DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

May, 1995 (continued): In Berlin I did some work with r.s.2, whose program director was a former Armed Forces Radio broadcaster (and old O’LINERS subscriber) named Rik de Lisle. (Rik since has sold his soul and become a highly respected programming consultant.)

Given the hotel’s low quality standard in the U.S., I didn’t expect much when I was told I would be staying at a Ramada Inn. I was shocked to discover a very nice place. (Well, it appeared very nice; I was there only long enough to sleep.)

From Berlin I flew to Cologne, where Jeff van Gelder met me and drove me to Oberhausen, where the following day I presented Air Personality Plus+ for NRW. (This was a return engagement).

Then it was back to the airport and on to Leipzig, where Dr. Monika Friedrich arranged for me to share a panel session with Delta Radio’s esteemed Adam Hahne. That session was a lot of fun, but that made two visits now to Leipzig without having the time to see any of that historic city.

Note To Air Travelers: It is entirely possible to stand up from one’s airline seat without pulling down on the seat in front of you.

I was reminded of this on my flight home from Frankfurt.

Some guy walked up the aisle and used the backs of passengers’ seats as though they were railings. (No, he wasn’t disabled.) In the midst of this, he pulled my seat backward. I happened to be sound asleep at the time. When my seat suddenly jerked backward, I jerked forward (like sitting straight up in bed when awakened by a loud noise)…and knocked a glass of water onto the woman sitting next to me.

She did not appear to be amused.

LEAP OF FAITH RADIO PRODUCTION with Bobby Ocean

When I joined the popular music radio circus, the music that motivated me – Top Forty – was the most fun imaginable.

It was all about the music. Who was in the recording studio, when would this or that superstar release their next work, “have you heard the ama-a-azing new song by…” We looked forward to each and every day, delighted in being right in the middle of it all, as the music unfolded.

It was SO all about the music: we wore it, played it, lived its lifestyles, as the music entertained, evolved and experimented. We figured it would always be like this, the creativity never-ending, the music constantly fresh and exhilarating.

Not so today. Since all this is no longer a generation’s own first, and age-specific music has become big business, there is not nearly the same degree of  anticipation, fan support or shared interest. Too bad.

Especially ironic with the Top 20 populated by such a multitude of Beatles songs.

But one of the big lessons we learn is just beyond the Timeline, from yesterday ever forward. It’s what was INSIDE the stuff we enjoyed when we were so pumped in our younger years. It was all about the music BECAUSE the music was fun. I mean REALLY fun. First time experience, once-in-a-lifetime, peak fun.

Of course you cannot recreate the era or those “good old days,” but you clearly remember the standards for fun you were given. Your reactions to the fashion, the experimentation, the flair, the outrageousness of what you have been through – are your vast emo-bank, Vault of Feelings, labyrinth of fun feelings, from which to draw. Develop it. Whatever your project, it can be more effective figuring fun into the mix.

That does NOT mean every promo, commercial and documentary should contain comedy; EACH contains its own individual blueprint within. But fun is something you allow into the process. Fun is something everyone likes, and sorely misses whenever not present. Fun is naturally here in plenty, instantly available when we get whatever-is-blocking-our-direct-experience-of-it out of the way. And, perhaps 95 percent of that is thinking.

Thinking? Uh huh, because either we haven’t been practicing or we haven’t been trained in focusing on that which we want, rather than “everything else in the world,” usually at the head of the line – our fears.

Fears are not real because they are not HERE. They deal exclusively in confabulations. [Great word, confabulations; thanks, Dave Foxx, N.Y.] The ONLY life they enjoy is when being paid attention to by you.

Don’t fight ’em. Just pick your way through them like negotiating a crowded boulevard on the way to get a pie. Acknowledge ’em quickly, but be moving quietly forward, no autographs, thanks, and on you go. Fun, just ahead…

If you’re in music radio today, it’s up to you to make the connections that engender excitement, interest and loyalty in the artists and songs you’re playing, employing your wonderful feelings of fun inventory. Same applies to religious, talk, sports and kid radio, just substitute theme/event/activity/topic/ for  performers and hits.

If all goes well — which would shock me, because all never goes well for me when it involves a new Internet project — on Monday I will launch my Radio Advertising Advantage.

What is it? That’s not the point.

But someone commented that his company already provides lots of “radio creative” information “for free,” and perhaps it’s not realistic for me to expect radio stations to pay me for stuff they can get elsewhere…for free.

I’ve never seen any of that company’s internal resource sharing program. Maybe it’s great stuff. But I do know that the in-house commercials I hear on that company’s radio stations are…uh…

Well, let’s say they’re just as good as the typical in-house radio commercial one hears all across the U.S.

Which brings me to Google.
Remember Google Audio Ads?

If not, don’t feel bad. It was a project at which mighty Google failed mightily.

Basically, advertisers were able to bid on remnant commercial time at stations across the U.S. (Yes, they claimed it wasn’t all “remnant.” Maybe those stations were including sold-out drive time inventory at bargain rates….)

To further help the advertisers, Google offered to match them up with people who would write and produce radio commercials for….oh, say, five or ten bucks. Okay, maybe $25.

This is not the story of why Google failed at radio advertising.

It’s the story of why I’m glad they failed.

Before the plug was pulled on the program, some nice Googlers contacted me. They were interested in developing a “Best Practices” standard for writing & producing radio advertising, to educate the people who were buying those cheap commercials.

Would I help?

Sure I would.

Great, they said. Would I have time to talk to the entire marketing department for Google Audio Ads?

Sure I would.

That department consisted of two women. One once had worked as a radio station account executive. The other had, on occasion, listened to radio.

I spoke with the half of the department that never had worked in radio. She seemed lovely. She believed it was important to offer knowledgeable guidance to their advertising customers.

“We really don’t have a budget for creating a ‘Best Practices’ document,” she said.

“Well,” I said, “that could be a problem.” I’ve been known to donate my time and expertise to worthy causes, but to a company with yearly revenues of $20 billion? Unlikely.

A couple of months passed before we spoke again. “I just wanted to touch base with you,” she said. “We” — she and the former radio station account exec — “created the ‘Best Practices’ ourselves.”

“Really?” I said. “How did you do that?”

“We searched online for articles about how to write radio commercials, and we kind of compiled the best suggestions from all of them.”

Wow.

So a hugely successful company — one of the biggest in the world — places the same value on learning how to create successful radio advertising as do some hugely unsuccessful radio conglomerates:

They’re very interested…

If it’s free.

If you’re a radio advertising professional, I’d really appreciate it if you’d watch this brief (4:58) video and then share your input with me here on the blog.

And no, it’s not a sales pitch.

Thanks,
Dan