DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

Here’s the commercial.

Question: How many times does that 10-second radio commercial have to air on a radio station while you’re listening before you actually hear, understand and remember the details the advertiser is trying to communicate?

Answer: You’ll never get their message.

Hint To belVita: In a radio commercial, don’t give your Call To Action (in this case, what to email and to where) before giving listeners a reason to take that action.

“Oh, but we also were running longer spots in other dayparts, so the short and the long ads combine to create one cohesive campaign.”

Actually, I’m just guessing they ran longer spots. During the two hours I recorded this particular radio station, this was the only belVita commercial that aired.

But expecting listeners to complete a mental jigsaw puzzle in order to hear your sales message is neither realistic nor smart.

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Yes, I do believe the world was different then.

If you ask most radio people to define “client,” they will reply, “customer.”

But there’s a difference between the two.

A customer is someone who gives you money in exchange for goods or services.

Marketing legend Jay Abraham points out that if you check the dictionary, however, you’ll discover that a client is someone who is “under your care and protection.”

If you view your advertisers as clients instead of customers, your entire attitude changes.

If it’s just a customer, you take their money and — assuming it’s within your station’s guidelines — do whatever they want.

But if it’s a client — someone who is under your care and protection — you’d never let them air a commercial that you know isn’t likely to produce profitable results.

“But,” you say, “the customer is always right.”

Perhaps the customer is, but the client isn’t.

Let’s say you go see your doctor.

“What’s the problem?” the doctor asks.

“Well, Doc, I’ve got this nagging cough. And I’ve made a list of five medications I want you to prescribe for me.”

“Okay,” the doctor replies.

Is that doctor acting professionally?

Or does the word “quack” leap to mind?

A professional does not automatically do whatever the client wants. Instead, a professional is committed to doing what is best for the client.

Often that means educating the client, just as the physician might have to educate the patient.