Store stands out with animated TV spots
Florida brothers prove hit
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, June 28, 2004
Longwood, Fla. — It's not every day that brothers and owners of a furniture store appear in TV commercials where one sends the other flying off the warehouse dock or watches his sibling get attacked by a circus elephant.
Unless the brothers are Louis and Michael Slone of Slone Bros. Furniture here, and the action is really just going on in cartoon land.
Last year, the Slone brothers launched the first of what has turned into a series of commercials featuring 3D computer animations of the brothers promoting their midpriced store in this bedroom community 15 minutes north of Orlando.
The spots, which exaggerate the physical characteristics of the lanky Louis and the shorter Michael, have turned both into celebrities of sorts, with people recognizing them in restaurants and occasionally asking for an autograph.
"It's just been excellent," said Louis Slone, president and co-owner of the 16,000-square-foot store.
He said it's hard to quantify the relationship between sales and the commercials, because business regularly has shown increases month over month since Slone Bros. opened in 1990.
"I definitely can see the traffic count go up when we start advertising on TV," he said.
Slone Bros. is a destination store that relies on a strong advertising image to catch the consumer's eye. The retailer did this mainly through newspaper ads until 2002, when the store began advertising regularly on television with the catch phrase, "No one else can give you more."
It was a start, but Louis Slone wanted something with even more impact that would get consumers talking and separate Slone Bros. from the crowd. He always had wanted to appear in TV commercials, but brother Michael had no desire to be on screen.
Then last year, Louis struck up a relationship with a customer, Rob Boulware, who produced commercials using 3D computer-generated animation for car dealers. Boulware was aiming to diversify into other industries and the Slone brothers were ready to take their TV campaign to the next level.
Together, they developed spots that poke fun at Louis and Michael, as well as an unnamed competitor now and then. In one spot, Michael shows up at the store with a sofa tagged "cheap."
"I bought it on credit at one of those other furniture stores," Michael tells his brother. "I wanted to see if their furniture would outlast their finance offer."
A moment later, the sofa begins imploding into a heap of popped springs, broken timber and ripped seat cushions.
"Don't worry, Michael," the Louis character says. "You still have another five years to pay for it."
Louis said the commercials have differentiated Slone Bros. from the pack and, through their cartoon alter egos, have given the brothers a chance to "appear" on camera in an unusual way that is comfortable for Michael.
Boulware now comes to Slone Bros. once a month, recording voices from the scripts, which he later matches to the animation.
Given its success, the TV campaign spending will increase to about 30% of Slone Bros.' total ad budget from less than 5% in 2002, when it began the TV push.
In addition, the retailer is incorporating the animated brothers in all its advertising and in-store signage (such as large cutouts of the characters) and on its Web site.
Slone Bros. got a bit of a price discount on the production because it was helping Boulware break into the market. But even at full price, Louis said the spots cost far less than what it would cost to produce a live-action commercial with a camera crew and a day of shooting.
Boulware estimates the regular cost would be $1,200 to $2,000 per commercial based on the amount of animation.
"It's definitely a cost savings, plus it's something that nobody else does," Louis said.
