FEEDBACK: 3 Radio Advertising Tips, Radio Commercial Critique

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• Paul Johnson March 27, 2011, 9:32 am

  Dan,

  I respectfully disagree with one of your “Three Quick Radio Advertising Tips.”

  “2. Giving a vanity phone # (1-4-STUPID) in a commercial and then
  giving the numeric equivalent (1-478-8743) is stupid.”

  First, I hate giving ANY phone number in most spots. If the client does a lot of call-in business (like pizza delivery), I can understand it. More often than not, however, it’s useless.

  This may just be me, but I’ve always hated having to “decode” a vanity number that I wanted to call. It makes me feel like a beginning typing student in elementary or middle school, having to hunt-and-peck just to call a seven (and sometimes ten) digit phone number.

  More importantly, if the client has insisted their vanity number be in the spot then I encourage them to follow it with the numeric equivalent. Why? Blackberrys (and other smartphones, too). I have mine in front of me now, and it has a full QWERTY keypad. The vanity number is useless to me if I’m wanting to call it from my Blackberry.

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• Dan O'Day March 27, 2011, 9:57 am

  Paul: Here’s the problem: When you’ve heard and dutifully written down a vanity number, how do you feel when the announcer then gives you the “real” number? The reaction of most people is one of annoyance: “Why did you make me write down the ‘number with the letters in it’ when you were going to give me the ‘real’ number anyway?”

  The radio commercial should have only one goal. If the spot gives a phone number (which most radio advertisements shouldn’t), then the goal is either to get the listener to remember the phone number (rarely) or to call the phone number.

  A good vanity number — and they’re in the distinct minority — can help people remember the phone number. So if “remembering” is the goal and the client has a rare good vanity number, okay….Use the vanity number.

  But if the goal is to get people to write down and subsequently call the number, you give the numeric telephone number — rather than forcing them to decode it before they can take the advertiser’s Call To Action.

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• Paul Johnson March 27, 2011, 11:31 am

  Dan,

  Thanks for the reply!

  I admit that I was the kid in school who argued with the teachers. But I never did it out of malice, only to understand the material better.

  I think we’ll both probably agree most people aren’t going to write the phone number down as it’s being given. In fact, in your 2nd paragraph, you say the goal is to get the listener to either remember the number (rarely) or to call the number. If they’re remembering the number then they didn’t write it down. If they’re calling the number immediately, they’re probably reciting it in their head over-and-over until they dial it (at least, that’s what I do – and I can only speak from experience since, to the best of my knowledge, these scenarios haven’t been researched).

  No matter whether I’ve got a standard phone keypad or a QWERTY keypad, I appreciate the fact that the spot’s given me the phone number the way in which it’s easiest for me to recall. Again, this may just be me, but I don’t stop to consider that it’s been given another way – and I’m certainly not annoyed by it.

  To say that most people would be annoyed by it being given both ways, I think, is to assume that the worst about most of our listeners. To a typical listener, does it REALLY matter that much that both versions were included…or are we radio guys over-thinking it?

  Again, I agree that phone numbers in spots – by and large – are a waste of precious time. However, I stand by my suggestion to clients who insist on including their vanity number that they also include the numeric equivalent. The 2 extra seconds it takes to do so ensures that every phone user can act on their message, including Blackberry users.

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• Keith Michaels March 27, 2011, 12:58 pm

  Dan, I have a comment about the Vanity Number portion of your current letter. Try dialing 1-800-EAT-THIS on your Blackberry and see what happens. It might actually be a good idea with modern technology to give BOTH the vanity number AND the actual number itself

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• Dan O'Day March 27, 2011, 1:00 pm

  @Keith: It’s not a modern technology issue; it’s a human behavior issue. Giving what the listener hears as two different phone numbers decreases the total listener response.

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• Danny Houle March 27, 2011, 1:28 pm

  “Listeners DO get confused easily 🙂 its like the doctor’s oath, first do no harm 🙂

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• Scott Snailham March 27, 2011, 3:02 pm

  Try to find a phone with both #’s and letters anymore. They’re not as common as you think. especially with cell phones. While it makes sense not to confuse them, a easy to remember # makes more sense these days then spelling some cute name that takes you time to figure out what the letters spell.

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• Keith Michaels March 27, 2011, 5:14 pm

  My point is….you CANNOT dial a vanity number on a Blackberry and half of the world has one. I first figured this out when I had a Blackberry and heard and tried to dial a vanity number. They keypad isn’t set up to allow you to dial by letters on one of the damned things. You HAVE to take technology into account these days.

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• Scott Snailham March 27, 2011, 5:23 pm

  I don’t even have a blackberry and had a hard time trying to figure out a phone # on sirius XM I wanted to call because they didn’t give the actual #. As I was out and about, I found a pay phone which still had the letters on it to figure out the # and called it on my cell. That shouldn’t happen in ads if you want responses. vanity #’s lose their effectiveness unless you easily know the actual # to call.

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