Seriously, now, as you listen this radio commercial notice at what point you become interested in what the guy is saying….
At what point did he attract your interest? (Remember, when a radio commercial begins very few listeners stop to give it their full attention. The commercial has to attract their attention by stimulating their interest.)
Bonus Question: Now that you’ve listened to that radio commercial once, what is the most interesting thing you remember about it?
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You’d think that the line “There’s never been a better time…” would have been a wee bit closer to the beginning, wouldn’t you?
I liked the music, all the rest of the spot whistled straight by
I listened to it twice, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The second time, I listened, pretending that I was someone actually in the market for a luxury vehicle. This is an ad is the equivalent of elevator music…it’s there, but you wouldn’t notice it in your average stop set. Sounds like typical radio ad copy, written by an agency writer looking to include all the “important” details ordered by some misguided client. So often radio is the bastard of advertising…just another wasted minute.
Nope. Nothing grabbed my attention.
In fact, there was so much “genericising” (A word I made up, I think.) in the commercial, I’m not even sure what the message was for. Only because of the change of voice for the disclaimer was my attention drawn to the deadline of Sept 30th.
An offer where I can be “one of the first” to get my hands on “one of the few” cars out there that are already at my dealer. But, even I WAS interested in whatever model they were talking about at the begining, I lost interest when I found out that my interest in this specific model didn’t matter because “other exciting 2011 models” are in stock.
In my opinion, it’s an example of the “We need to get a new spot on the air” syndrome. When I worked for a auto dealer, I found that this happened between major “sales events”. Once “truck month” is over, and the last years models are pretty well sold out, the new models have little if any “incentives” (ie rebates, financing offers, etc.) But, advertising MUST continue. In short, there’s really nothing specific to advertise… but advertise they must. That results in a commercial like this one.
The marketing dept works out the best sounding deal they can on the vehicle with the lowest lease payment and runs some ads until the next BIG event.
Back when radio jingles were popular…commercial jingles. (The Ace hardware jingle comes to mind.) Stations would keep the full-sing version with a local store tag on hand to run in the schedules between major sales events. The THEORY was that running SOMETHING between major events would at least keep the listener “aware” of Ace Hardware.
Is it money well spent? No. Is there a call to action? No. And at the very least the one thing that a catchy jingle has over this commercial is that it’s (arguably) memorable. Where this barely evenb mentions the brand of vehicle (“Mercedes” is said only 3 times), and is far from memorable.
Only when the “tightness of it’s turns” and the “fit of it’s contoured seats” were mentioned did I hear anything the least bit memorable.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…….uh…….there was a radio spot I listened too?
The entire spot sounds like a disclaimer to me….
Scott hit the nail on the head with “Sounds like typical radio ad copy, written by an agency writer looking to include all the “important” details ordered by some misguided client.” And I agree with Glen’s assessment that it sounds like a case of: “We need to get a new spot on the air” syndrome.
I’m disappointed that they didn’t come up with something more stylish and sophisticated for a brand like Mercedes ~ something well crafted with lots of “room” in the copy. Copywriters frequently underestimate the power of quiet (or even silence in the case of a dry spot).
It’s spots like this one that give people the mistaken impression that radio doesn’t work. Well, it doesn’t work when you don’t incorporate radio’s most important and powerful facet: Theatre of the Mind.
I agree with Mark…he buried the lead.
Sounds like Jon Hamm from Mad Men. (That was the only thing that kept me listening past :15).
This is a classic example of the old, “Throw enough crap at the wall and hope that some of it sticks.”
If I were in the market for a new luxury car, my biggest problem would be deciding if I wanted a BWM, Mercedes, Jaguar, LandRover…my problem would not be saving a few thousand dollars or buying right now because “there’s no better time than the present.”
Oh well.
Because John Hamm is reading it.