DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

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.

A Loyal Reader Writes:

“My Operations Manager has been in control of my classic rock station’s music since before I was made program director.

“The music has become very stale, and he doesn’t respect my opinions on the music because I am in my late 20s.

“How do I go about getting control of my music without stepping on his toes?”

I don’t see that happening under the circumstances you describe.

1.  He has all the power.

2.  He doesn’t respect your opinions.

If neither of those changes, I don’t see you getting what you want.

This is an example of a problem that needed to be addressed before it became a problem.

How?

When you were told, “Great news! We’re going to make you Program Director,” you should have replied:

“I’m honored! Before I formally accept this promotion, I need to be clear on what authority I’ll have:

“Will I be able to hire, fire, assign and/or discipline air talent?

“I’m sure you agree that only one person should be making the music decisions.

“Until now, you’ve been in charge of the music. But as Operations Manager I know you have a lot of other things to worry about, and as Program Director I would expect to have authority over the music.

“How do you feel about that?”

What would your OM have said in response?

Probably:

“Forget it. I do the music around here.”

But….

1.  At least you would have tried.

2.  At least you’d know not to bother fighting the music battle.

I’m not including the obvious suggestion that you could have refused the job under those circumstances. You’re in a small market, you want to advance within the company, most likely management would have held your promotion refusal against you, and you might have created bad blood with the OM.

So what can you do now?

Not much.

My best suggestion is to set up a meeting with your OM.

Note that I did not say, “Talk to your OM about it.”

Set up a meeting:

“OM? Can we schedule a time to talk in your office today?”

“Uhhh…What do you want to talk about?”

“It would be better to wait until we can sit down and talk privately. How about 3 o’clock?”

Why don’t you reveal what it’s all about right then?

1.  If you tell the OM what you want to talk about, you’ll end up discussing it right there and then — probably in the hallway. And your OM will dismiss the subject with, “I really don’t have the time to get into this.”

2.  This way, the OM will spend all day worrying about it: “What’s the problem? Is he going to quit? Is he going to tell me about some workplace sexual harassment issue? What’s the problem?”

You’ll build up the OM’s tension, which is an advantage for you. Because when the OM finally learns what the real topic is, he’ll be relieved.

Which means he’ll relax.

Which means he’ll be more likely to listen to you, rather than to dismiss your suggestions out-of-hand.

Plus, setting up a formal meeting might make the OM aware of how serious this issue is to you.

At The Meeting

Telling the OM that the station’s music — selected by the OM — is very stale won’t help you.

Instead, focus on your frustration at having been promoted to a job of great responsibility — only to discover you really don’t have the responsibility that should come with the job.

Ask the OM, “If you were in my situation, what would you do?”

And then….

Listen to his answer. Maybe you’ll be able to work something out.

Otherwise, forget about the music and focus on the areas of responsibility over which you do have control.

Finally: Classic Rock format….You’re in your late 20s….And a little quick research reveals to me that your station is ranked #2 in a 14-station market.

Is it possible that the music which sounds stale to you sounds really good to your target audience?

The promo, produced by Eddie Bower, Imaging Director for 999 Virgin Radio (Toronto):

That’s a relatively rare spot that deliberately attempts to strike an emotional chord…without being phony or schmaltzy, without resorting to a cheesy, “Listen to how sincere I am” announcer’s voice.

By the way, Lady Gaga made good on her promise to have Maria Aragon come up on stage with her to perform during her Toronto concert.

The latest issue of my Radio Programming Letter discusses the most important job of a radio personality…and the importance of promoting your on-air programming.

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