Used correctly radio is extremely powerful. Most stations have research that tells you approximately how many people are tuning in. But clients want to “test” the radio. But what they are actually testing is the power of their offer to the listener. If you’re offering a key ring for every buyer of a new Jaguar XKS, you’re unlikely to get a great response.

But one of the things that irritates me on a brief is “Mention the name of the station and we’ll give you an extra 5% off”

It really is a bad cliché. And yesterday was the second time in 2 weeks that this “offer” landed in a brief into my inbox.

You want to make me jump through a hoop?

From the station’s point of view, most radio stations make a huge investment building and protecting their brands… and although they are happy to let you buy airtime (that’s how they survive) they wont let you associate with their brand in a radio spot advert. They MAY let you do a promotion with the breakfast crew, or a drive time competition… but that is airtime that is controlled by the programmers.

For the listener, it’s just an irritation. If this advertiser wants my business, why do I have to mention the name of the station. It also assumes that the listener CARES about the station they’re listening too, and I’m afraid most of the time, they don’t. They care about the music, the entertainment, the news…. but they are not particularly bothered that they heard an ad on a particular station. And because radio is a visual medium for advertisers (yes, VISUAL) they often have difficulty with advertising recall linking their memories to audio. So why would they remember they heard the offer on Rushton FM? Why would I want to MENTION it? Even if I could!! Just to get an offer that hopefully you will give me anyway to get the sale. Get real!

Remember: You don’t have to TEST radio, it’s already tested and has ratings. What you are testing is the strength of your proposition to motivate the listener to action.

Remember, if you get a good brief, think about whether a humorous approach is the right one.

It’s only 4 days to go and you’re wanting to be on air tomorrow?

The respective sales execs don’t seem to get it. They’re just happy to take the money. But for these clients it’s just too late.

Radio works with repetition. Your message needs to be hear a number of times before people start to respond. There’s a mathematical formula. It doesn’t guarantee results, it’s not based on science (although some people try to convince you it is) but it seems “about right”that a message needs to be heard about 4 times before people start responding. Thant doesn’t mean no one will respond after the first broadcast…but it seems to optimise at around 4. As long as the message is right (not just the creative approach… but the offer… WHY people should respond)

Andbecause people listen at different times you need to make sure your message is spread to hit those different people.

I now get up at 5.45am. Go to the kitchen to start breakfast… in there with the radio on. At 6.30 I switch to a BBC station for the news. If you always have an ad at 6.35… every morning… you will miss me completely. I am a creature of habit! The same is true for most people.

One of the big mistakes that advertisers make is putting all their effort into maybe a 15 minute section of breakfast every morning for a week… doing a promotion is great, but the selling message will be missed by the majority of the WHOLE station audience. By all means do promotions, but put a foundation down of compelling radio commercials. After a while you can do something and rewarding for the listener as a promotion.

A lot of advertisers think that people listen to radio the same way that they do. People have all sorts of listening habits. When you run spot ads ask your station for a “run of station”or “total audience” package. Or if you work with some stations in the UK, they can model your target group to give you spot ads that hit specific groups, ages and social economic groups of listener. You may be surprised that the answer is not always “peak times”.

The most successful radio advertisers have a compelling and believable offer or message. And although they may not be on the radio ALL the time, it sounds like they are!

Waiting for our favorite radio advert.

They pulled the ad off air because Pit Bull owners complained.

“Lizarraga, who owns a pet-sitting business and is social media coordinator for Chako Pit Bull Rescue, started a Facebook page called “Pit Bulls Against McDonald’s,” launched an online petition calling for an end to the ad and started one of many Twitter threads.”

What do you think?

Should they have told the complainants… come on! It’s just a bit of fun.

Radio stations know that in the UK, if you make any reference to the abuse of cats…

MVO: Gus is looking for a new flat… as Britain’s Champion Cat Swinger, he just needs more room!
FX: Meowing as if cat being swung but hitting ornaments, lamps etc.

…. you just get a flood of complaints!

Or should they bow to the wishes of listeners. Even those with no sense of humor.

Is it a matter of where you stand? I get offended by religious “swear” words in ads. Am I being over sensitive?

This morning I wrote some ads that used the sound effect of a duck quacking. I hope no one is offended by that! If they are, it will be water off a pit bull’s back.

A Famous Pit Bull Owner

The Phone Number—Does it Work? from Soundscapes on Vimeo.

see also

Call us on…

March 20011 I was talking phone numbers! It seems to be one of the most controversial issues at my work place at the moment. I have heard that “Simon doesn’t allow phone numbers” which is not true. I don’t want them in an ad where is does nothing for the client, no one will remember it, or you can’t actually do business with the client over the phone. I just want people to think about it. Good radio advertising sales people don’t just take money from clients… they try to get the ad to work, so that the client wants to give them more!

Hello Mary!

Also in March last year we met the “Two Women on a Bus”. The first idea many clients have for their radio ads. Those women seem to know a lot about our advertisers. Oh, and I found a photo of the ACTUAL bus!

The Customer is Always Right… yer right!

April 2011 we unpacked the statement “The Customer is Always Right” If they were, there would be no need for experts in ANY field. If doctors used this expression we’d be in a lot of trouble.

You want to voice your own commercial

May 2011 I think a lot of clients have great voices. But it’s not a way to get a “cheaper ad” Trust me, you’ll have to work a lot harder. Sometimes it’s worth it. Other times…well here is an example.

I hope you enjoy reading the blog. If you have any ideas of other topics I could cover, please let me know!

This one just struck me as what we try to do as radio advertising copywriters. Especially when the client comes to us with self written radio advertising messages.

I just wish they’d recognise that we’re trying to help them!

Sometimes you hear clients who have written an ad say “but it’s working!” And you think.,.. “Yes, but we could make it work so much more!”

I hate it on so many different levels.

First of all… it assumes that ideas are pulled out of nowhere for a particular client. Or that you have a database of script ideas that can be applied. I used to have a client who thought I had a file of scripts that I used for “Motor Dealers” or “Double Glazing”. I do keep all my scripts, and sometime look back at them for inspiration. But it’s very rare. I need to know what I’m trying to achieve before coming up with an idea.

The second reason is, it’s the first stop for a lazy salesperson who doesn’t want to take a brief. Let’s go back to them with an idea to get them on air! NO!! Lets go back to them and find a way to help their business grow through radio advertising! Lets help them see how radio can work for them. Let’s go back to them with an idea based on where they currently are, where they need to go. The second stop is the “Category Demo Showreel”… where the client hears a dozen ads in his category and then choses one… because he thinks it’s a menu.

There are books written with ideas for scripts and promotions. They contain prescripted ideas you can even go to a website, book your airtime, enter your business name, business category and location and it will send you a “script”. Frankly the scripts are OK… but they are not meeting the clients exact business requirements. How can they? If it’s a script for a plumber the script only says “Come to us, because we’re a plumber” Not very dynamic advertising. They may be creative and sound good on air, but what is it doing for the client? On the whole, very little.

I love Dan O’Days Bad Commercial Generator… and it’s amazing how many people think it’s a genuine useful tool! But there is no short cut to writing good radio advertising. The books will help you as a writer to stimulate your mind… but it’s not a bespoke solution for a client.

As Mike Bersin says.. “The reason you see copywriters staring blankly into space (or more often, Facebook) is not that they are trying to come up with an idea… they’re trying to work out what they’re trying to have an idea about!”

I can come up with great ideas for a client.
But I need an great brief in the first place.
Give me that BEFORE we “go back to the client with some ideas”.
Then give me the time and respect to work on it!

Can you come up with a great idea for a removal company?

“50% will stay and the other 75% will go”

“I’m available anytime Tuesday morning after 12″

“There’s no such thing as the public service association, so i rang the
public service association and got onto them straight away”

“It’s a two man horse race”

“Here’s a brand new concept that started a while ago”

“This guy tries to buy radio like he buys his vegetables”

“Stock Barrel and Dice”

“Let’s put together the biggest Christmas hamper that God ever put breath
into”

“Look I’ll only tell you once … then I’ll tell you again”

“I’ve been running around like a bull arsed fly”

“Here comes the fire ambulance”

“It’s my birthmark, i’ve had it since i was born”

“The car park’s broken”

“They used cars like yours as cricket bats”

“You’ve been carrying on like a two bob goose”

“By Memory I can’t remember”

“Radio does work, look what it’s done for Bill Clinton”

“If they don’t like it they can hump it”

“Now you’re talking my tune”

“You have to keep killing them until they’re dead”

“I was born at one stage in my life also”

“Those two are as thick as wolves”

2012 is looking like an interesting year for Radio in general, and for Kenyan radio specifically. It’s an election year here, so many politicians will be turning to the advertising medium that reaches more people. But they will probably be making the same mistakes they made at the last election… and many radio stations will be doing the same.

Radio stations need to keep themselves as neutral as possible. Journalists need to be above reproach in reposting on politics and stations must resist the temptation to “sell” their programming time to people with deep pockets.

I’m all for letting politicians “advertise”… but for me that means spots… which the listener understands is paid for and doesn’t represent a political stand point of the station itself.

It’s quite hard to get the right balance in a country where politicians have bought frequencies for the simple purpose of furthering their political ends, where people on fairly low salaries could be paid to suppress or highlight stories. I am happy to work for a company that has been big enough and smart enough to try to remain neutral… but commercial.

For the politicians… it’s time they spoke to experienced advertising practitioners, and used the creatives to get their messages over. In the noise making of politics here it’s refreshing to hear someone with a clear, precise and believable message to the voters. In politics here I find it hard to know what anyone stands for and how they would make a difference.

It’s a simple formula. Tell people what you want them to do… give them a good reason to do it.

The hard part is finding that good reason, and making it believable.

I hope you have a great year, I pray that economies improve and that clients throw large bundles of cash at radio stations and get amazing results for their products or services.