So many people responded to last week’s example of a Unique Listening Proposition that I’ve decided to share another quick one today.
This was among many generated by the air staff of Results Radio when we did an informal version of my Defining Your U.L.P. exercise at the end of a two-day visit in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Instead of ending his listener phone calls with, “What’s your favorite radio station?” (a predictable cliche), one jock decided to try ending each call with, “What’s your favorite condiment?”
Immediately my brain spins out sequels:
“What’s your favorite crustacean?”
“What’s your favorite geometric shape?”
“What’s your favorite personal grooming product?”
Now I ask you: What other question could you end your phoners with that would be more fun, more original, and less pathetic than “What’s your favorite radio station”?
One minute from now — or less — the only image you’ll be able to recall from this radio commercial is this dog.
What the heck does that guy & his dog have to do with what’s being advertised?
In case you missed it: The spot is, vaguely, about health care. The big message: The advertiser promises to deliver health care “with compassion and respect.” Big whoop.
The Call To Action is to go the radio station website and enter the advertiser’s “key word.” But guess what? The advertiser has its own website.
Which do you think is easier for the listener to remember and to be able to enter accurately?
“kost1035.com, keyword ‘lakeside'”
or
“LakesideCommunityHealthCare.com”?
Why doesn’t the commercial send them directly to the advertiser’s website? Probably so the radio station can “track” responses, and the advertiser can see how many visitors were sent by the station. Of course, the number of visitors will be smaller than if the commercial gave the advertiser’s URL instead, but I guess that’s not important.
Actually, in this case isn’t important because very few people will go to either website as the result of hearing this spot. Why not? Because the listener isn’t given any reason to. The entire Call Action is to go to the website and enter the key word. And then what? Uh….They haven’t figured that out yet.
Surprise! Somebody Did Something Right.
The station’s URL is www.kost1035.com. But plenty of listeners will hear that as “www.coast1035.com.”
In a rare case of radio station Web intelligence, someone purchased the “misspelled” KOST URL. Doesn’t help this lousy commercial, but it’s nice to see that someone was smart enough to spend an extra few bucks a year to capture traffic that otherwise would be lost.
I’ve created this post for any Radio Programming Letter subscribers who would like to comment on “Corny, old-fashioned radio,” “Lying To Your Listeners,” and/or the aircheck critique in the newest issue.
Everyone seems to think that because I get to travel around the world, coaching radio stations and ad agencies, I get to “really live it up” — fine hotels, exotic locales, etc.
Well, it’s time to admit it: I do. Life on the road is just one big vacation for me, as this video illustrates.
