First, the commercial, as it aired on a large Los Angeles radio station.

A radio advertisement‘s opening line is the commercial for the commercial. It sets the stage for the story.

So what’s the story of this commercial?

After opening with a name that only the guy’s friends, family and acquaintances can decipher, the guy says:

“Last year our company sold more cars than we’ve ever sold before!”

Never mind that the truth of that claim might be due to the company’s having acquired additional dealerships. Who in the audience really wants to hear a 60-second story about how successful a car dealer claims to be?

Is this actually the story of how the listener can get an incredible price deal on a car?

Or does the story center on 2 years of free oil & filter changes?

Is the real story the availability of 0% financing on every used car?

I love the declaration that they’ve “literally lowered the price” on their used vehicles. The only way I can think of where that would be true is if they placed the price stickers lower on the cars themselves.

And just when we think it can’t get any worse: Cue the 1950s-style radio announcer to remind listeners that the dealership is “conveniently located” miles away from most of the Los Angeles radio audience.

They give two Calls To Action, one of which is to call them. (Because so many people want to call a car dealer after hearing a radio commercial.)

The second Call To Action apparently has the audio equivalent of an asterisk:

“Visit Galpin.com…on approved credit.”

So….After listening to that commercial, what would you say is the story it’s trying to tell?

In my radio advertising seminars, I teach copywriters to “sell the results” of the product or service being advertised.

Here’s a pretty clever, unique approach…

View this advertising video directly.

This is the second in a series dedicated to that rare and increasingly endangered breed: the radio personality.

Grow As A Person.  

Most on-air people entered radio at a young age — the majority, I suspect, before the age of 21.

Upon embarking on a career in such a competitive, demanding field, it’s all too easy to concentrate 100% of your energies on “radio” and 0% on your own mental and personal growth.

The result is an oversupply of 30- and 40-year old disc jockeys who are no more well-rounded (i.e., no more interesting) than they were when they were 20.

Read more than the trades and the tabloids.

Find and explore your own special corners of the human experience.

Example: One of my favorite air personalities subscribes to Soldier of Fortune magazine…because he finds it interesting. And those interests in turn help create some amazingly entertaining radio features.

When during prehistoric times I hosted my own show, I knew I could rely on three magazines to provide me with fresh ideas for interesting guests and topics that weren’t featured on every other station: Harper’s,  Inc., and Columbia Journalism Review.

I didn’t read them because they’re a source of radio ideas; I read them because I happened to find them interesting.

No matter what you read for pleasure (or for mental stimulation), I guarantee you can find a way to use the material to make your on-air performance more original and more reflective of your personality.

This is the fourth in a series of articles helping account executives educate their radio advertising clients enough for the clients’ commercial campaigns to succeed.

Don’t Claim; Prove

You say your car dealership is friendly and 100% service-oriented?

I don’t believe you.

One of your customers talks about what a pleasure it is when she takes her car in for servicing?

How clean & comfortable the “customer’s lounge” is, complete with freshly brewed coffee and homemade cookies?

And how your staff offers to give her a ride to work while her car is being tended to?

And she uses real language, not clunky, fake advertising-speech?

And she’s really talking, not reading?

And we’re told her full name and her occupation?

I might believe her.

No, I’m not suggesting all of commercials should feature customer testimonials.

Yes, I am suggesting that you need to do something to enable listeners to believe you.