliant, lots of advertising for YES! - Did you have any say in how the advert ran, or was is already planned out? I think, from the US version, the team (Vistaprint and TV people) had a tried and tested method which has a proven track record of success, both for Vistaprint and the small business. That said I was given an opportunity to agree or disagree with the final advert before it was aired. Do you think the advert will have any impact on the driving school? If so, how? From the advice of the Vistaprint team, the impact of the advert will be slow at first and it is normally on the second run that it really starts to take effect. That said, I have already had a couple of calls from people wanting lessons who paused the TV on the business card and took my number from that. Unfortunatley, one of them was from Wimbledon which, at the moment, is outside the range of YES! Driving School. I think that people will always want to learn to drive and, in a very competitive market place, the more presence in peoples lives, the better slice of the market we will get. You don’t get a much better presence than appearing in their living rooms on their TV set. Since the advert first aired, has the Driving School changed in anyway? For example, increased awareness, meaning more pupils willing to take their driving lessons with you? We ‘appear’ to have had slightly more enquiries but whether that is simply a consequence is hard to say. I’ve also had more people recommending me to friends as a result of seeing me on tv so it has had an impact on a personal front. www.ukdic.co.uk l 9 10 THE INSTRUCTOR