Radio is a visual medium. Although the message initially is delivered auditorily — via sound waves — for that message to make a conscious impact on the targeted listener, the listener almost invariably must convert those sound waves into mental pictures.
What do you want your commercial to paint a picture of in the listener’s mind?
The results your product or service offers the consumer.
But most radio commercials either don’t paint any pictures, or they paint the wrong pictures!
If your commercial consists exclusively of your name and phone number and abstract talk about being ''family owned and operated'' and your ''friendly, knowledgeable staff with service second to none,'' you’re not painting any pictures. And you’re making virtually no impact on your targeted listener.
On the other hand, plenty of commercials paint pictures. The only problem is the pictures they paint don’t sell the results of the product or service.
Lots of commercials are entertaining. And the vast majority of them create for the listener mental images of the entertainment…which usually has nothing to do with the sales message.
In my seminars I often play a commercial for an employment service. The purpose of the commercial is to get employers to come to the advertiser’s website in search of qualified potential employees.
The commercial presents an entertaining scenario in which a couple receives terrible service in a restaurant. And it is entertaining.
Unfortunately, the picture it paints is that of the couple’s frustrations as diners. The spot does not illustrate the problem (and solution to the problem) of an employer trying to find good employees. Instead, it illustrates the problem of diners trying to get good service in restaurants.
It’s entertaining. And it’s a complete waste of the advertiser’s money.
No doubt that advertiser today is telling people, ''I tried radio…and it didn’t work!''
The picture your commercial paints is the one the listener will remember. So make sure that picture sells the results of your product or service.
2. Focusing on the Advertiser Instead of on the Targeted Consumer
Has something like this ever happened to you?
You’re at a party, and as you approach the buffet table, a stranger joins you in surveying the food. You smile and say, ''Hello.''
And the other party guest says:
''Hi, Bob Roberts of Roberts Lumber. My family’s been in the lumber business for six generations. Yep, it was my great-great-great-grandfather Ezekiel Roberts who started it all. He came over from the old country with just a packet of seeds, and the first thing he did when he got here was plant a tree. And then he passed the business along to his son, Jedidiah Roberts, who passed it along to his son, Henry, who passed it along to his son, Henry Jr., who passed it along to my father. I never actually planned to go into the lumber business; I wanted to be a professional baseball player. But I injured my shoulder in high school, so I had to give up on playing ball. The lumber business isn’t a bad business, really, although with consolidation it’s really changed since when I first got into it. You know what’s one of the biggest problems with the lumber business…''
Meanwhile, all you said was ''hello.''
Do you want to spend much more time with him? Or do you want to get away from him as soon as you possibly can?
Sadly, that is exactly what most advertisers do: they talk on and on about themselves. They’re bragging instead of selling.
I heard a commercial for a company that installs sunroofs in automobiles. Let’s call it Company X. Here’s a line from a commercial for that company:
''Company X offers one-day installation.''
Well, that’s simple, direct, and easy to understand. Very few copywriters would realize how terribly ineffective it is. But in a moment you will.
Which do you think connects more directly to the targeted consumer: ''Company X offers one-day installation'' or ''Your new sunroof will be installed in a single day''?
Wait a minute! You’re saying I could drop my car off at your shop in the morning, get a ride to work, get a ride back to your place at the end of the day, and there’ll be a sunroof in my car? I thought it would take a week! That’s great!
Same message, completely different impact — because one of them is advertiser-focused. The other is consumer-focused; instead of talking about Company X, it talks about ''your new sunroof.''
It’s the difference between saying, ''I’ve got something I want to tell you'' and saying, ''You’ve just won a thousand dollars!''
Which is more likely to attract your attention?
About the Author
Dan O'Day (http://www.danoday.com) is internationally known as radio's commercial-copywriting guru.
In fact, when the Radio Advertising Bureau decided to offer the industry's first certification course for copywriters — the Certified Professional Commercial Copywriter — Dan is the person they asked to create it. The CPCC remains the industry’s gold standard of training.
Dan has helped radio stations, advertisers, and ad agencies in 34 different countries create advertising that produces money-making results for the client...and re-orders for the station or agency.
His newsletter, The Dan O'Day Radio Advertising Letter, is subscribed to by more than 11,000 broadcast & advertising professionals worldwide.
