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.

Myers Auto Rebuild and Towing

It was neat to see my client, Myers Auto Rebuild and Towing, profiled in the March 23, 2009 issue of Radio Ink magazine!

Here's the link to my original post about their successful use of their thirty-second full-sing jingle, "The Client Whose Copy Never Gets Changed."

We should all be so fortunate to have clients like Steve and Theresa Myers.

Another Opportunity for Radio to Shine

May is Military Appreciation Month - providing an opportunity for radio stations and their advertisers to honor local men and women serving in America's armed forces. Five military celebrations take place in May: Loyalty Day (1st) ◊ VE Day (8th) ◊ Military Spouse Appreciation Day (8th) ◊ Armed Forces Day (16th) ◊ Memorial Day (25th)

To help radio stations and advertisers connect with listeners whose family members have served or are serving today to defend and preserve our liberty, Grace Broadcast Sales (GBS) is offering two FREE :60-second radio features for use by any commercial or non-commercial broadcast station in the United States. Each of these one-minute salutes provides approximately :10 seconds at the beginning and :20 seconds at the end for Station or Sponsor inserts.

Audition or download the free spots - and get more information on Military Appreciation Month.

Radio Gets Results - A "Radio Heard Here" Video

Whether you sell radio advertising, use radio advertising, or are thinking about trying radio advertising for your business...here's a short, entertaining video that demonstrates Radio's pervasiveness.



Ironically, Radio's ubiquitous presence may explain why some in the advertising community don't get excited about it. It's not The Next Thing. It's just "there."

As in...

Everywhere.

For more detailed information on the effectiveness of Radio as an advertising medium, visit the Radio Ad Lab.

Raiders of the Radio Ad Budget

Ever stopped to count all the different competitors in your market, trying to raid your clients' shrinking advertising budgets?

After posting on the supermarket video ad display yesterday, I thought it might be interesting to compile a list and see how long it gets.

Here's what I've come up with for starters. Please feel free to add to it using the Comments button below.

Newspaper display ads.
Classified ads.
Newspaper inserts and flyers.
Weekly "shoppers" and other print publications.
Cable TV.
Broadcast TV.
Magazines.
Billboards.
Sports programs.
Sports pocket schedules.
Sports schedule posters.
City maps.
Concert programs.
Yearbooks.
Backs of tickets.
Bumper stickers.
Direct mail.
Door hangers.
Yellow Pages ads.
White Pages ads.
Website banners.
Search ads.
Sponsored links.
Bus stop bench ads.
Airport panel ads.
Hotel window boxes.
Mall kiosks.
Supermarket video displays.
Movie theater ads.
Bowling alley score-sheet ads.
Restaurant menu ads.
Advertising specialties (pens, key chains, etc.)

How to Squander a Perfectly Good Ad Budget

Advertising dollars are scarce in the best of times. Competition is always fierce. But in today's economy, can any businessperson afford to squander his limited advertising budget?

You wouldn't think so.

The sheer number of competitors for local ad dollars is matched only by the mind-numbing stupidity of some of these new alternative forms of advertising.

For a couple years now, I've watched and winced as a local grocery store (a client of mine, no less) has made wall space available to an out-of-town company to mount two flat-screen monitors that carry Powerpoint-type video display ads. These monitors are mounted eight feet or so above the ground, spaced 20 or 30 feet apart at the end of the checkout lanes.

I've stood around paying close attention to see if anyone even glances at these things, let alone watches them long enough for an impression to register. Drives me crazy to see all the advertisers they've bamboozled, including a few regular Radio advertisers (and many that have never spent a dime on Radio. Isn't anybody calling on them?)

Here's a view from the vantage point of Suzy Shopper, the captive consumer, standing in line waiting to be checked out. Presumably, instead of watching her groceries being scanned and rung up by the checker, while engaging in a brief, pleasant verbal exchange, Suzy's head will turn 90 degrees and her eyes will be fastened upon the monitor, as she checks out all the wonderful ads. (Assuming it's turned on. It's been dark on more than one occasion.)

Think she'll head right home with all her groceries? Nah, she'll drive to the French restaurant instead. Maybe have a new furnace installed. Or else she'll drop by the real estate agency and shop for a new home.

Right.

It's painful to think about all the ad dollars that have been wasted on this garbage "medium." At the same time, it represents an opportunity for a conscientious Radio advertising professional to help a business in dire need of better advice.

What similar opportunities exist at this moment in your market?

Fish Mongers vs. Fear Mongers

"The Pike Place Fish Market, founded in 1930, is an open air fish market located in Seattle, Washington's Pike Place Market, at the corner of Pike Street and Pike Place. It is known for their tradition of fishmongers throwing fish that customers have purchased, before they are wrapped. After nearing bankruptcy in 1986, the fish market owner and employees decided to become "world famous", changing their way of doing business by introducing their flying fish, games, and customer performances. Four years later, they were featured repeatedly in the national media and television shows. The store is now a popular tourist destination in Seattle, attracting up to 10,000 daily visitors, and is often billed as world-famous." - Wikipedia

Such is the power of a can-do attitude, backed by the work necessary to make things happen.

This weekend's 11th annual Palouse Empire Home & Garden EXPO was a breath of fresh air for me, as the show's producer, as it was for the eighty or so exhibitors that decided to show up and do some business instead of staying home and talking about how terrible things are. I expected good traffic on Saturday and was not disappointed.

One of my clients, a successful HVAC contractor, talked non-stop to prospects interested in his residential wind generators, for four-and-a-half hours straight, before his wife finally intervened and urged him to take a break and get a drink of water. (Later this week - if I can pin him down - I hope to post a short interview with him about his success at the EXPO and consumer response to his new radio commercial. Stay tuned.)

If you're not subscribing to Roy Williams' free Monday Morning Memo, you really ought to. This morning's edition contained this timely observation from the Wizard:

...a frightened person frightens other people. And these newly frightened people will frighten still more people until finally no one is spending any money. Fear is the fuel of recession. I understand perfectly what’s happening in the world. I simply choose not to be afraid.

You can choose, too...

Warren Buffett agrees with this outlook.

“Fear is very contagious. You can get fearful in 5 minutes, but you don’t get confident in 5 minutes.” - Warren Buffett on CNBC, Monday, March 9, 2009

CNBC: “We’ve been getting thousands and thousands of emails from our viewers. Warren, we’d like to start with one that echoes a theme we heard again and again. This one comes from Terry in San Antonio, Texas, who asks, ‘Will everything be all right?’”

BUFFETT: “Everything will be all right. We do have the greatest economic machine that man has ever created. We started with 4 million people back in 1790 and look where we’ve come. And it wasn’t because we were smarter than other people. It wasn’t because our land was more fertile or we had more minerals or our climate was more favorable. We had a system that worked. It unleashed the human potential. It didn’t work every year. We had 6 ‘panics’ in the 19th century. In the 20th century we had the Great Depression, World Wars, all kinds of things. But we have a system – largely free market, rule of law, equality of opportunity – all of those things that cause the potential of humans to get unleashed. And we’re far from done. Your kids will live better than mine. Your grandchildren will live better than your kids. There’s no question about that. But the machine gets gummed up from time to time. If you take the bulk of those centuries, probably 15 years were bad years. But we go forward.”

Did you notice the quote the twitchy news people of America lifted from Buffett’s very upbeat, 3-hour interview? They filtered out all kinds of affirming, positive statements (such as the one above) to create the headline, “Warren Buffett Says ‘The Economy Fell Off a Cliff.”

Slippery Wall-Streeters triggered this recession but the twitchy news media seems committed to making sure it progresses.

On February 5th I posted a link to a Paul McDonnold piece in the Christian Science Monitor, in which the writer asked, "Is the media reporting the recession - or worsening it?"

We can't stop the news media from being themselves (though Roy's suggestion to slap 'em and tell 'em to stop is tempting) - but we can choose how we'll respond to any adversity we face.

I prefer the approach of the fish monger to that of the fear monger.

How about you?

Enlist YOUR Listeners to Help Defeat the "Performance Tax" Now!

I was working into the wee hours this morning when Tom Taylor's newsletter arrived in my inbox, carrying a story about Cleveland's classical colossus WCLV 104.9 FM taking the fight against the performance royalty bill (sponsored by Michigan congressman John Conyers) to their radio listeners.

As I've had the privilege and pleasure of doing business with WCLV over the years, I asked Robert Conrad, WCLV's founder and president, for permission to share the spot he's currently airing on the damaging effect this new tax bill, if passed, would have on the radio broadcast industry.

Because this issue affects every commercial radio station in America that plays music, you may wish to broadcast your own version of this message and urge your listeners to take action.

If you have a website, you may wish to view the letter of opposition to this measure, based on information provided by the Free Radio Alliance, along with a list of Congressional representatives and their contact information, posted on WCLV's website.

An Opportunity for Radio to Shine

Every year local newspapers and magazines across America conduct their annual reader polls -- "best of" surveys in which their readers are asked to rate local businesses and other entities.

The results of these reader polls generally serve to promote good business throughout the community.

They also provide beaucoup opportunities for (surprise!) ...selling advertising.

Typical survey questions include:

Who's your favorite local TV news personality (sportscaster, weatherperson, etc.)?

Who in town makes the best pizza (hamburger, salad, sandwich, dessert, etc.)?

What's the best Chinese (Korean, Greek, Mexican, Italian, etc.) restaurant?

Favorite bakery (ice cream shop, watering hole, Espresso stand, wine bar, place to meet the opposite sex, etc.)

Favorite local doctor (optometrist, massage therapist, bank teller, college professor, insurance agent, city official, etc.)?

It's not uncommon for a poll to contain dozens of retail categories: clothing, furniture, appliances, lawn and garden, hardware, gifts, jewelry, hair salon, fitness club, book store, auto dealer, tire shop, service shop, drug store, supermarket, meat department...the list can go on and on....

They might also ask who has the friendliest staff? ...the cleanest facility? ...the funkiest decor? ...the best smell? ...the most attractive waitress? ...the best bartender?

Obviously this is just a representative sampling of the types of companies and individuals that can be included in a "Best of [Community]" poll.

But what a marvelous opportunity! It's loaded with benefits and no negatives that I can think of. (OK, so the losers don't get to say they're #1 this year. So what? They might be on top next year, if they work at it.)

At the end of the survey, results are tallied and the winners receive framed certificates to display proudly in their businesses, for all the world to see. It creates a lot of buzz, both for the business community and for the media outlet conducting the survey, whose logo appears on every award certificate.

So why is it that - in most of the markets I'm familiar with anyway - this promotion always seems to be the exclusive province of the print media? ("Ol' Smudgy," as my friend Jay Mitchell likes to call 'em.) Because it's easier for them to conduct a survey?

I'm sure there must be exceptions where the local radio station is running this show, thereby positioning itself as a community leader. I just don't know of any.

But it's a real opportunity for Radio to shine, my friend.

And so easy to put together!

•Let salespeople and air staff help create the survey form, identifying the obvious categories along with a few esoteric ones for fun.
•Write some promos inviting listeners to visit your website and fill out the survey form.
•Take printed copies to remotes.
•Pass them out at supermarkets, shopping malls, anywhere large numbers of people congregate. •Email them to listeners.
•Offer some nice prizes in a random drawing from among all completed surveys. (Great way to build a loyal listener database for future promotions.)

Make it fun, make it worthwhile for people to fill out the questionnaire, and you'll get lots of participation.

Then, make a big deal of announcing and saluting the winners. Use some trade and take 'em out to dinner to present the awards. Create "theater" by broadcasting the presentations. Or literally, take videos and upload them to You Tube and your own website. Share them on Facebook.

Make it as big a deal as you can imagine, and you'll ride on the goodwill for a long time to come.

Best of all, you'll get to do it again the next year.

And the next.

Once you've staked this promotion as YOURS, it'll stay yours for as long as you want to keep it going. And if one of your local print media is already doing a Readers' Poll...do your own anyway. (In the words of the late, great radio sales trainer, Jim Williams, "What the heck's wrong with two good things?")

A favor. If your station is doing this promotion, now or in the future, would you drop me a line and let me know about it? Thanks.

And good selling!

Paul Harvey Tribute Page

ABC is providing this tribute page to the late superstar.

Remembering Paul Harvey

I grew up in Chicago, listening to WLS. Dick Biondi, Art Roberts, Clark Weber, and Ron Riley played records and bantered. Lyle Dean read the news. Paul Harvey turned it into the stuff of life.

America could set its watch by Paul Harvey.

His noontime broadcasts were a given, a constant. Year after year, decade after decade, Paul Harvey showed up right on schedule to share his distinctive take on the news and not-so-news of the day.

When I left Chicago in 1972, his was the only voice that followed me from one market to the next. I couldn't conceive of an American radioscape without Paul Harvey.

He also was a consummate pitchman. When he spoke about a product, you just knew he was telling the truth. To this day, I can still remember the words he used to launch the Teledyne Water Pik as a national brand: "Over, around, and in-between...Water-Pik'd teeth are hydraulically clean!" I admired his ability to communicate product benefits so naturally and authoritatively many years before I backed into my own career in advertising.

Paul Harvey set an impossible standard for elocution on radio, and achieved it daily. His demeanor was ever that of a gentleman, gracious, considerate, and kind. He remained a rock, unmoved by the vicissitudes of a shifting social and cultural landscape.

As I came to learn, his values were grounded in his Christian faith. Decades before there was such a thing as the "Christian Right", it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that he actually took his Bible seriously. The scriptures informed and shaped his worldview.

He didn't wear his religion on his sleeve; he just lived it.

Which is why most days he spoke with a confident smile in his voice and, I suspect, a confident twinkle in his eye.

The milestones he cared about were the extraordinary accomplishments of ordinary people. Celebrity status and achievements were ephemeral and unimportant. Leave the gossip and scandal to others. Paul Harvey would rather call our attention to an elderly couple among his listeners, celebrating their 50th or 60th wedding anniversary that day. Such was the stuff real life was made of.

He celebrated the institution of marriage, even as the revolution of the 60's sought to undermine it. He placed his "Angel" on a pedestal, where she remained until the time of her death a couple years ago. Now they are together forever.

ABC will find someone else to occupy Paul Harvey's time slot.

No one will ever fill his shoes.

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.

When Opportunity Knocks

I worked last evening and into the wee hours this morning, composing an email for my radio station clients and prospects. When I was finally satisfied with its contents, I hit "Send."

This morning's incoming mail contained the usual amount of undeliverable mail (email addresses are frequently changed), eight "remove" requests from people who had no use for the ideas I presented, and almost as many "thank-you" messages from broadcasters who genuinely appreciated them.

One reply in particular, from a GSM in a large Florida market, was especially gratifying. It read:

Rod,
I really liked this email, and if you have no affiliate here in [city], I am very interested. This is exactly what our business needs, honest and bona fide approaches to securing new businesses with IDEAS, genuine ideas. I intend to utilize several of these thoughts in next Monday morning’s sales meeting.
I started this past Monday mornings meeting with my IDEAS FOR SALE lead, and there’s no doubt that even without ratings, advertiser’s are always looking for new ways, new ideas. They may not always be “gems” but at least the seller is making the effort, instead of just waving a package.
Thanks so much for sending. As my years in the business will attest, I am more than certain most of my counterparts will have already rolled their eyes and deleted this correspondence, at least I am hoping they have.
Thanks again,
(signed)

I replied that it was always a pleasure to meet a kindred spirit. In today's challenging environment, it's refreshing to meet another broadcaster who understands how important it is to invest the time, make the effort, and apply the resources needed to provide advertisers with the ideas and opportunities they need to succeed.

For the record, here's the first part of my email:

Every radio sales trainer and consultant I know is saying the same thing: Stay positive. Stay focused. Cover your bases.

It's certainly no small challenge for those of us who sell radio advertising for a living. We're racking our brains and beating the pavement, trying to help our clients as best we can, while "the news media" (a group that unfortunately includes our own national radio networks) continue to wallow in Bad News. More than a few thinking people have wondered out loud whether the news media aren't merely reporting, but actually contributing to our economic woes.

It's frustrating...

...even more so when we hear about big spenders like Anheuser-Busch and General Motors now demanding 120-day and longer terms for paying their advertising bills...

OK, so there's nothing we can do about the national economy.

But there are many things we can do in our local markets, with our own advertising clients and prospects, to make the best of it.

Many years ago, one of radio's most influential sales trainers taught me THE ONLY THREE WAYS TO GROW A BUSINESS - whether it's a radio station or a retail or service business:

1) Bring in NEW CUSTOMERS.
2) Cause existing customers to BUY MORE FREQUENTLY.
3) Cause existing customers to SPEND MORE PER PURCHASE.

Any growth in our personal billing, station billing, or advertisers' sales volume must come from one or more of these three sources. Everyone agrees it's more costly in time, effort, or money to win a new customer than it is to influence an existing customer. (The only exception is a new customer referred by an existing customer, a happy but unpredictable event.)

Here are a few specific steps you can take to make the most of every opportunity.

First, bring clients IDEAS. Ideas to help them stand out from their competition. Ideas to give their advertising greater traction. (I'll share a few good ones with you in just a moment.)

Second, assume the role of a trusted advisor. Practically speaking, that means staying in more frequent contact with your advertisers.
- Ask questions. What's working? What isn't? What can we do better?
- Share articles of interest that you run across.
- Use your telephone and email to supplement personal calls - not to pester, but to provide something of value.
- Do your homework. Demonstrate genuine concern.
- Write Thank-you notes.
- Take nothing for granted.

As promised, here are several good IDEAS you can take to your prospects, OPPORTUNITIES you can leverage right now to sell more advertising in March, April and May....

My letter went on to describe in some detail a dozen sales/promotional opportunities that can help advertisers and stations grow their business over the next few months.

As I look around, I see all sorts of opportunities for Radio to serve its clients.

Have you noticed how success seems to pursue the folks who know what to do when opportunity knocks?

Leaders, Cheerleaders and Obstructionists

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way!"

Chances are, you've spoken these words or responded to them. More than once.

Most of the successful people I know are equally skilled at leading and cheerleading.

They lead by example, principle and service.

They know when to admonish and when to encourage, removing themselves - their egos - from the equation.

When they criticize, it is with objectivity. When they praise, it is without affectation.

They're people who say what they mean, and mean what they say.

They also tend to be generous and gracious.

They know when to get out of the way and let someone else lead.

Clients and co-workers alike benefit from their association with such a person.

Obstructionists, on the other hand, operate from a narrow self-interest that excludes consideration of others.

They tend to be self-indulgent, hypercritical, and whiny.

Nitpickers. Complainers. Foot draggers.

Their attitude and example benefit no one, except by contrast.

They're a drain on their co-workers, a bane to their superiors, and a pain to their clients.

When things are good, they're a nuisance. When things are difficult, they're an albatross.

The best way to deal with them is to avoid them.

None of us has absolute control over our circumstances, but neither are we powerless. Every day we're given the chance to choose how we respond to the challenges, adversities, and opportunities before us.

We can choose to lead.

We can choose to follow.

Or we can choose to get out of the way and give someone else a chance.

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams

Doodle Before Meeting

You know how tough it can be to get a group of busy people to agree on a mutually convenient day and time for a meeting?

Let me share a nifty solution with you.

Lately I've been using this handy online service that enables any number of people to coordinate their schedules. It's called Doodle.

Creating your own free Doodle account takes less than a minute. You create a simple poll with the template provided, forward the link to your poll to all participants, then track online the participants' responses. Doodle will send you an email you every time somebody responds to your poll

I'm part of a citizen/government committee working to build a new arts pavilion (band shell) here in Pullman. There are nine or ten busy people on this committee, whose schedules are often difficult to mesh. Doodle has greatly simplified the process of coordinating and scheduling meetings.

But wait, there's more! Radio stations can also use Doodle to create and conduct advertiser/listener polls, opening up a ton of possibilities.

The free version is supported by (what else?) Google ads. If you're willing to spend a little money, you can even have your own station- or advertiser-branded Doodle site.

Best way to determine how Doodle's capabilities can benefit you is to visit their website and poke around. Check out the online examples.

Highly recommended!

How Do You Respond to a Bully?

Last year American icon Anheuser-Busch was assimilated into Belgium-based beer borg, InBev.

According to recent stories in Ad Age and elsewhere, it appears the Clydesdales are preparing to run roughshod over their media and advertising services vendors.

I know of at least a few associates in media who are likely to take a pass on becoming de facto lenders to corporate bullies, and will simply sell their available inventory to other advertisers.

Did you read Aesop when you were a kid? Remember this story...?

The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveler coming down the road, and the Sun said: “I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveler to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger You begin.” So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveler. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveler wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveler, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on.
“KINDNESS EFFECTS MORE THAN SEVERITY.”

Or better still, the words of Jesus that many of us learned to call The Golden Rule, paraphrased thus: Do Unto Others as You Would Have Others Do Unto You.

Now, there's another so-called "golden rule" that a sales trainer of my acquaintance once coined to frame relationships in a free market economy. In his Okie vernacular, he said, "Them that's got the gold makes the rules."

That's true, too. But it cuts both ways.

So, let's say you're a media company or advertising services provider.

You want to be a bank, also? Fine, that's your choice.

Are you going to treat your other accounts with the same courtesy?

Or are you going to discriminate on the basis of a double standard, i.e., those who can intimidate and bully you into submission will get more favorable terms?

Personally, I don't like bullies. Never have.

I don't have to drink their beer. I don't have to buy their cars.

And I certainly don't need their business badly enough that I'm willing to agree to wait four to six months (or more) to be paid for services I render in good faith, in a timely and conscientious manner.

But that's just me. What's your take?

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.

What Google Didn't Understand About Radio Advertising

Don't misunderstand. I like Google. I use it every day to search the Internet. Google provides the infrastructure for this blog. Google is a genuine American success story.

But Google was a fish out of water when it entered the broadcast radio business. Google spent millions to learn a lesson that almost any mom-and-pop radio station operator could have taught them over a cup of coffee: some things you just can't automate.

Radio advertising is about relationships, not widgets.

Successful radio ad campaigns are built over a period of time on a foundation of communication, collaboration and creativity, processes not reducible to automation.

I suspect most of the individuals or companies whose first experience in radio advertising was to gamble on Google were disappointed with the results.

The advertiser who insists on buying an advertising schedule on the basis primarily of rate or ratings sets himself up for disappointment. Almost invariably he'll conclude that "radio doesn't work."

Well, not that way, anyway.

--------------

Addendum Friday the 13th

Wall Street Journal observes: "Google devalues everything it touches" -

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?

POT...CRACKLE...SNAP!

Advertising campaigns built on the achievements or reputations of celebrities can lose their sparkle (if not their focus) in the blink of an eye.

Michael Phelps' indiscretion with a bong is hardly unique in this context, but it is the latest example of what can go wrong.

Kellogg's did what it thought best to preserve its brand image.

Subway's response appears to be, let's stick with our plan and our man.

Presumably, both companies thought it worth the big bucks they had to shell out to associate their brands with Phelps' achievement, even though the benefit of that association may have a shorter shelf life than they anticipated.

Regardless of which company's action makes more sense to you, the recent phlap reminds us that celebrity campaigns have a vulnerable underbelly.