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MONDAY RADIO COMMERCIAL SMACKDOWN – El Marcadito Is Special, But You Won’t Know From Its Radio Advertising

Ready for a little creative exercise?

Listen to this radio commercial just once, without looking at your computer monitor.

Based on that commercial:

1.  What is your impression of the advertiser?
2.  List the key selling points that you clearly remember and that sound credible to you.

Now….

Go here and glance through the El Marcadito’s reviews.

radio commercial for El Mercadito

Now, based on whatever reviews you happened to browse:

1.  What is your impression of El Marcadito?
2.  List the key selling points that you clearly remember and that sound credible to you.

The “real people” reviews make clear that El Marcadito does present a genuine Mexican experience.

The radio commercial, on the other hand, makes the opposite impression. It’s a very Anglo “radio voice” reciting a mind-numbing list of the advertiser’s “features.”

There’s nothing wrong with sounding Anglo. But really, do you believe the announcer ever has been there or knows anything about El Marcadito beyond the copy he’s reading?

A few highlights:

“The best shopping” — How is the shopping “the best”? (The “real people” reviewers explain that “best”= “just like a real Mexican marketplace.”)

“The best entertainment” — Wow, El Marcadito has the best entertainment in all of Los Angeles? That’s quite a claim.

“Get to know the variety of shops” — Okay, let’s take a moment to evaluate that Call To Action….

“The perfect gift for that special someone in your life” — Regardless of who that person is, wants or needs. Uh-huh.

“Experience the exquisite, traditional dishes” — Of all the verbs in the English language, why would someone choose “experience” when referring to food?

“Your best option to celebrate a birthday, your anniversary, or any special occasion with family or friends, in a large or small group.” — Wow! It’s the best option for any occasion for any group of any size. With all those celebrations going on, I guess you should plan yours well in advance…

“Reservations not necessary.” Oh. I guess not.

Their URL. No need to spell it out. Everyone knows how to spell El Marcadito.

A street address. In Los Angeles, on a large Los Angeles radio station. Yes, a street address.

Two different sets of directions, for all the people who hear the commercial and are writing everything down.

Perhaps some of our readers would like to adapt the info provided by the “real people” reviews and turn it into a radio commercial script to share with the rest of us?

Prediction: Check back on that radio station one year from now. You won’t hear any commercials for El Marcadito, because they “tried radio, and it didn’t work.”

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  • Craig Burnett November 28, 2011, 6:07 am

    I’m from Kansas. I had no idea what a “mercadito” was. And before I read the Yelp reviews, I STILL didn’t know.

    This sounded like the station’s promo voice had to read the spot because one of the jocks wasn’t available. And I about dropped my mouse when I heard the two sets of directions. What, no phone number, too?

    I think advertisers should spend more time assuming their listeners have never heard of them, and have no idea what their business is or does. It certainly might have helped me want to learn more about El Mercadito…instead it sounded to me like a Mexican restaurant with a nice gift shop.

  • Scott Larson November 28, 2011, 12:40 pm

    All I got from the “spot” was “On the third floor”, and then mind numbing laundry list of what kind of event I should have, do people still use WWW? seriously? The reviews would make a better ad, just taking their quotes in context, I would have had an articulate Hispanic voice over but that’s just me. Directions,, isn’t that what the website was for? That could have been better served providing a “quote” from a guest.

  • Dave November 29, 2011, 2:43 am

    Would it be acceptable or effective to have a Mexican voice deliver the message in Spanish while an Anglo VO translates as he goes along?

  • John Morris November 30, 2011, 9:06 pm

    This spot is just no good. A question on the legality of using the comments from their website. Do you need clearance for that?

  • Dan O'Day November 30, 2011, 9:18 pm

    @John: No, that wouldn’t be legal.

    I was just pointing out that it is possible to find valuable, relevant stuff to say in a commercial for this advertiser.

  • Neal Angell December 6, 2011, 11:43 pm

    Headline idea: “If El Mercadito was any more authentic, the water would make you sick.”