“We’re not crooks. Honest.”
First, let’s listen to the radio commercial.
Some Observations About That Radio Ad
1. When the commercial begins with, “Hi, I’m (Guy You Never Heard of), CEO of (Company You Never Heard of),” it’s already in trouble.
Would the impact of that message been altered in any way if instead of “Mike O’Brien” it had been “Steve O’Reilly” or “Dave O’Malley”?
2. If a listener remembers anything at all about that spot, most likely it’ll be “BBB.” “BBB,” however, was not the advertiser.
3. Did you notice how you didn’t know what he was talking about when he first mentioned “BBB”?
That’s because you don’t begin using the acronym (“BBB”) before having established what it represents (presumably, the Better Business Bureau).
4. Most of the audience will ignore that entire spot. But if they force themselves to listen to it, here’s the message it will communicate to them:
“We’re not crooks. The BBB — uh, that stands for ‘Better Business Bureau’ — gives us a high rating. So if you’ve been worrying that we might be crooks, relax; we’re not! Just ask the BBB, and they’ll tell you we’re not crooks!”
5. They give two Calls to Action: Go to our website…or go to this other website, so you can read our reviews.
6. This really isn’t relevant to the (lack of) success of this radio commercial, but if you take one of the two Calls to Action and “check out our reviews at BBB.org,” here is what you will see:
One customer review. The anonymous customer reported having a “Positive Experience” with the business. No anecdotal explanation given.
Here’s a Suggestion for Postings.com
In your radio ad, instead of talking endlessly about “BBB” and inviting people to go to BBB’s website, tell the targeted listener what your business can do to help their business find qualified employees.
Yeah, I know that’s a wild, way-out-there idea. It’s that kind of insanely creative thinking that earns me the big bucks as a commercial copywriter.
