The Advertising Mistakes of Franco Cozzo.

Grand Sale, Grand Sale, Grand Sale. Where, in Brunswick and a-Footiscray.

Who can forget these words from this 80s iconic ad. Whether anyone would have bought that style of furniture has always been a question I have had, but you know what – he was successful.

Watch the original ad below.

What ever happened to Franco Cozzo?

You might be surprised to know that he still has a store open in Footscray.

Here it is, looking a little bit worse for wear.

He was quite a celebrity in his day. Who couldn’t recite the lines from his ads. They were almost as well know around Melbourne as the words to “Mary had a Little Lamb”. He was easily one of the most recognised brands in Melbourne.

By about the mid 90s, rumours started to spread.

Here is one rumour I heard from a Policeman’s daughter back in 2001.

“Franco Cozzo is a major drug dealer in Australia. His stores were set-up as a staging ground for his drug shipments. The drugs were being shipped inside the furniture itself, in the legs of the chairs and tables.

“Every time an ad was aired on television it was a signal to the drug cartels that a new shipment had arrived and was ready for distribution.”

Very interesting story and I bought it for quite a number of years, assuming that he had gone out of business due to these “criminal” activities. Of course there was no proof of any wrong doing, but his TV ads had stopped and it was the only explanation that I had come across.

Of course these rumours were completely false. According to an article in The Age “What ever happened to Fracco Cozzo” by Michelle Griffin, his son Lou went to court for drug trafficking. This had nothing to do with the stores or the rumours that had spread.

The mistake of Franco Cozzo

Franco Cozzo became famous for one reason, regular advertising.

Why did everyone know him? Because he advertised week after week for quite a number of years. In fact he became a celebrity through sheer volume of communication.

This same phenomena has occurred for a number of business owners in the last 10 years. Examples include Chris & Marie (Chris & Marie’s Plant Farms) and Frank Walker (National Tiles).

So Franco Cozzo made one very big mistake – he stopped advertising!

A business is similar to a living organism. What is the major difference between a living organism and an inanimate object? Simple, living things communicate.

Have you ever had this feeling before, a good friend stops talking to you all of a sudden. No phone calls, letters or e-mails. Did you get the idea that something bad must have happened to them? The chances are if the communication was just cut off suddenly you thought something bad.

The same applies to a business. If a business all of a sudden stops communicating (advertising) this same phenomena occurs. People assume something bad must have happened, such as the business had closed down.

People don’t like to be in a mystery. They like answers. When a person or business suddenly stops communicating, it creates a mystery. Why have they stopped communicating?

The worst thing a business can do is to stop communicating or to stop advertising.

When business is tough what do most businesses do? Cut their advertising and marketing budgets! I have seen this time and time again. And what does it result in – financial disaster.

When business is tough the answer is not less advertising but more advertising. To lessen ones advertising or communication is to create in the minds of your audience the feeling that you are in trouble, closing down or already closed down. It is also the perfect way to start a rumour mill, as people will invent reasons why you have stopped advertising.

What is the answer?

In tough times the answer is not to cut your advertising budget but to use intelligent promotion to increase your sales.

There are fundamental principles of Marketing and Promotion that you can use to gain greater response for your advertising dollar.

Don’t make the same mistake as Franco Cozzo. Never, never, never cut your advertising and communication to your clients.

Remember in the minds of your customers, communication = life and survival.