Radio commercials should not focus on “features.”
Nor (contrary to what you’ve learned elsewhere) should they focus on “benefits.”
They should sell the results of the product or service being advertised.
People don’t want the product. They don’t care about the product. They care only about what the product can do for them.
I don’t care if Ed’s Toothpaste has been judged the World’s Greatest Toothpaste. I want to know if it can keep my teeth cavity-free, my smile gleaming white, and my breath fresh and inviting.
Real-Life Example
Right around the turn of this century (boy, does that make you feel old, huh?), my office manager, Robyn, began nagging me to get TiVo.
This was before most cable television providers offered their own DVR (Digital Video Recorder) options. TiVo pioneered the product category.
It also was in the days when people used video cassette recorders (VCRs).
She nagged me for a year and a half.
She had TiVo, and now she was trying to convert me.
“You really should have TiVo, Dan.”
“Why?”
“Well, it lets you record any program.”
“Robyn, did you ever hear of a VCR?”
“Well, yeah, but you see, you can record a program and you can watch it whenever you want.”
I said, “Yeah, see, Robyn, I can actually take any videocassette I want and play it whenever I want.”
“Dan, you don’t understand. It changes your entire television viewing experience.”
That was the problem. Nobody wants to have their television viewing experience changed.
Did you wake up this morning thinking, “Gosh, if only I could find a product or service that would change my television viewing experience?”
Eighteen months after Robyn began her Make Dan Get TiVo campaign, I had lunch with a friend of mine. He had just gotten TiVo.
I said, “Really? So what do you think?”
“Dan, it completely changed my television viewing experience.”
I wanted to scream.
“What do you mean?”
He said, “I don’t channel surf anymore.”
I said, “Geez, I thought you were a busy guy. You’re telling me that you frequently spend time at the edge of the sofa with a remote control, looking for something to watch?”
“No,” he said. “That’s not what I mean. What I mean is with Tivo, whenever I turn on my television, there is always something I want to watch.”
That was the day I decided to become a TiVo customer.
So, the product or service for which you’re about to write a radio commercial: What are the results the consumer will enjoy by purchasing that product or service?
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I thought “benefits” meant “what the product does for me” ie the results. Is it just semantics?
I’ve wondered the same thing Anonymous, until I started trying to apply the concept to my scripting. Admittedly, it’s a fine line sometimes, but on the whole, while I’m trying to get a script sorted out in my head, I quite often find my thinking going from Features to Benefits to Results.
I have also noticed that when I translate the way I describe the Benefits out of Ad-Speak and into English, it’s normally closer to the Results than before.
I originally had a hard time positioning the fine line b/t Benefits and Results. I think the line is crossed when “the product does something amazing for you” -goes to- “YOU doing something amazing with the product”. I usually think of mowing my lawn (dreaded chore):
Product: New Lawn Mower
Feature: Large 50″ deck
Benefit: THE MOWER cuts more grass in shorter amount of time
Result: YOU have more free time to spend on other activities/projects.
As the person who writes the copy for our clients, I am amazed at how much the info collectors – the sales people – focus on what the clients have to sell, not the results those products deliver. “Here’s the list – be creative!” Really? Is that all they talk about with a client – why our station should be the one to read their list of stuff? I’d think that, in a real conversation with product provider, finding out why that product is such a joy to sell – the way it changes people’s lives, so much that they have to tell a best friend to get it – get it now – and get it from someone who wants to more than add to a list of people who’ve scraped together the cash (and the willingness to spend it) with this particular product provider. Results build enthusiasm and if the sales person were more in touch with the former, the latter would make it easier to get them on the air – with messages that produce more results… than a list.
Generally, I agree. Except when a product’s results are so well known among the target audience (and that’s key, of course) that it is indeed the features (and the differences on a direct or implied comparative basis) that are important. Case in point: computers being sold to current computer users. Do such consumers really need to be told the results of a 500GB hard-drive vs. 1TB drive? I think they know. Another example: prices on well-known, often-used products. I don’t need to be told the results of using facial tissue, only that one store has them at half price. The consumer knows, without being told, he/she will save money. Bottom line: it all depends on what you’re selling and to whom. As all marketing communications do. Thoughts?
@Jim: In a commercial, you wouldn’t talk about the results of 500GB vs. 1TB. You’d talk about being able to back up all of your files, including all your huge video files, onto a single 1TB drive. For facial tissues, if it’s a commodity then “price” is all that matters, and you can focus on the dramatic savings (although I’m not sure how many commercials would center on facial tissue sales)….
@Ethan: Exactly.