DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

I was, as Scott Shannon likes to say, a “baby DJ” when I heard this aircheck.

You know how radio stations traditionally mark the departure of disc jockeys, right? When a jock takes a job in another market?

Right. The stations act as though they never heard of the guy, no matter how long he’d been working there.

“Ed Jock? No one by that name here….”

Gary Burbank

After five years of top ratings at WAKY/Louisville, Gary Burbank left to try his hand at programming a radio station in New Orleans. (It didn’t take long for Gary to discover he wasn’t a very good PD.)

Here’s some of his final show at WAKY….

Thanks to John Marshall for alerting me to this commercial.

First, the advertisement.

They spent most of this commercial showing examples of dead batteries in daily life — apparently because they assume the concept of “dead battery” is difficult for the consumer to understand.

Then they rely on words — not visual images — to “sell” Hyundai’s message.

What should they have done instead?

Easy: After establishing the “dead battery” theme, show us a solitary car — a Hyundai — remaining in a huge stadium parking lot.

At night.

Very late.

One person rapidly approaches the vehicle, warily scanning the empty lot as he (or she) climbs into the driver’s seat.

His hand on the ignition key, and then a pause, as he holds his breath.

The engine starts flawlessly, and he drives away serenely.

Hint #1: Show us the results Hyundai’s wonderful batteries promise drivers.

Hint #2: People don’t worry about their car battery suddenly dying when it’s safely parked in front of their homes.

I remember the commercial from when it originally aired — which was before anyone ever heard of Dustin Hoffman.

(Okay, anyone outside of the world of Off Broadway theatre, where he was considered a genius.)

In my Hypnotic Advertising seminar, I teach the value of what I call “Anticipatory Surprise”:

The first time you experience the commercial, it’s a surprise. Afterward, each time you hear (or in this case, see) the spot you gleefully anticipate that surprising moment.

I also point out that the enjoyment is not of the surprise itself but rather of the moment immediately before the character reacts.

You’ll see what I mean the second time you watch this.

Often a reader of this blog will post a response that disagrees with something I said.

Usually I don’t offer a rebuttal, because the “Comments” feature doesn’t exist so I can argue with my valued readers.

But sometimes a comment does raise an issue that’s worth further explanation. Hence, this Friday tradition of Responding To Something Somebody Said Somewhere Else On This Blog At Some Time.

In response to my statement that it’s in the best interests of both the audience and the radio personality for the host to give his/her name frequently, someone (identified as “Names Are Overrated”) said:

“If you have a strong personality and actually have content to deliver, your name is an afterthought. The focus should be on the average non-radio listener. We want them to have an enjoyable, memorable, experience listening to the station.

“And to address your radio analogy.. I’ve been to tons of fun parties, talking to very interesting people and never did catch their name… and ya know what? I’m ok with that. I had fun and remembered the party fondly.”

Why would a radio station focus on the average non-radio listener? Ratings don’t come from non-radio listeners; they come from habitual radio listeners.

The parties you’ve attended where you spoke with interesting people but never learned their names:

As much as I stress the importance of focusing on the audience’s experience, you also need to serve the radio station’s needs.

While it makes no difference to those anonymous people you spoke to at the party if you know their names, there’s not a radio station in the world that can succeed by offering a one-time pleasant experience to listeners who never return.

May I safely assume there have been times when you’ve enjoyed a conversation with someone you just met and did make a point of learning that person’s name and, possibly, how to reach them sometime in the future?

That’s the quality of experience a good radio station provides to its listeners. It makes them want to know the name of the station, the name of the host, and the dial position…so they can return and continue to enjoy that relationship.