Radio (Still) Gets Results - an Audio Presentation

The fact that I retrieved this presentation from a cassette tape tells you something about how long ago I put it together. (Hint: it was before we recorded onto flash memory cards, before we emailed MP3's, even before we burned CD's. Seinfeld was airing in prime time, yada-yada-yada.)

Nonetheless, it's worth sharing.

Thinking about the success of Steve and Theresa Myers prompted me to search for this presentation I put together years ago to share some of my clients' success stories with prospective advertisers. It was a local implementation of the RAB's original "Radio Gets Results" initiative.

Back then, I'd ask the prospect to listen to the cassette in the car, driving to or from work. It proved an effective means of establishing credibility with new prospects, and opened many opportunities to help them with their advertising.

Today, a presentation of this sort would likely be posted on a station's website, or maybe uploaded to You Tube.

Running time's about nine minutes, longer than I'd make it if I were doing it today. Folks' attention spans keep getting shorter.

That said, the clients and their stories were/are real.

Selling Seafood on Radio

OK, I'll say it: I like this spot.

It's the third iteration of a commercial we created a couple years ago to build awareness and increase traffic for the fresh seafood department of a hometown supermarket. We changed some of the copy around late last year and relaunched it at the beginning of the Dungeness Crab season.

Our research identified two consumer touch points for the commercial: product freshness and variety of choice. (Living in a coastal state with a high quality fishery, most consumers have high expectations where both are concerned. Seattle-area restaurants probably set the standard in this area, providing a frame of reference generally shared by local seafood lovers.)

Interviews with the seafood manager yielded details concerning the process and timetable for getting fresh fish and seafood to the store. We decided simply to convey this information as demonstrable proof of the store's assertion that their seafood was, in fact, the freshest available.

Response from listeners and shoppers to the ongoing seafood campaign continues to be favorable. (In fact, the feedback was sufficiently positive that I briefly considered entering the spot into this year's Radio-Mercury Awards competition.)

Looking over my past few posts, I realized that I'd neglected putting up any commercials recently - one of the main purposes of this blog. So, let's fix that now and share a spot for seafood.

I'm ready for dinner.

Painting Pictures, Growing Biz with Words and Music

A few years ago one of my seasonal clients asked for some help creating a jingle for the family landscaping and nursery business.

At the time there were perhaps 15-20 local advertisers using jingles, many from the same original provider. The singers were different, of course. But after awhile, one begins to notice similarities. We wanted something different, new and fresh.

My search led me to Ralph Plank in Springfield, MO (near Branson - a great place to find musical talent). Impressed with his demos and friendly, collaborative attitude, we decided to hire him.

We wanted it all - a catchy tune, lyrics that painted vivid pictures, a powerful hook with a call to action, all wrapped in a style that would wear well over time (as the Myers Auto Rebuild jingle has done).

The hook we'd settled on even before engaging Ralph's services was "Get Growing." (My company produces a syndicated series of gardening features for radio by the same name, so the phrase was already top-of-mind; applying it to the jingle project made sense.) It combined the all-encompassing idea of growing things with an exhortation to act - get going! get growing!

Donna, my client, provided examples of the kinds of pictures she wanted listeners to be able to see in their minds' eye: thriving plants, attractive landscaping, water features, etc.

I got hung up on her insistence that the full name of the business be used, S Y G Nursery and Landscaping. "S-Y-G, Nur-ser-y" had rhyme and rhythm; the "and Landscaping" was just cumbersome. I lobbied for leaving it out, but was outvoted by the client, who in the end pays the bill.

Surprisingly, Ralph didn't seem to think that singing the full name of the business would be a problem at all.

He was right. I was wrong.

When I heard the jingle for the first time, I immediately fell in love with it, no qualifications. It was perfect.


The jingle hit the airwaves and almost immediately the client started getting great feedback. Awareness went up, followed by increases in traffic and sales. Everything that's supposed to happen with a good ad campaign.

Today, after four years of steady airplay from spring to fall, this perky jingle still sounds fresh and inviting, in perfect harmony with the nature of the client's business.

When it comes to painting vivid, enduring images on the canvas of human imagination, Radio is unsurpassed.

Clients as Spokesmen #4 - One of the best I've heard

A few years back the owner of a radio station in Missouri for whom I'd done some work asked me to evaluate a commercial he'd put together for a local restaurant using the cook's own voice and words.

Listening to Maxine's reminiscence was like sitting across from her at the kitchen table.

It was authentic, right up until the ANNOUNCER jumps in to provide the what-where-and-when information with all the finesse of a cold shower.

Yes, the name and location of the establishment should be included (most of the time). But I can't help wondering if there isn't a better way to convey this information, one that would preserve the "feel" and integrity of Maxine's story.

Press the Play button below to hear the commercial. How would YOU have ended it differently?

Clients as Spokesmen #3 - A Product Made for Radio

I was talking with a professional photographer in town recently about his proclivity for print advertising. As you would expect, he felt that since his product is visual, it belonged in a visual medium. I suggested that a well-written radio commercial can paint a picture in the prospect's mind that's every bit as "real" as the one he puts into print. Realizing that he's heard examples of this himself, he conceded that he might add radio to his mix.

He also said that in view of the economy (SFX - bells, whistles, explosions), he's going to have to INCREASE HIS MARKETING EFFORT!

OK - that's a bit of a digression from the subject of this post, but it provides a good segue.

Just as my friend the photographer is predisposed to using print, those of us who sell or create radio advertising most often think in terms of sound.

And every once in awhile, an opportunity drops into our laps like manna from heaven - a product made for selling on radio.

Say hello to the Gurgle Pot.

This ad, voiced by the proprietor of a gift shop, has sold a TON of Gurgle Pots. (And not just on radio. She has the ad on her cell phone and loves to play it for people.)
You're not given a clue as to what it looks like...what colors it comes in....how big it is....or anything else. But you do know what it sounds like when you pour from it, ...and that's the whole point. It's a hoot. An ice-breaker. A conversation starter. Something fun to bring out when you have company over, to get the party started.

How many of your advertising prospects offer items that have sounds of their own...sounds that you can incorporate into an effective radio commercial?

Now that it's on your radar, have fun with it!

The Client Whose Ad Copy Never Gets Changed

Consistency is a great virtue in advertising, all other factors being equal.

Most of my advertising clients have annual contracts that call for being on the air every day. This degree of exposure usually requires regular changes of copy, to maintain a healthy balance between repetition and freshness.

But I have one client, a mom-and-pop automotive body shop and towing service, that's been running the same ad every week, every month, every year...for well over a decade.

Yes, from a servicing standpoint it's almost an embarrassment.

We laugh about it from time to time.

All the way to the bank.

Because Myers Auto Rebuild and Towing also happens to occupy the enviable Top Rung of their category ladder. By a mile.



A dozen years ago, Steve and Theresa Myers met with a jingle company rep we'd brought into town and decided they'd move forward on a custom "musical image" for their shop.

If you've ever worked with jingle salespeople, you know that they often follow an interview format not unlike the RAB's "client needs analysis." They meet for 30-45 minutes with each prospect, asking lots of questions in an effort to document the advertiser's niche, his USP, or at least what HE thinks are his strong selling points. Then they turn these answers over to a lyricist, who presumably will distill from these notes the poetry that will woo buyers out of the WOOdwork.

It has been my experience that many of these well-meaning efforts end rather poorly. in an attempt to feed back to the client in one 30-second song, everything about the business that came up in the interview, the result is an unfocused exercise in musical chest-thumping.

In the Myers' case, the first draft was faxed to them for approval within a week of their interview. Theresa called me, a tone of concern in her voice, to ask if I would stop by to review what the jingle writer had come up with. My response merely confirmed what their gut had already told them.

It was a mess.

The tune was catchy. The singer was perfect. But the message was deficient, to put it kindly.

I quickly offered to rewrite the lyrics.

We checked with the singer to see if he had any objection to this. He didn't; he just wanted to sing something and get paid.

I've always enjoyed writing rhyming copy. The challenge here was to keep the narrative straightforward and focused, to convey when and why someone would call Myers Auto Rebuild, and what they could expect as a result. The completed story meshed nicely with the music, resulting in a :30-second full-sing jingle that has enjoyed remarkable longevity.

When a few weeks after the jingle first hit the airwaves Steve and Theresa received a telephone call from the owner of a competitor's body shop, complaining that his kids were singing their jingle, they knew they had a winner.

And they haven't been inclined to change their copy ever since.

Radical? You decide. Listen to the Myers Auto Rebuild Jingle.

Another "Snow" Spot

Dan O'Day's Radio Commercial Smackdown today reminded me of an ad I did a few years ago, at the request of a young man who wanted to rent snowmobiles at his cabins up in Elk River. It was late season (March) and the snow wasn't going to be around for much longer. Being 60 miles away and having no website, we had to include his phone number in the commercial - a practice generally to be discouraged unless absolutely necessary. Here's the produced spot.

And here's the script:

(SFX: Winter wind)

A giant cedar tree towers above you – it is 18 feet in diameter, 177 feet tall, and 3000 years old.

In the distance, Hemlock Butte….Elk Butte…. Grandad Bridge overlooking an ice-covered Dworshak Reservoir.

And today…it is all yours.

At the front door of this wilderness adventure you’ll find Elk Butte Recreation. You walk in, hop on one of their powerful snowmobiles, and an unforgettable adventure is about to begin.

While there’s still snow on the ground, why not do a little exploring on a big sled? Half-day and full-day snowmobile rentals are available now at Elk Butte Recreation.

Call to reserve yours now. 208-826-3632. That’s 208-826-3632.

Clients as Spokesmen #2

Testimonials from customers can be powerfully persuasive in a radio campaign. But they have to be real. Listeners can smell a fake a mile away, and that hurts much more than it helps.

Case in point: for the past few weeks I've been signing up exhibitors for our annual Palouse Empire Home & Garden EXPO, an event I've helped coordinate for the past eleven years. Prospective exhibitors are solicited through a combination of radio (our primary vehicle), newspaper and television ads, and direct mail to previous exhibitors.

Every year toward the end of the show the station's news director has taken time to record brief interviews with exhibitors, inviting their feedback on the show while the experience is still fresh. He then passes these recordings along to me, so that I can use them to create vendor-solicitation spots.

These two spots are running on the air as I type these words.

Think the message would be nearly as compelling without the voices of previous exhibitors? Neither do I.

Clients as Spokesmen

I've long been a proponent of using advertisers' voices in their radio commercials whenever it seemed appropriate.

This used to incur the wrath of program directors and indignant DJ's who felt that only mellifluous "professional" voices were worthy of a listener's attention, but the opposition seems to have mellowed of late. Even in my home market local broadcasters and advertising folk that once disdained the idea now have no problem letting their clients participate freely in their own commercials.

Done well, a client-voiced commercial offers several advantages to the advertiser:
(1) It provides a unique and distinctive sound, unlikely to be mistaken for any other personality or advertiser on the air.
(2) The authority and expertise of the spokesman may enhance the credibility of the message.
(3) Over time the advertiser becomes a familiar voice, no longer a stranger to people who have yet to patronize his business.
(4) And yes, all other factors being equal, the client is more likely to have people mention hearing the ad. What's wrong with that? If it makes his investment in Radio more tangible, that's just great.

No, not every client belongs on the air. And yes, getting most clients to speak to your listeners with authenticity and appeal, as opposed to stiffly reading or talking at them, typically requires more time and effort than simply handing the copy off to a station voice.

First, the copy has to be fine-tuned to fit the client's individual style of communicating, his personality. In my experience, this often involves editing on the fly (during the recording process).

Second, in most cases the client will need to be coached and directed to bring out the most effective interpretation of the copy, involving equal measures of persistence and patience. It can be frustrating for both client and coach to do 15 or 20 takes, fine-tuning to get everything right.

Modern digital editing tools have greatly lessened the need to get one "perfect" take. More often than not, I'll take portions of several takes and combine them into the final voice track, a best-of compilation, so to speak. Back in the days of reel tapes and splicing tape, this posed a much greater challenge, with a very small margin for error - and no Undo function. Here's a funny example from back in the day (18 years ago), a short piece I cobbled together from outtakes of the legendary Chuck "Bobo" Brayton struggling through numerous takes to voice a spot for a local Mexican restaurant. It's a hoot.)

But getting back to the issue of coaching - after many less than stellar takes, it can be tempting to throw in the towel and let a substandard reading pass. Resist the urge at all costs! If necessary, come back for another session when you're both fresh. Because if you let the client get away with a subpar reading, it'll come back to bite you every time that commercial is aired!

Take the pains to do it right, so that when the spot airs you, your client, and your listeners can enjoy it and benefit from a job well done.