RADIO ADVERTISING – CAN GOOD PRODUCTION HURT THE COMMERCIAL?

Loyal Reader Scott Chasty writes:

“I write, I do VO, heck, I even do an on-air shift. But my bread and butter lies in the production department. And I take a lot of pride in being able to un-pop ‘P’s’ and remove that irritating clicking sound when you get an announcer too soon after they’ve just finished their lunch (we call it ‘peanut butter mouth’).

“Imagine my surprise when I saw this article suggesting that slick production can be bad for a commercial’s success rate. (See item #10 on their list).

“And yes, any production that doesn’t support or enhance the core message is counter-productive. But I’m not sure that’s what they’re talking about in this article.

“Dan, I’d love to get your thoughts on this.”

Jeff and Brett don’t appear to be contradicting your beliefs.

As a multiple Repeat Offender at my International Radio Creative & Production Summit, you know my position: Either the production elements enhance the sales message (i.e., the message the advertisement is intended to deliver) or they detract from it.

So the test for every sound in a radio commercial is: “Is that strengthening the impact of the message on the targeted listener?”

Of course you’re proud of your ability to un-pop p’s. Popped p’s are distractions when they can be perceived by listeners because in real life (i.e., without a microphone) nobody pops p’s.

Breathing, however, is a natural element of human speech. If the person speaking is “eating the mic” and every breath sounds like Darth Vader, a little production room help might be called for.

But removing natural breaths that aren’t overly intrusive isn’t likely to improve the listener response rate.

Unfortunately, most in-station radio producers devote far too much attention, time and effort to the “production elements” and not enough to the performance. And if they also write the spots, usually they give more thought to the producing than to the writing.

That’s a problem.

The reference to Seth Godin’s declaration that “perfect is boring” is misleading, because to most producers “perfect” = “as good as it can be; flawless.”

The statement applies, however, if we refine the definition of “perfect” to “every moment sounding excellent purely from a typical radio production director’s point-of-view” — exciting sounds, expertly packaged, technically flawless.

Is the message clear and compelling? Is anyone likely to listen to it? If they listen, will they understand and care about the message? Well, maybe not. But to a radio production guy/gal, it sure sounds good.

In addition to “good production” having the wrong meaning for most radio people, there’s another reason those “perfect” spots so often fail:

From their very first moments, they sound like radio commercials.

From the first sound, the listener thinks, “Oh, radio commercial!” and either mentally or literally tunes out.

If it sounds like all the other radio ads — despite being “well produced” — then the listener categorizes it with all the other radio ads.

That statement, of course, will outrage a few readers.

Years ago I conducted a radio advertising workshop at a broadcast industry conference in the midwest. As always, I pointed out that when a commercial break begins, listeners are tempted to tune out. After all, they don’t listen to your station for the commercials.

One station owner approached me afterward and politely but forcefully disagreed:

“People turn on the radio,” he said, “to learn about the wonderful bargains available to them in their community.”

I thanked him and wished him a safe journey back to his home planet.

On Earth, at least, listeners tune in for the programming. They stay for the commercials only if the ads speak to them in a compelling manner about something that is highly relevant to their lives.