DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

Final installment in this 5-part series.

Build Your Career (Not Your Job).

Most radio people learn the basics…and then coast for the rest of their professional lives.

They have jobs, not careers.

Let’s face it: The technical demands of being an air personality are about on a par with driving a car. It just ain’t that difficult.

To have a career in radio and not just a job, you need to develop a mastery of performing skills.

But delivering the goods to your audience isn’t always enough to insure professional longevity — especially in this age of consolidation, voice tracking, and mass “downsizing.”

It also pays to promote yourself within the industry and to make friends within your profession.

I dislike the word “networking,” because it conjures images of spending all of your energy handing out business cards and looking to make “contacts.”

But having friends in the industry can be of immense help — for mutual support, inspiration, advice and, yes, even jobs on occasion.

In honor of Halloween, instead of our usual Monday Radio Commercial Smackdown I’ve decided to share one of the spots features in Secret Case Histories From The Radio Ranch.

Radio legend Dick Orkin pulled back the curtain to reveal behind-the-scenes stories of a number of The Radio Ranch’s many successes — some well-known, others less so.

(That’s Dick on the left, with me on the right, pretending to be interested.)

One great success was for Carlsberg Beer, but only after they figured out how to solve a problem: The ad agency insisted they use the line, “Don’t touch my Carlsberg!”

As Dick explained, it wasn’t easy to find a way to use that line in a manner that didn’t sound overly aggressive. But they managed to overcome that obstacle, as you’ll hear in this spot (featuring Tom Poston along with Dick).

When doing a comedy spot, it’s important to build to a payoff at the end. Notice how this one does just that.

 Although this campaign aired in Ireland, the agency specifically wanted to use American voices. Perhaps they figured “American” and “aggressive” go together nicely.

Voice over coach extraordinaire Nancy Wolfson directs a voice actor delivering a 3-syllable commercial tag.

If you can’t view the video player above, click here for an alternate player.

One of the classic marketing campaigns was a simple button that said:

“I lost 20 pounds on (Diet). ASK HOW!”

The other day I saw a bus bench advertisement for a real estate company that proclaimed:

“We are changing the residential real estate market forever. ASK HOW!”

With 2/3 of adult Americans overweight, it’s a sure thing that some of them will ask, “How did you lose 20 pounds?”

But no one on this planet (other than, possibly, a real estate agent) will ask, “How are you changing the residential real estate market forever?”