DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

 A Loyal Reader writes:

“Recently you said a newspaper can’t motivate consumers to buy. What about a beautiful picture of a meal, for instance, with a caption ‘two main courses for the price of one’? Might that make their mouths start watering and motivate them?”

A beautiful picture of a meal might remind me of something I enjoy. But if the enjoyment of that kind of food is not already within my realm of experience, it won’t remind me and it won’t make me desire it, either.

For example…

That’s a picture of pasteis de nata, a delicacy created by a pastry chef at Lisbon’s Pasteis de Belem bakery in 1837.

Does it make your mouth water? Not if you’ve never eaten one before.

A few years ago I spoke at a radio event in Lisbon and then stayed on to present some programming seminars for Portugal’s national radio stations (RDP).

I was introduced to pasteis de nata when I found two awaiting me as a welcome gift in my hotel room.

I discovered more in the hotel’s Executive Lounge.

I thought they were really good…

…until I went to the Pasteis de Belem and had one fresh out of the oven. Astonishingly delectable.

Before I’d first encountered pasteis de nata, that photograph would have had no effect on me.

But after I’d experienced it, the picture has me salivating.

If you’re ever in Lisbon, trust me: Go to the Pasteis de Belem and try it for yourself.

If perchance one person reading this plans to visit Lisbon for the first time soon, my description might motivate you to try a pasteis de nata.

On the other hand, if you’d never tasted or even heard of it, a photograph in a newspaper wouldn’t whet your appetite or make you want to visit the Belem section of Lisbon to try one.

But in a radio commercial, you can do exactly what I’ve done here: Speak directly to the listener in a personal, human manner…And make the listener think, “Hmmm…Sounds good! I’d like to try one.”

At its best, radio advertising is a trusted friend or advisor, whispering in your ear.

“Try the pasteis de nata…..Try the pasteis de nata…..Try the pasteis de nata….”

There are some things they don’t prepare you for in radio school.

I traveled from Los Angeles to a tiny town in Virginia for my first radio job as a disc jockey.

My first day on the air was a Saturday.

The jock before me split as soon as I cracked the mic, and I was alone in the building.

The first hour went pretty well. I didn’t “wow” any records. There was no noticeable dead air.

And then, from inside the studio, I began to hear a competing radio station.

I’m not talking about some annoying RF interference. I mean another radio station was blaring from a speaker in the on-air studio.

You see, in the United States we had something called the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS). Within each county, one station was designated the EBS station. In case of emergency, everyone was supposed to tune to that one station while the others suspended their regular programming.

Actually, it was kind of cool. We had a sealed envelope with the secret authorization password and everything. (Just like in FAIL-SAFE.) It was begun during the Cold War, and fortunately it never needed to be employed.

Our studio (and I guess all stations’ studios) was equipped with an EBS monitor. I was hearing our local EBS station through the monitor.

Four things you need to know about that EBS monitor:

1. It had no “off” switch.

2. It had no volume control.

3. It was hard-wired into the circuitry.

And most importantly:

4. It did not mute when I opened the studio microphone.

So for the rest of my show, every time I cracked the mic to read a live radio commercial, spot tag, public service announcement, news, etc….My audience heard a tinny version of the “big” station 15 miles away, through the EBS speaker and into my microphone.

It was a less than glorious start to my career.

As I write this, suddenly I’m visited by the long-buried memory of returning to my new apartment in that tiny town, filled with despair and thinking, “I’ve made a terrible mistake. I’ll never be able to do this.”

But tomorrow was going to be another working day, so I tried to get some rest.

Here’s the inimitable Nancy Wolfson, explaining the challenges faced by many voice actors as they try to deliver what the producer or casting director wants based on the commercial copy’s “specs.”

Download the entire voice over audio seminar.

Order The DVD Here.

Most radio hosts give away whatever comes in over the transom for free. But the best giveaway items for a personality-driven show have three qualities:

• Extremely limited practical value
• Personalized
• Inexplicably fun

Historic Example

 During the first years of Late Night With David Letterman (his NBC show), Letterman would give his guests their own, official Late Night With David Letterman Collapsible Drinking Cup.

It was a plastic drinking cup which, when you pressed down on it with the palm of your hand, collapsed into a flat shape.

Every visiting celebrity insisted on leaving with one.

And every viewer would’ve loved to get one. 

Radio Example

 When Peter Holmes was the Breakfast Host at Breeze AM in Essex, England, his lucky contest winners received…

…personalized bathplugs.

They cost maybe $0.49 each, and every listener wanted one.

While I was making an in-station visit, Peter held a private party only for his “bathpluggers.

150 people showed up at a nightclub on a Tuesday night. (They had to bring their bathplugs with them to gain admittance.)

Peter came up with the terrific idea. I threw in a few suggestions to make it bigger and extend its life.

1.  Create limited edition, seasonal imprints (summer, football, Christmas, etc.) to stimulate a collector’s mentality among recipients.

2.  For a one-time only promotion, award a plug actually used by Peter in his own bathtub.

3.  Send plugs to celebrities, asking them to bathe with them once and then return in a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Have them autograph the plugs first, then auction them off for charity, on-air. 

My Test For A Great Morning Show Prize

Something you would never pay for…but which you would stand in line to receive.