Excerpt : Des Moines Register : Iowa Life

30-Second Celebrities
By JODY CROSSMAN Register Staff Writer
07/25/2002

Scotty Buchanan Scotty's Body Shop

.....It's no "accident" that Scotty Buchanan does his own television commercials.

.....He wants customers to know that should they get in a wreck and choose his body shop, he'll be one of the guys fixing the car. After all, his name is on the business.
..... "I thought that if we did the commercials ourselves, people would know that we were real people," Buchanan said. "I'm the owner and if you come into the shop, you'll see me. I thought that would be a good guarantee."
..... In the ads, Buchanan takes a straightforward approach to let customers know that he "fixes the customer, not just the car."
..... He runs a different ad each season and has been doing his own commercials for four years. So far it's been a boon for business, he said.
..... "When you advertise, it's almost like a drug you can't do without," he said. "In the first year we were in business (1995), we made $185,000 in total sales. Last year, I did a lot of advertising and we did $1,085,000.
..... " Buchanan said it's not necessarily the money that's the biggest benefit but rather the recognition the 30-second spots bring.
..... He cites a recent incident where a customer collided with a deer while on the highway. Immediately after pulling over to the side of the road, the customer remembered Scotty's Auto Body and gave them a ring.
..... "People really remember the commercial," he said. "It sticks in their mind so when they need us, they call.
..... " Maybe it's the content that helps them recall the shop. Some ads are serious, other a little bit goofy. A spot running this summer is a blooper reel of Buchanan and his brother, Robert, the shop's manager, flubbing it up in front of the camera.
..... The ads have also brought recognition outside the shop. Buchanan said people do recognize him, but are often unsure of why.
..... "People will come up and look at me like they know me from somewhere," he said with a laugh. "It always takes them a minute to remember where from, but then they figure it out." ......Bonus personal tidbit: Buchanan never graduated from high school. "I think a lot of people would be surprised to know that," he said.