This is the fourth of a 6-part series of Secrets of Radio Advertising.
When To Use The Advertiser’s Name In The Commercial
I have heard “experts” declare that you must use the advertiser’s name at least twice in the first ten seconds of the commercial.
Ridiculous. Stupid, even.
Here’s exactly when to use the advertiser’s name in the commercial:
After you’ve interested the target audience in the problem your client promises to solve for them.
Until the audience is interested in what the advertiser is offering to do to add to their lives, they have absolutely no interest in knowing the advertiser’s name.
Why is the following a stupid radio traffic report?
“There’s a six-car pile-up that has slowed traffic for several miles on Highway 101 just north of Riverside.”
It’s stupid because no one pays any attention to the details if they don’t already know the location applies to them.
First you identify the location, then you identify the problem.
But most radio commercials include the name of the advertiser in the very first sentence:
“Sears proudly announces its big annual white sale….”
Remember what Robert Collier said about entering a conversation the consumer already is having?
How many of your listeners already are having a conversation — either with someone else or with themselves — about Sears?
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No one knows radio like Dan O’Day.
Simple. Get his stuff. Get Smart. Make Money.
The man is a genius.
I tell clients and reps this all the time. Some of my spots don’t even mention the client til halfway through or even 3/4 of the way through – and yet somehow, they still work!
I’d been writing radio commercials almost10 years before, all of a sudden, several people tried to teach me wrong. Now, as a freelance copywriter, I have several clients who DEMAND “wrong” every day. Well…a fella’s gotta eat…
I was taught by Dave Shakes that in everything I do on the air whether it be commercials, liners or on air breaks, ALWAYS LEAD WITH THE HOOK!
And then 80% of the scripts I am given opens with “Johns widget shop has been serving the north state for 54 years and they are proud to announce….”
I 100% agree with Dan on this one.