DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

The first time I critiqued a radio commercial for Cedars-Sinai Hospital, it wasn’t exactly a rave.

Since then, however, their radio commercials have continuously improved.

Whoever is writing and producing these spots…Keep it up.

And ask for a raise.

John Frost has been creating radio cartoons for his entire career.

I don’t know if he’d agree with that characterization. But it’s true.

Take a look/listen….

If you have trouble viewing the video above, use this alternate video player.

Molasses Flood

Almost everyone in radio agrees on the value of localization.

But I disagree with the way some programmers define “local.”

Once I witnessed a graphic, ghastly presentation of this misguided definition at a station staff meeting.

The program director was addressing his troops, who sat nervously as the PD picked up a marking pen and purposefully approached a white board.

The PD drew a large circle on the board, pointed to it, and announced to the staff:

“This — (indicating the interior of the circle) — “is our Total Service Area. This is where our audience lives. If something happens inside this circle, you can talk about it on the air. If it happens outside the circle, you may not talk about it, because we are a local radio station!”

That particular program director defined “local” as “occurring within our market.”

With all due respect, the guy was…Um, misguided.

“Local” means anything that is of interest to your listeners.

Example:

For 15 years I wrote & published a radio comedy service called O’LINERS.

One of the regular features of this service was our “O’Calendar,” which featured interesting, offbeat items that happened “on this day in history.”

One day I received a phone call from a subscriber in Texas, complaining about a calendar item that had appeared in that month’s issue. The item concerned an event that had occurred in Massachusetts in 1919.

A factory exploded.

It was a molasses factory, and an entire community was swept away in a 2.3 million gallon, 30-foot tidal wave of molasses.

What a striking image that creates in the listener’s mind!

Well, this PD was upset. As he put it:

“People in Texas don’t care about something that happened in Massachusetts!”

I think he missed the point.

Please understand, I was not offended that he dared to criticize something I had published. I realized that not every item I printed was right for every subscriber.

In fact, if you subscribe to any kind of show prep service and you can use as much as 20% of each issue, you’re getting real value for your money.

But if this guy couldn’t use the image of 2.3 million gallon, 30-foot tidal wave of molasses to create a vibrant, compelling image in his listeners’ minds, then I had to wonder if he really had chosen the right profession.

“Local” is anything that is of interest to your listeners.

If your listeners already are taking about it — or if you can talk about it in a way that interests and involves them — then it’s local.

If you could talk about it at the corner bar or at the dinner table or around the coffee machine at work, it’s local.

We all live in one huge, global community.

Not everything that happens within that community is “local.”

Neither is everything that happens within your Primary Coverage Area or Total Service Area.

But if you can present a topic — any topic — in a manner causes your audience to listen, then it’s local.

If they care — or you can make them care — it’s local.

Last week I examined the “Real Reason Comedy Commercials Succeed On Radio (When They Do).”

As I pointed out then, most comedy commercials do not succeed for the radio advertiser.

To wrap up this discussion, let’s briefly look at some of the benefits and some of the dangers of using comedy in a radio advertisement.

Benefits

– When used properly, it can greatly increase the message’s memorability. A message that evokes an emotional response is much more likely to be remembered.

– It implies self-confidence on the part of the advertiser. It takes either tremendous courage or tremendous self-confidence to stand in front of an audience of strangers and try to make them laugh.

Your use of humor implies you are confident that people will find it funny — that you will succeed in reaching them on an emotional level.

Dangers

– Failed attempts at humor increase the other person’s defenses.

Think of someone you know who believes he’s a comedian but actually is desperately unfunny.

You’re at a party. Here comes Mr. Thinks He’s Funny But He’s Not.

When he approaches you and says, “Hey, I heard a good one the other day,” do you respond by giving him your full and enthusiastic attention?

Or do you look for the nearest exit?

– Everyone in the world thinks they can write a good radio commercial, because “it’s just talking.” And everyone knows how to talk.

And everyone who works at a radio station or ad agency thinks they can write a “funny” commercial, but everyone thinks they “have a good sense of humor.” After all, their buddies sometimes laugh at their jokes, right?

But most of them don’t know anything about comedy other than it’s supposed to be funny, so they have no way of telling if something they wrote will strike the audience as funny or not.

“But,” they think, “my stuff is as funny as the other commercials we play.”

News Flash: When you air a comedy commercial, your audience does not contrast its comedic appeal with other attempts at comedy spots.

They compare it to whatever makes them laugh in their lives: their favorite comedians, TV shows, or comic actors.

If yours falls flat, they don’t think, “Yeah, that was pretty pathetic. But because it was created by some underpaid, unfunny guy at my local radio station, I’ll laugh anyway.”

Instead they think, “These guys think they’re funny. And they’re not.”

If you think I’m being too harsh and you work for a music station, here’s a question for you:

Some of your staff members probably sound pretty good in a karaoke bar. So why doesn’t your station add staff member recordings to its playlist?

Because your listeners wouldn’t think, “Gee, coming from a receptionist, that’s not a bad rendition of ‘My Heart Will Go On.'”

No, they’d compare it to Celine Dion’s version.

– If it flops (if your audience isn’t amused), you’ll look stupid. So make sure your target audience (not your friends or colleagues or event the client) thinks it’s funny.

If it flops, it’s your advertiser who will look stupid to the people with whom they’re trying to establish a business relationship.