When I announced to the attendees at this year’s PD Grad School (by the way, only 10 copies left of the 2009 Complete Audio Record) that I’d decided to return to the airwaves with my own daily radio show, I was quite moved by their obvious shock and awe.
But don’t take my word for it. Here they are, at the very moment I broke the momentous news.
December 1994 (London, continued):
I saw some interesting TV programs while in London.
Yes, the one in the middle was booted off the show for Conduct Unbecoming a UK TV Quiz Show Host.
One was a brilliantly funny show called Have I Got News For You!, based on a long-running British radio program. Too complex to try to describe here, but it combined comedy, current events, and quiz show elements in a way I’d never seen before. In the 15 years since I first saw it, this remains one of my favorite programs in the world.
A less impressive show was Good Fortune, an odd combination of Queen for a Day and This Is Your Life. It was shot in front of a studio audience, and basically it consisted of the host bringing audience members onstage and surprising them with the news that they were recipients of inheritances they had not known about. (Some got money from the wills of distant relatives; one received the proceeds from a pension fund he had not know he had contributed to.)
Another program — apparently not very well known — was The Trial. It was a reality-based show involving real crimes but done quite differently than in America. Each episode followed one particular trial from beginning to end and on through appeal (if there was one).
They videotaped inside the courtroom (where the participants acted surprisingly like the ones on Rumpole of the Bailey), and both the defendant and the defense attorney made themselves quite accessible to the program throughout.
The defendant — who, in this episode, claimed innocence of attempted armed robbery — told his story to the camera, which showed what his life in prison was like while awaiting trial. The defense attorney provided analysis of each day’s courtroom proceeding.
If this episode fairly represented the British judicial system, it certainly seems easier to convict someone in England than it is in the U.S. Imagine this:
The prosecution had no physical evidence directly connecting the accused to the crime. Although there were several eyewitnesses who saw the perpetrator up close, none was able to pick the defendant out of a line-up. They all agreed the robber resembled the accused, but none was certain it was he…and one witness went so far as to say the real criminal definitely was taller than the defendant.
So….What evidence was there? A bag similar to the one used by the robber was found at the home of the defendant’s brother (although it was not established the defendant had ever been there). And a former friend of the accused told police the defendant told him he had committed the crime.
The other show I saw was Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush — the title of which came from the fact that at the end of the program, two audience members were sent either to some exotic locale (that week, Grenada) or — if they responded with too many wrong answers to their quiz questions — to some ugly locale in England. And they left immediately after the show.
Prior to this, however, there were several quite silly participation stunts. One featured contestants who entered an elevator in the building that housed the studio. With a couple of dozen floors to choose from, each contestant had a minute or two to stop at as many floors as possible. (For some reason, they didn’t simply go up one floor at a time; they picked floor numbers and jumped around.)
There was a camera inside the elevator. At each floor, when the door opened they either saw a suitcase full of money (which they ran out and grabbed, then returned to the elevator)…or they saw someone with a bucket of water, which promptly was thrown at the contestant.
The most diabolical feature, however, consisted of paying people to let the show drop their favorite things into the river Thames. For example:
A woman in the audience had a drawing done by her young son to commemorate the recent birth of his younger sister. The drawing featured the mother, father, little boy, and the baby. It was very cute, and the mother liked it so much she had it framed. The show had it dangling on a rope from a helicopter, over the Thames, while the host offered her a thousand pounds to let them drop it in the river. (She refused the money. Apparently, most people did not refuse.)
Wonderful news: Rumor has it they’re trying to bring this show back to the airwaves.
Today we surprised our STARTING YOUR VOICEOVER BUSINESS: Everything You Need To Know To Turn Your Dream Or Your Sideline Into A Business teleseminar series students with a bonus call:
“PR: How To Leverage The Power of the Media To Grow Your Fame, Wealth and Success” public relations specialist Pam Lontos.
This post is for to allow our students to share their “reviews.”
When teaching advertising professionals how to write more effective radio commercials, I spend far too much time re-educating people who have been told never to begin a commercial with a question…and especially a “yes/no” question.
Because I’ve written about it previously, I won’t repeat my explanation of why that “conventional wisdom” is anything but wise. But one reader begs to demur:
“I have a quick comment on Yes and No questions. Although what you say is true— that we are interested in targeting those people who would answer YES and want more information — I am of the belief that in everything a radio station does, you want to do your best to not unnecessarily turn away the rest of your audience.
“When you think of all the interesting ways there are to start a spot, it seems to me a Yes or No question that tunes out most of your audience is not a good thing.”
My Reply
If you work for a radio station, when you are crafting a commercial for a client you are not allowed to worry about turning away non-targeted listeners. Your job is to maximize the desired impact of that one commercial only (while adhering to the standards of the radio station).
In the world of Direct Mail (a term generally applied to sales pitches delivered via postal mail), the two most important factors in the success of any campaign are:
The offer (the contents of the “commercial”)
AND
The list (the people to whom the offer is being made).
Of those two factors, which do you suppose is more important?
Surprise — it’s not the offer. The single biggest determining factor in the success of a direct mail campaign is how well targeted the list is. A mediocre sales pitch delivered to the right list will far outperform a great sales pitch delivered to an inappropriate list.
In other words, the more precisely targeted the list, the stronger the response to the offer. And the more precisely a radio commercial identifies its target audience, the stronger the response will be to an appropriate sales message.
Having said all that, I’ll repeat:
I am not suggesting that you should begin a commercial with a “yes/no” question. But if early in your career you were taught an iron-clad rule against ever asking a question to which a listener might reply, “No,” you were taught wrong.
Here’s a real-world example from one of the best-written commercials I’ve ever heard. Not an award-winner, to be sure. (There are no jokes and no “sound design.” All it does is deliver a very effective sales message.)
UNITED HEALTH PLAN FOR SENIORS
Do you qualify for Medicare? Maybe a loved one or someone you
know qualifies for Medicare. If so, then you’re probably aware
that Medicare in many cases will not cover all your medical
costs. That is why you should call and inquire about United
Health Plan for Seniors. United Health Plan for Seniors is a
special plan for Medicare beneficiaries. United Health Plan for
Seniors provides quality health care services beyond what
Medicare covers at no additional cost. Your golden years should
be the richest and happiest time of your life, without worries
over costly medical bills….
The first two lines of that commercial “qualify” the audience. If you do not qualify for Medicare and there is no one close to you who does, this commercial simply is not for you.
And why should the advertiser pretend otherwise?
The following people at your radio station should have their own Twitter accounts:
Station Manager
Sales Manager
Account Executives
Program Director
Music Director
Radio Personalities
Producers
Imaging Directors
Promotion/Marketing Directors
News Directors
Promotion Interns
Program Interns
The Station Engineer (No, I’m not kidding.)
The Station Receptionist (Still not kidding.)
(Warning: You’ll learn all about my very cool new, one-time-only teleseminar for radio people.)
