June 3 - 6, 2024
point-of-view
Commentary
Radio Needs To Get More Creative
- by Bob McCurdy , May 13, 2009
Many of the 235 million people who listen to radio each week would agree. Creating great radio ads is hard work and an acquired skill. Sitting down at a computer to write a radio commercial - without an art director or any other help - is one of the loneliest jobs in the business. By failing to overcome these challenges and not expecting more of ourselves, though, we could be short-changing our clients.
Each medium has its inherent strengths and interacts with its consumers differently. One of radio's real strengths is the intimacy it enjoys with its listeners. It's one voice speaking to one person, sharing the same moment in time. When a Boston station fired one of its most popular hosts, the station was deluged with more than 8,000 emails and quickly restored him to his old slot.
A 2004 study by Wirthlin Worldwide for the Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab confirmed radio's unique one-to-one relationship with its listeners. The study showed that radio is an emotion-driven experience more powerful than television or newspapers. A 2008 follow-up study by Gallup & Robinson evaluating 16 different ad campaigns showed radio ads have the emotional impact on consumers equal to that of television ads - at a much lower cost.
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Emotions are key in turning viewers, readers and listeners into consumers. Many researchers believe emotions are the gatekeepers for further advertising processing, which is hard to dispute as people typically don't become emotionally involved in a positive way with a poorly conceived commercial. The bottom line is that people buy emotionally and then justify with logic. If the commercial is not compelling enough to touch them emotionally, all logical reasons to buy probably won't make a difference. There is nothing emotional about a litany of facts swiped from a print ad and inserted into a radio ad.
If Droga was right in criticizing the quality of radio ads - and if people's engagement with a commercial is directly tied to its quality - it's safe to conclude that the persuasive power of radio can be greatly enhanced with stronger creative. With all of the effort, focus and scrutiny on the planning and buying of media, there's clearly an opportunity to enhance a radio campaign's effectiveness by holding ourselves to a higher creative standard. A study by media agency OMD showed that ad engagement has an eight times larger impact on sales than gross rating points.
We are hardwired with an "orienting response," which alerts us to some new sounds and stimuli in our environment. If there is a novel sound in our environment, we automatically focus on it. If it's of interest to us, we maintain that focus; if it isn't, our attention wanders.
That's why long and cumbersome beginnings to radio commercials are ineffective. A commercial has three to four seconds to grab a listener's attention or lose it. Bud Light's Real Men of Genius ads are a perfect example of commanding a listener's attention from the get-go with humor and anticipation. The entertainment factor of these little 'vignettes' was memorable as consumers, especially younger groups, would look forward to listening to the ads because each one possessed a bit of social currency.
The bottom line is that it's no longer possible to succeed with mediocre communications. We in the radio industry have a golden opportunity to take advantage of this enhanced appreciation of the power of sound and how it can be deployed to communicate a commercial message.
Since a brand is nothing more than the sum of all its impressions on a consumer, every brand touchpoint should be seen as an opportunity to impact the consumer's perception of the brand. If an advertiser's copy is an intimate encounter with the consumer, why blow the opportunity by airing something that doesn't enhance the perception of the brand?
Good strategy paired with poor creative is no better than poor strategy. That's why we think it's the right time to learn - or relearn - what great radio advertising sounds like.
While I agree 110% with Bob's point about the lack of creativity in radio, and especially the lack of emotion, much of the blame must land on the shoulders of radio stations themselves. In their quest to get more advertisers on the radio, they have offered clients run-of-the-mill, station produced, and worse yet, station written radio spots that, by and large, are exactly the kind of "litany of facts swiped from a print ad" that Bob speaks of. Why don't the radio stations hire better talent to write and produce their spots, or freelance them out, and use outside voice actors in instead of station announcers to read them? In the end, if clients are willing to accept mediocrity in their creative, then they have no one to blame for poor results than themselves!
No question that this is an accurate assessment of radio and we have first-hand experience with it. We took over an account from a media placement firm who was just throwing shlock spots out there for the client. First thing we did was change the station mix. Results got a little better. Second thing we did was change the creative. Not only did we get immediate results in the form of more phone calls, but we started getting buzz. People were talking about it. What started as a cut and dry radio account has evolved into an award-winning creative account. Stations hate paying agency commission, so the client gets crap creative. If reps were smart, they would partner with an agency and everyone wins. Short term, they don't get paid as much, but long term, they get much happier clients who stay on the air much longer.
I agree 100%. I work at Cox Radio in Jacksonville. Account Managers here are hired on talent...both sales AND marketing talent...the talent required to get clients RESULTS. Account Managers are then trained in the field of marketing with a focus on client's RETURN ON INVESTMENT and compensated accordingly (for developing business through creating a COMPLETE marketing strategy and developing custom, creative, EFFECTIVE campagins in line with this strategy...getting the clients results...and getting renewals). Being an Account Manager, you are selling RESULTS, not SPOTS. Therefore, it is the responsbility of the Account Manager to either develop effective creative or utilize the outside resources necessary to do so.
My Creative Director and I were talking about this the other day as we were contemplating doing some radio spots. We have some fun concepts we'd like to try out for radio, may have to check what's legal first however... Anyhow, I agree that radio spots need to be more creative, my Creative Director and I were trying to recall off the top of our heads popular and memorable radio ads and drew complete blanks. We tried doing a search on Google and YouTube and found little (granted our efforts lasted five-minutes, but if you can't find what you're looking for on Google/YouTube in five-minutes it's just not going to get any easier). It's no secret people tend to tune out radio ads, so creativity and innovation should be key aspects when producing these ads.
Supercool Creative > http://www.supercoolcreative.com > http://www.gettingspotted.com - blog
"Creating great radio ads is hard work and an acquired skill."
Right on, Bob!
That statement ought to be printed in 60-point boldface type, framed and posted at the desk of every radio advertising salesperson, sales manager, general manager, operations manager, production director, copywriter, producer, and board op at every radio station in America.
Right next to it should be posted a list of cliches* that from henceforth are banned and must never appear in a radio commercial without severe consequences to the perpatrator or perpatratrix.
Creating good radio commercials is painstaking, time-consuming work.
Anyone undertaking the responsibility of writing advertising for a client must understand the fundamentals of advertising. What works, what doesn't, and why. This information is readily available in books, on CD's, videos, online, in the library.
Writing good advertising involves an investment of time for research, to understand the advertiser's customers, as well as his product/service, market, competition.
It involves think-time, before and during the process of writing, editing, tweaking, refining and polishing, spinning words into gold.
It involves choosing an appropriate spokesman. Extensive casting opportunities may be out of reach for many stations, but thought should still be given as to who should deliver the message. Often the advertisers themselves make great spokespeople (I can hear the protests rumbling from the "professional" bench already. Don't bother. I've been writing for and coaching ordinary folks for years, decades really - with consistent, bankable results for the client! It CAN be done. Just takes a little more time, patience, and perseverance, that's all. Want to hear examples? I can provide you with plenty.)
Great production won't compensate for poor copy. If you can't have both, put your money into the copywriting. Great copy always trumps great production.
Invest in improving the quality of your advertising copy for clients and the inevitable improvement in their results will keep them on the air.
It's just that simple.
And because it is, there's no reason it can't be done.
*Cliches that should be forever banned from radio commercials include:
for all your ______ needs
conveniently located at ___________
the friendly folks at ___________
the professionals at ___________
your ________ headquarters
and much, much more
just in time for ________
like never before
the sale you’ve been waiting for
lowest prices of the year/season/ever
it’s that time of year again
we sell the best and service the rest
our service is second to none
our friendly, knowledgeable staff
you heard it right
it’s happening right now
(Season) is right around the corner