Here’s a question I’m often asked, in my role as a radio advertising expert who insists that effective radio advertising requires radio commercials that make money for the advertiser:

 

“But what about ‘institutional’ or ‘image’ advertising?”

 

Yes, there are some advertisers who are foolish enough to throw their money away on “image” advertising:  The local bank that has sponsored the 12 o’clock newscast for the past 50 years…running the very same advertising copy the entire time. They’re not trying to generate any particular listener response, so they don’t try to measure response, they never change their copy, they never cause the radio station any problems or extra work.

 

There’s an oft-repeated story that I have seen attributed to at least three different 20th Century businessmen. As the story goes, the business owner said, “Half of my advertising is wasted. My problem is I don’t know which is the wasted half.”

 

For most businesses, that remains the standard: They have no idea which of their advertising works and which is a waste of money…And, shockingly, that doesn’t seem to bother them; they’re quite content to throw away half of the money they spend on advertising.

 

If they took the time to find out which half of their advertising works and which doesn’t, they could either eliminate the nonproductive half and save half of the ad budgets…Or they could fix the nonproductive half and double the impact of their exisiting ad budgets.

 

If you run a radio station that has a client like that local bank that sends you a check each month for unfocused, unproductive “image” advertising, a client that is happy to throw the company’s money away, it’s okay to take it. But few businesses really want to throw away money. But most businesses want their advertising to be an investment, not a cost. Most businesses can afford to advertise only if the advertising ultimately makes money for them.

Here’s a question I’m often asked, in my role as a radio advertising expert who insists that effective radio advertising requires radio commercials that make money for the advertiser:

 

“But what about ‘institutional’ or ‘image’ advertising?”

 

Yes, there are some advertisers who are foolish enough to throw their money away on “image” advertising:  The local bank that has sponsored the 12 o’clock newscast for the past 50 years…running the very same advertising copy the entire time. They’re not trying to generate any particular listener response, so they don’t try to measure response, they never change their copy, they never cause the radio station any problems or extra work.

 

There’s an oft-repeated story that I have seen attributed to at least three different 20th Century businessmen. As the story goes, the business owner said, “Half of my advertising is wasted. My problem is I don’t know which is the wasted half.”

 

For most businesses, that remains the standard: They have no idea which of their advertising works and which is a waste of money…And, shockingly, that doesn’t seem to bother them; they’re quite content to throw away half of the money they spend on advertising.

 

If they took the time to find out which half of their advertising works and which doesn’t, they could either eliminate the nonproductive half and save half of the ad budgets…Or they could fix the nonproductive half and double the impact of their exisiting ad budgets.

 

If you run a radio station that has a client like that local bank that sends you a check each month for unfocused, unproductive “image” advertising, a client that is happy to throw the company’s money away, it’s okay to take it. But few businesses really want to throw away money. But most businesses want their advertising to be an investment, not a cost. Most businesses can afford to advertise only if the advertising ultimately makes money for them.

So much radio advertising is wasted because most copywriters never have been taught how to create an effective radio commercial, let alone an entire campaign of radio commercials.

 

The model that most people follow when creating commercials is:  I’ll do a little song & dance to entertain them, and then I’ll try to sell them something.

 

And it USED to work that way. In the 19th Century, some stranger would arrive in a new town and entertain people with a juggling routine. A crowd would gather. Then the entertainer would step aside in order to allow the snake oil salesman to make his pitch.

 

And they sold an awful lot of snake oil that way.

 

But that’s not how it works with electronic media advertising in the 21st Century.

 

Remember, ADVERTISING IS MASS SALESMANSHIP.

 

If you happen to a Sales Manager:

 

Do you instruct your account executives to conduct sales calls by telling 27 jokes and then asking, “Do you want to buy some commercials?” If you run a business, do you tell your salespeople to tell each prospect a dozen jokes and then ask, “Do you want to buy something?”

 

If you entertain in a commercial, the entertainment has to be inextricably woven around the sales message. You should not be able to remove the entertainment without removing the sales message itself.

 

And that’s a very easy and extremely effective test to apply to your commercial:  “Is it possible to remove the entertaining elements without also removing the sales message?”

 

Many copywriters seem to think if they create a funny situation, they don’t need to establish a strong connection between the comedy and the sales message. Whether it’s a comedic spot or a non-humorous “slice of life” spot, the characters have to be involved with the sales message in some clear way: Either they use the product or service….or they need that product or that service….or they wish there were such a product or service….or their lives aren’t as full as they’d be if they were using the product or service.

 

When creating commercials, don’t do comedy unless you do it well — unless you can do it “funny.” And even doing it “funny” isn’t enough; you need to be able to deliver the sales message.

 

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMMERCIAL AUSTRALIA

Let’s talk about radio copywriting for radio commercials and radio advertising, as well as for television.

Both radio advertising and TV advertising sell with pictures. On radio, the pictures are painted in the listener’s mind; that’s known as “constructed imagery.” On television, you present the actual pictures — or what is known as “eidetic imagery.”

But whether you call them “eiditic images” or “constructed images” or just plain “pictures,” those pictures need to tell the story.

In both TV commercials and radio commercials, it’s pictures that tell the story…for example, in this Australian TV commercial…

If you’re unfamiliar with this commercial, there’s a good chance you’re not quite sure how the story connects to the advertiser.

They’re trying to advertise for automobiles. But if I hadn’t just pointed that out, there’s a good chance that five minutes from now — or perhaps five seconds from now — you wouldn’t be able to tell me what this commercial was trying to sell.

You’d remember something about the women stopping, eyeing the guy, and then driving away. And maybe people in a call center somewhere. But not, unfortunately, automobile insurance.

Why not? Because the pictures they’ve presented don’t sell the results of auto insurance.

Instead, they use a spoken voiceover to attempt to connect the pictures to the sales message. The message is supposed to be that the guy’s shoes were too dirty for their car. From the visuals, it appears his shoes aren’t stylish enough.

But the announcer asks, “Do you really love your car?” So the viewer is supposed to think, “Oh. Although the women think the guy is “hot,” his shoes are too dirty to be allowed in their car. And if they care that much about their car, they probably want to make sure they have good automobile insurance.”

If you want viewers to see THAT story, you’ve got to paint it with pictures, not with a voiceover.

Television advertising and radio commercial campaigns DO work — when the pictures sell the results of the product or service being advertised.

As a radio advertising expert who teaches radio copywriting to people who want to learn how to create effective radio advertising, I’d like to share with you some important facts you need to know when creating your radio commercial campaign.

 

If you’re reading this, you p robably are either a copywriter working for a radio station, ad agency, or production house; a producer or production director; a salesperson who writes copy; a disc jockey who does production and/or writes copy; a station owner or manager who truly cares about providing the station’s clients with the most effective advertising possible; or a business owner or manager who understands the importance of effective advertising.

 

When we discuss production aspects of creating commercials, however, we won’t be focusing on production room tricks or the wide variety of audio processing equipment you might have access to. That’s the technical end of radio commercial production. Here we’re talking about the SALES end.

 

One of radio’s best-known production experts is a former West Coast disc jockey named Bobby Ocean. Bobby is fond of pointing out that the single most valuable tool in your production room is…that thing called your imagination.

 

If you’re a producer, I’d like to invite you always to keep Bobby Ocean’s dictate in mind. All of your cool production tool should be used only if that help the commercial to sell. Is there a reason to use reverse echo on this spot? Why are you using whooshes and lasers?

 

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, “Unless you’re advertising STAR WARS, why would you use a laser sound in a commercial???”

 

Flashy tricks and techniques are wonderful whent hey actually add to the impact of the presentation; otherwise, they’re simply distractions; you’re just showing off for the sake of showing off.

 

So, let’s start at the beginning:

 

What is a good commercial? A good commercial is not necessary one that entertains. It’s not one that impressive other producers. It’s not one that wins awards. A good commercial, quite simply, is one that sells.

My job is pretty rare. I’m a radio advertising expert who teaches copywriters how to write radio commercials — the kind of effective radio advertising that produces profitable results for the radio advertiser.

The worst thing that ever happened to the radio advertising industry occurred sometime in the last century when some well-meaning person foolishly labelled the department in charge of crafting radio commercials as “Creative.”

As a result, being “creative” is the goal of most people who produce radio advertising. They give each other awards for producing the most “creative” commercials.

And this is the first thing you must understand:

RADIO ADVERTISING IS NOT A CREATIVE EXCERCISE; IT’S MASS SALESMANSHIP.

The purpose of a radio commercial is not to be creative. The purpose is, simply, to sell.

“Creativity” never should be your goal. Creativity is a means to an end.

People who make their livings by harnessing their creativity never wake up in the morning thinking, “I really want to be creative today!” Instead, they wake up with a problem they need to solve:

The novelist wants to make the middle chapters move more quickly.

The playwright discovers the story gets bogged down midway through the script.

The architect is puzzling over how to achieve the client’s goals with the limited amount of available space.

So…What is a commercial that sells? How do you know when you have a commercial that sells?

Is it one that gives the sponsor’s name multiple times? That tells listeners the exact price? That lists the benefits of the product or service? That recites the advertiser’s phone number six times?

No. A commercial that sells is a commercial that motivates the listener to act.

To go to the car dealer and test-drive a vehicle.

To reach for the telephone and call to schedule an appointment.

To go the department store and take a test whiff of the perfume.

A radio commercial that sells motivates listeners to act.