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Highly opinionated radio advertising guru and radio talent/morning show coach.
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Thanks for sharing Justin´s work with us! This is a nice exception from most of, even American style “hammering” car commercials (GET YOUR NEW CAR NOOWWW!). It takes the topic the other way round to the customer´s view, which very seldom happens especially on car dealer advertising, where you mostly learn about what THEY have got. And leaving out the announcer was just that “little effort” that made a “big impression”. It´s a real good template!
Its a perfect example, good things can be better.
Good concept and great suggestion. I always like REAL. Flipping the spot and taking it from the customers view can always be more effective. I must admit I am surprised that there are still so many SCREAMING car adds out there. The only other ones that drive me nuts are the local furniture dealers and I know the VO that does most of them and he says they are his bread & butter. Shesh!
Good job Justin!
Thanks for sharing that Dan & Justin. Refreshing.
In a word…excellent. Nothing more powerful than word of mouth. Completely believeable advertising. A rare commodity.
Excellent stuff.
My only suggestion would be to have the announcer set the stage at the beginning: “Phyllis just bought a car from Aiona Car Sales”. That would give her talking about the car off the top some context. But yes Dan you’re right — she’s the star and putting the spotlight on her was the way to go! Excellent spot.
Dan,
You may remember that I like using customer testimonials for car dealers. Always have. Justin, you did a fabulous job! This is a great example of how to make a testimonial really sing.
Be well,
Bob
My only question is why doesn’t anyone mention a way to contact the advertiser or some type of deadline driven offer.
Teriffic! Makes me want to see what they have!
What? No endless parade of model numbers and prices???
Seriously, great stuff, thanks for sharing!
I like it A LOT!!!!! Reminds me of Mom!
Bravo Justin! Great concept, this is just the idea we were looking for. We are targeting a specific ethnic market (Filipino). The challenge is that we might be excluding an audience because we aren’t an ethnic radio station, we are a music format. Thank you for the idea, the timing was impeccable.
In my opinion, this humanizes the experience.
Congratualations on the accomplishment….a wise man once told me, “That is doing GREAT Radio”
Cheers
Michelle
CHUM Radio, Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Honestly, I think I would have left the announcer out at the end. To ME, it turned a really nice, really REAL spot into something just a hint cheesy. Kind of ruined a good first mental image with a bad last mental image. (Sorry for knocking a part of your idea there Dan, but the rest of the idea was great!)
Nice work Justin!
I thought it was great! We do have a bit of a problem with testimonial commercials in small markets. Who do you choose to do them? Not everyone is liked, but most everyone is known. How do you pick?
I could see not only see 5, 6, or 10 more Like it over the next several months being Succsesful, but Listeners actually looking Forward to the next story, or “personal experience”.
Very nice
Congrats, on a great concept that is working for you. I agree that testimonials are much better than screaming announcers, clowns, etc.
Simple, to the point and genuine.
Justin, mahalo for sharing…as always Dan you have that great creative spark and a great ear to make something great even better, storytelling with a warm happy ending. Thank You!
Great Idea! There is nothing like a customer testimonial to create a belief about a client…and taking out the other voice over was brilliant…so many times we are afraid to tell our client was is truly best for them in fear of loosing their business…great job! I hope they have other testimonials to run, she might get stale after a few weeks. What about having the announcer gently telling people where Aiona is located at the end of the spot? I suppose if it’s an Island, it should be a no brainer…just a thought…
Michael Guimond
Stephens Media Group
Thanks guys, I have a client that will love the spot nice work.
Spirit Radio, Karratha
Western Australia
Great testimonial ! The re-prod certainly does the trick.
“I Own A Car From…..” could work in any market. And is a lot more Real than the dealerships cliche’ USP: “Service and Integrety Are A Family Tradition”, which fortunately didn’t make it into the spot at all.
Inspiring. Thanks !
I love the beginning where the car automatically adjusts the seat! I’m totally spinning that idea into an ad! How Fun!
What a nice change from the same ‘ol screaming car spot. I like the ides very much; very believable.
Justin/Dan…thanks for sharing…very believable and powerful! Can’t wait to offer a similar idea to one of my car dealers. I’ll keep you posted. 🙂
Good Concept! I for the life of me can’t understand why business owners want to be the \Star\ on the spot.
Thanks
Just watched it. Good stuff. I almost fell out of my chair when you talked about the “announcer” sounding like it might be a sales person. Then it turned out to be someone that worked at the dealership…even funnier. Everyone that’s not in radio thinks radio is easy.
Hi Dan,
I thought this commercial was very good mainly for the fact that it targets women and it is also a testimonial. Well done Justin!
Julie Slanaker
KFMJ 99.9 FM
Ketchikan, AK
Tremendous improvement!
And Dan… FYI, the name of Justin’s city on the Big Island of Hawaii is pronounced “Hee-Low,” not “High-Low.” It rains a lot there, but it’s a very beautiful place.
Aloha from Tokyo,
-kamasami kong
TOKYO-FM
Sweet! Thanks to Dan & Justin for sharing. I’ve found great success with a testimonial campaign for a local nursing home here in the high desert of Nevada. I’m a good copy writer (thanks again, Dan) and we have a great production staff… but when you hear – feel – the emotion that these testimonals put forth… we are not worthy! Just back from a field recording session for a real estate broker where I’m hoping to duplicate this success. Thanks again!
Great idea…I loved it! I am a brand new Account Executive for a radio station in Dallas and I found your web site while surfing the net. I have been receiving fantastic information ever since! I could do a great testimonial commercial for Danoday.com! I think I am going to enjoy this industry. Thanks again.
Dan, I like it! A much more effective spot. Great concept and execution, Justin.
Hello Dan and Justin!!!
First of all, thank you for sharing with all of us.
How I will say in my mother language ” excelente, magnifico”
Once again, we can see the power of FEMALE demo. Completely believeable advertising.
Congratulation for helping your client to sell more car, possitioning the brand in a very competitive market and for getting the full year budget.
Best Regards,
Maria E. Martinez :o)
CHUM Radio Winnipeg
Nice work, Justin. Better than many national spots!
Excellent spot and very personable. Thank-you for permission to it as a template.
Pretty basic change, but it’s all too often forgotten in the “drive the message home to create traffic and get the sale world” that sales is these days.
While using the suggested template, keep in mind you really have to have a strong person and strong voice to go with that person to make the concept work. Phyllis drives the concept. you need someone just as strong to make it work. someone you can coach and direct to get the answers you want. Depending on the person, that can be a challenge.
The testimonial parts were produced strong enough to be of national caliber. Phyllis has genuine color in her aged voice which adds to her character. Her reasons are believable and any demo can relate to that. This will also translate to wear will in a long term campaign, and might get her a little local fame from it.
Shame more spots weren’t like this…would be easier on my ear…LOL!
Thanks Justin & Dan! I’m taking this template to a dealer I’m working with right now. Perhaps he’ll agree that a customer’s honest experience beats “we’re the world’s largest” by a landslide.
Dan this will work for any client. Radio sales and production people can learn from ‘direct marketers’ who depend on RESPONSE to make money is the use of testimonials. If you have a customer who can say something good about you, it is worth 1000’s of times more than if you say it… heck, Dunkin’ Donuts could use this with customers talking about the beautiful odor of the store and the friendly people getting them their fresh donuts and steaming hot coffee, and how that makes their day so much more enjoyable, and that would sell more than just the announcer talking about when they make the donuts or what’s on special…. testimonials work – in fact are the only thing that works- for direct marketers, and they will work amazingly well for radio…. the most intimate of all mediums fro reaching customers….
@Darryl: I find it’s stronger not to being that commercial by immediately establishing the context. The character (hopefully) sucks in the listener, who wonders exactly who the woman is and what’s going on and then gradually realizes what the “story” is.
Although of course technically it is, I don’t even think of this as a “testimonial” spot. The traditional testimonial commercial consists of a satisfied customer singing the praises of the advertiser.
This particular commercial, however, isn’t about the advertiser. It’s Phyllis’ story, not the car dealer’s.
@Mike: Hilo is a small island, and the car dealer is well known there.
AI guess they could give directions: “Stop before you get to the ocean…”
Adding a deadline driven offer would’ve changed the radio commercial from Phyllis’ story to a special sale offer. But a good spot should be one or the other.
@Vicki: Just let customers tell their stories, without rushing them or insisting they include certain “selling” points. Everyone has a story, and everyone is interesting (although for some of us it takes more digging to get down to the “interesting” part).
@Thomas: I agree completely. That’s one thing that excites me about the concept — that it easily can become an endless series, with listeners actually looking forward to the next “installment.”
@Michael: Over the years I’ve learned that much of the art of great copywriting is learning what to leave out.
@ST: We get to hear her delight at such a minor, everyday part of driving…
Love it. Great stuff, and a very natural feel to the piece. I always think that real people are the most believable voices to use (and business owners) – this is a great example.
Love the spot. I also love their tag line, which basically requires it to always be delivered by a believable customer in order to work. I think it works nicely.
Dick: Not to be too mysterious here, but I can’t wait until our Radio Advertising Advantage members hear the Industry Insider Advantage we created for April. (“We created” means “you talked, I recorded it.”)
Believe it or don’t – no car dealerships where I live . . . well, ok, maybe there are – but as far as I can tell, they don’t do anything on the radio here . . . besides – let’s just say I no longer deal in that aspect of radio and production – –
Nevertheless, Justin – I’ve been there – done that – worked in radio on OAHU for a thousand years before coming to Asia – and you guys hit the nail on the head! Very nicely done! Of course, the downside is that you’ve now made a TON of work for yourself, as you’ll probably need to record about 20 minutes of a customer to get 20 seconds of useable stuff – but that’s the biz!
Good stuff – and if I can sell this idea to someone here in Manila – I’ll give you credit – after all, one thing we REALLY need here is MORE CARS on the roads in Manila . . . (not!)
aloha no kau ko
Gray
I agree with Dan, the customer made the commercial a successful one. She sounds so natural and credible. I also love the idea of just add the male V.O. before closing. Great touch. The only comment that O particularly have is that I don’t understand what the customer says at the beginning. I’m sure if the client liked it it’s because everything was understood properly. But I’m having a hard time to understand what she says the very first 5 seconds of the spot. I would like to use this template and would like to have the correct copy. Justin, if you read my comment {post the beginning of the copy}. Congratulations, great spot.
What? No time compressed incomprehensible disclaimer? Fabulous! Its already given me some ideas to “adapt” to a client of mine that is in a service type of business. Thanks Justin for the example, Dan for passing it along, and both of you for the “free gift”.
One word: Awesome!
Thanks guys for a great idea!
I like it. Thanks for sharing.
Nice one. Good job Dan and Justin.
I shall use in future.
Thanks
awesome ad and I look forward (hopefully) hearing further spots in the campaign.
and a big thanx for sharing the concept with us in radio land
just have to convince the car dealer to go that way , i’ve been in radio just over 22 years , and have never heard a car commercial like that one , they all go for the yelling ,excited , i’m about to wet my pants read , sad, , and what about “factory bonuses” does anyone no what that means , it was a good down to earth commercial. should be more of it
Dan ~ I really was pleased to get to hear both spots and in between, hear your suggestions to Justin. It made lots of difference in the complexion of the spot. So my hat’s off to Justin, and to you also for such simple, yet powerful advice on how to make it all work so well! And thank you for allowing us to use the template to pitch to our auto dealers. None of them have such a catchy name as Iona Car Sales…but it still has much appeal to our dealers. So wish us happy selling! We’ll get back with you on how it works out at WMEV FM94 Country Radio in Southwest VA!
I think it could’ve been stronger if Phyllis was yelling about how easy they make financing.
Seriously, it’s a terrific spot because of great audio and effective editing. These types of commercials can be very effective when done properly – we’ve had clients from personal trainers to professional home cleaners do this sort of thing, and the inevitably see results.
I’m going to let this do the talking to my top spending car dealer…..once I’ve found a UK lady/gent as good (and as well spoken) as this!!
Great production work. I like the idea… so does Ford 🙂
It’s refreshing to hear an auto dealer take a friendly, believable approach to pitching their product. Justin did a remarkable job setting the tone and piecing the elements together. Dan, your comments were right on the money. And Justin’s revised spot proves that.
They could not have hand picked a voice artist to recreate the natural believability that Phyllis brought to the spot. She is priceless.
Thanks for sharing!
What’s really scary though is other people in the industry haven’t come up with this basic concept. If those who are saying how great it is, is it because we are so used to the hard sell that we don’t think beyond that? or we’re so conditioned to think sell line, and putting everything and the kitchen sink in an attempt to have people buy buy buy?
Too often people SAY they want “think outside of the box” when in reality they don’t want you to go too far outside the box, if at all.
Maybe this will be a wakeup call for a lot of people to really start thinking outside the box. Good luck to all.
Hi Dan,
thanks for sharing that – it came out great! The problem with this market is that all the car dealers are held by an Agency that creates their spots it’s a ‘Kiefer’ market and a ‘Kendall’ market – not that this is a bad thing, but the concept on this one is great – I have produced a lot of ‘personal testimonial’ spots here in Eugene and they definitely work the best for the clients I have worked with.
thanks for sharing!
–Justin
p.s. Happy St Patty’s Day 🙂
Great job Justin and Dan. I think women in particular respond much better to this type of spot versus the loud, screaming ones. Thanks for sharing.
I agree that it’s much better without the bad actress. This went from an ad that I would immediatly turn off, to one that gets my attention. Thanks to both of you for sharing.
How ironic! We are doing a similar campaign in our area (Oklahoma City) with a slightly different twist. Using actual customers who have been buying cars from the dealer since the 90’s! Customers talk about why they’ve been so loyal to this DEALER for so long. Credible testimonials from customers age 40-65. Announcer (that would be me) does lead-in to identify the customer and tags out with dealer name and location. Ours are :30’s and really punch to the point!
If you want to hear an example I’ll see if I can get permission to send a couple to you. They’ve worked very well and have been used successfully for nearly 4 years!
Thanks for sharing. Good luck on finding a better WebHost provider!
@Gary: Always interested in hearing people’s work. Please use the link that says “Upload Your Commercial or Promo Here,” on the left side of this page.
For me, the only problem is finding a client like this one who can voice it and be honest. What do you do when you have a car dealership that chooses a client who sounds terrible, but still thinks they can voice the ad? Client testimonials have crashed and burned many times for me when they were too shy, bad voice, long winded and even one had a lisp! To me the real gem here was finding that particular client. Very hard to reproduce that.
I’m going to have to agree with Chris Pollard on this one. It’s a fantastic spot, and Philys should have been the only voice on the spot. The random announcer coming in sounded out of place.
I don’t know if I would have gone with her spelling out her name as well. Just a “Hi, my name is Philys (Last Name)” and then into it, could improve the start.
The best thing about it is that it doesn’t sound like an ad, which is something I’m sure we’re all trying to do. Advertise without sounding like an advertisement.
Excellent work, none the less.
Rob Jamieson
The Range 106.1 91.5
Airdrie, AB
Dan: Two parts to this response. In reverse order I agree with you about the finished product. I noticed that one of the other bloggers suggested a quick mention at the beginning as well and I don’t think that would be harmful.
My reaction to the original spot was very similar to your first reaction. I never took it as a conversation. I thought from the first that a station staff person was introducing this person and their car buying experience. What bothered me was the voice. I would have preferred a solid male voice guiding us through the spot. The announcer voice in this case was distracting.
Great idea Dan! Loved the new ad and I will plan on using it soon.
Justine, thanks for sharing!
As an agency gal who works with 2 local dealers, I loved the fresh perspective this spot gives to the listener while drawing them into the ‘story’. Well done!!
Great commercial idea. I love the true life story involved here. It makes it so real to anyone’s life. I plan on using this in the future.
Mucho Improved!
I find that the hardest part of my job as a production director here in Boone, North Carolina…is not coming up with good ideas. It’s selling those ideas to account executives and business owners. I was surprised and impressed that Justin so easily convinced the client to remove her voice from the spot.
That is a great ad! I personally think that the days of the yelling/screaming car ads are going away. That personally gets on my nerves. This low key customer approach is, I believe, much better for selling cars.
Dan and Justin, Thank you for sharing such a good idea with us work-a-day radio types!
Good concept. Good spot. But, Dan: I’m producing a lot of videos for websites now. Clean off that desk behind you! 🙂
Here is my personal attack against Justin: Incredible! Wonderful! Agreeing with several of the responses, I think that spots with an ‘announcer’ that sounds like an ‘announcer’ takes out the warm, fuzzy, ‘real’ feelings and replaces it with a tray of cheese. Cold cheese. The announcer at the end is a great idea ONLY if the campaign continues, with different commercials featuring different customers. It could become the tagline for that dealership; much like the tagline for the Home Depot spots. Great ideas, Dan!! Keep them coming! Oh, and I forgot to mention religion and politics. There. I just did.
Aionna fresh idea. Thanks.
Great! excellent concept
Unfortunately I work in Southern California where “shouters” like ken Dabro and Larry Huffman are deified. When they put the Taco Bell Chihuahua on the air he didn’t sell tacos. Hard sell price and item does not sound creative, but it drives the buyers. Someone once told me that production awards are nice, but they don’t sell. Does this kill me? Yes, I used to work for Don Keyes from the MacLendon Group. He introduced me to people like Chuck Blore. I love creative. Time buyers don’t believe that it can sell.
I weep.
Thanks Justin! What a great inspiring case and a neat tweak on the same ad.
Right to the punch verry heart warming exelent delivery 0f message