This is the second of a 6-part series of Secrets of Radio Advertising.
One of the crucial differences between a radio commercial and a print or Web advertisement:
For the target audience, a radio commercial is a linear experience.
Listeners cannot jump around, looking for something of interest.
Listeners cannot decide to skip the boring beginning and go straight to the last 10 seconds of the message.
Listeners must listen — if they listen at all — in the precise order that the message is presented.
In a newspaper ad, your eyes can jump around; a newspaper ad is not necessarily a linear experience.
Neither, of course, is a well-designed Web page.
Your radio commercial must pull the targeted consumer along, and it must be structured in a way that immediately commands and then keeps the attention of that targeted consumer.
And that is why it is professional malpractice for anyone to simply take the client’s newspaper ad and put it on the air.
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Every account rep who thinks “print ad” = “radio commercial copy points” needs to read this. Okay, Mr. Salesperson, I will accept your print ad for some general info…now let’s talk about what really sets your client apart from his/her competitors (and if you don’t know, we need to find out) and tell their story in a way that makes an emotional connection, for crying out loud!