New ESPN 1480 Commercial Promotes the 2010 Holiday Special

  • Comments: 5
  • Written on: November 8th, 2010

Schrock Innovations has produced and released a new commercial featuring the 2010 Holiday Special on ESPN 1480 in Lincoln, NE.

The new ad will begin airing on November 8, 2010 and will run through November 28th, 2010.

Click here to download the commercial or play it using the player below:

[podcast]http://www.schrockinnovations.com/audio/HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2010-NOV.mp3[/podcast]

Schrock does not do a lot of advertising on Lincoln’s only full-time sports talk station, so the ad has been scheduled in heavy rotation to achieve maximum awareness before November 28.

What is the 2010 Holiday Special?

2010 Schrock Innovations Holiday Special PCThe 2010 Holiday Special computer is a special system offered once a year in very limited quantities. This year’s Holiday Special features a 120 GB solid state hard drive, a 6-core processor and 12 GB of RAM.

For $1,499 purchasers receive the tower, a full 1080p HD display, wireless keyboard and mouse, and speakers. If the purchase is made before November 28, 2010 customers receive a $100 instant rebate, bringing the cost down to an amazing $1399.

The 2010 Holiday Special computer is only available at Schrock Innovations, and can not be custom built at any price on the Dell or HP websites.

Schrock Innovations Thanks Lincoln Customers in Election Coverage

  • Comments: 19
  • Written on: November 2nd, 2010

As tonight’s historic election results come in, Schrock Innovations thought it would be a great opportunity to run a commercial thanking our Lincoln customers for voting us Best of Lincoln for the 9th consecutive year.

This spot was actually the second shooting of the commercial. We shot the first attempt in the Lincoln Service Center but due to a camera error, we had to re-shoot the entire spot again. Because of schedule conflicts, we had to shoot it in our brand new Omaha Service Center.

The commercial will air on Lincoln’s Channel 8 throughout tonight’s coverage. Take a look at the spot below:

Schrock Jumps into March Madness on KLMS 1480 ESPN Radio with Ultimate Upgrade Sale

  • Comments: 5
  • Written on: March 21st, 2010

This weekend Schrock Innovations kicked off the 2010 Ultimate Upgrade sale with all of the normal events, plus one new twist.

While I was taping last weekends show in the studio with Chris Goforth the first day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament was under way.

In between each segment Chris was switching between the studio mode and the KLMS 1480 – ESPN Sports Lincoln feed to catch the latest scores.

I am not a huge basketball fan, and while an upset is always interesting something else stood out to me above all else. There were no local commercials in the commercial segments.

Why No Local Commercials?

In just 5 weeks 1480 AM was flipped from a sports station, to an oldies station, and then back to a sports station again just days before the tournament began.

There was simply no time for the sales management to put together commercial packages, get them to the sales people, and then present them to clients.

These situations always interest me because here I saw a great sports product paired with a station with available advertising spots, and a lack of a pre-defined pricing structure.

I was already in the studio, so we cut a quick :30 spot (listen to it here) and I simply asked the station manager if I could advertise during the games. Of course they agreed, so the only thing to work out was the price.

I was able to get spots during each game for an unbelievable price just because I asked. The price was so good that I asked if I could have 2 spots per game instead of one. They agreed!

What is the Ultimate Upgrade?

The commercial we cut was all about the Ultimate Upgrade sale at Schrock Innovations. During this sale you can trade in an old computer for credit against a new system.

The new computer is only $449 after your trade – $250 off our normal entry level price – and you can trade any old computer working or not!

Its a little early to know how the commercials did, but for the price I paid I would be willing to blindly commit to a regular KLMS schedule no questions asked!

Testing Verizon’s Claims that AT&T 3G Coverage Blows

  • Comments: 23
  • Written on: November 16th, 2009

3g-verizon-att-mapIn early October Verizon started running a commercial series comparing their 3G wireless coverage to AT&T’s 3G coverage. The commercials got AT&T’s attention, and they requested Verizon modify the campaign.

AT&T says that the 3G coverage maps featured in the campaign, as well as the depicted frustration of iPhone users lead viewers to believe that AT&T users can’t use their wireless devices at all across the majority of the country.

Here’s the primary commercial they are frustrated with:

I am an iPhone user myself and I can testify to my level of frustration when I can’t drive down Interstate 80 between Lincoln and Omaha NE without my call dropping. That’s not even 3G – That’s a straight cell call. AT&T finally got coverage across Lincoln, NE – a population of over 230,000 people – this summer.

Here Comes the Judge

AT&T is now suing Verizon over the commercial series. Their complaint states:

Verizon’s advertisements also depict AT&T customers as frustrated or sad and unable to meet their friends as the map showing swaths of white or blank space hovers over the fictional AT&T customer’s head, reinforcing the misleading message conveyed by the maps; that AT&T has no coverage and thus AT&T customers cannot use their wireless devices in large portions of the United States.

AT&T goes on to claim:

[AT&T is] losing incalculable market share, invaluable goodwill that it has spent billions of dollars to develop among consumers, and the significant investment it has made in its wireless network.

I think this comes down to a pretty basic question. Is Verizon challenging the 3G coverage AT&T offers or AT&T’s overall coverage of any kind.

Hello AT&T check out the GIANT “3G COVERAGE” label under the maps. I think it is pretty clear that they are claiming that Verizon has a superior 3G coverage network. How AT&T things the commercials make people fell is irrelevant.

The Kinda-Scientific Test

I decided I would solve this case for whatever unfortunate judge has to hear it before it even goes to court.

I hopped in my car and departed from Omaha, NE where Verizon’s map shows AT&T has 3G coverage and drove toward Des Moines, IA.

According to Verizon, I should lose my 3G coverage when I leave Omaha and should not regain it until I am in DesMoins. Click here for my route.

I updated my findings via Twitter as my wife and I drove the route. Here is the coverage I experienced in reality:

  • Testing Verizon’s AT&T map. 3g signal lost at IA mile marker 11 on I80 in Iowa. So far Verizon’s map is accurate.
  • No AT&T signal whatsoever from IA I80 mile marker 14 through 17 12:14 PM Nov 14th
  • No AT&T 3g from I80 mile marker 11 through mile marker 83. 1:06 PM Nov 14th
  • No AT&T signal at all from I80 IA mile marker 83 through 87 1:07 PM Nov 14th
  • No AT&T 3g from I80 IA mile marker 87 through 101. No signal at all from 101 to 103 1:19 PM Nov 14th

The Verdict

The bottom line is that in the test I conducted, Verizon’s map is accurate and their advertisement is very true.

If anything, they were generous to AT&T because there were many times when I had to type and hold a Twitter update because I could not get ANY cellular or data coverage at all on the AT&T network.

All of my technicians in the shop are flashing their Droid phones and while I love my iPhone, the plan is super expensive and lets be honest – the 3G coverage just isn’t the best around.

New Radio Commercials Talk about the Benefits of Modular PCs

  • Comments: 2
  • Written on: October 23rd, 2009

schrock_logo_webThis week Schrock Innovations started a new series of commercials running on three different radio stations in Lincoln (KFOR, KZKX, and KIBZ) that talk about the features of the 2009 Holiday Special and the benefits of choosing a Modular PC.

Chris Goforth and I met up to make the spots and to be honest I was just not in rah-rah marketing mode that day. I knew what I wanted to talk about, but did not have a script or even a bulleted list for that matter.

Chris and I were talking about what we wanted to do and I suggested that rather than the traditional commercial that we style the commercials in the same tone that we do our weekly radio show. Chris agreed so he hit record and we went to work.

I have to honestly say that these commercials were the easiest, least forced, and most informative spots I have ever done for any product. A couple days later Chris and I ran into each other at the studio and he even commented that when he hears the spots its like he has been teleported into our show for that minute.

Take a listen to these two spots and tell me what you think of them.

Spot 1 – The Features of the 2009 Holiday Special PC

Spot 2 – The Benefits of Choosing a Modular PC

We have a third spot that will begin running on Monday, that talks about Schrock’s award winning service. I am not allowed to talk about that just yet, so subscribe to my RSS feed to hear all about it in your email Monday morning!

2009 Holiday Special Commercial On the Air

  • Comments: 1
  • Written on: October 12th, 2009

Excitement is building for the launch of our 2009 Holiday Special computer featuring Windows 7 and a solid state hard drive.

With the launch party coming up on Saturday the 17th in our Lincoln Service Center, our commercials promoting the new system started running this week on TV and radio.

The official specifications will be released soon on the Schrock Innovations website, but until then watch this commercial to get a sneak peek at the most advanced computer available in Nebraska this Holiday Season!

Commercial Features New Schrock Innovations Service Center

  • Comments: 9
  • Written on: February 16th, 2009

We are still getting settled into our new computer repair service center, but we allowed a camera crew to come in and do a little filming for a commercial we are running to promote our new location.

Schrock Innovatoins Releases “For a Reason” Commercial

  • Comments: 0
  • Written on: January 27th, 2009

On Sunday a new Schrock Innovations commercial started airing on Channel 10/11 in Lincoln, NE. The commercial is intended to highlight all of the things people use their computers for, and to make them think about the company they choose to maintain those computers.

Schrock Innovations’ Accomplishments of 2008

  • Comments: 2
  • Written on: January 2nd, 2009

I decided to break my personal accomplishments out from those of Schrock Innovations and post them as separate posts. Here is a list of some of the more memorable things Schrock Innovations has done in 2008.

The Truth About Mac vs. PC

  • Comments: 1
  • Written on: December 27th, 2008

One of my technicians at Schrock Innovations forwarded this video to me.  Compared to any of the Mac vs. PC commercials out there, this one is more truthful than any I have seen.  Enjoy!

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