DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

Program Directors:

Don’t hotline your jocks.

“Hotlining,” of course, consists of hearing the air personality make a mistake and immediately calling him on the phone during his airshift to scream at him.

Don’t do it.

It’s a sure-fire way to ruin the rest of the jock’s show.

It’s a power trip.

The embedded message in a hotline call is, “I can hotline YOU, but YOU can’t hotline ME. I’m the boss!”

Have you ever been hotlined?

What was your immediate response as soon as you saw that line flashing?

I know what it was. Whether uttered aloud or thought silently, your response consisted of two words:

“Oh, ….”

But…

You’re a dedicated program director. You work long and hard, trying to perfect your product and build your audience…and then some idiot disc jockey screws it all up by playing a record out of rotation or reading the wrong liner card.

You go nuts. How hard can it be to follow a music clock when the computer has done all the work for you?

You’re furious. You want to kill the guy.

You know what? It goes with territory. That’s part of the frustration of being a program director. That’s why you get the private office and the business cards and maybe even your own parking space.

As Super Chicken was fond of reminding Fred, “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.”

If you want to motivate your staff to its peak performance, you wait until after the jock has finished his air shift and after you’ve calmed down.

By that time, you might decide it really isn’t worth talking about.

If you decide it is worth discussing, you pick a time, place and manner which enable you to motivate the jock to perform better, rather than simply to let off steam and ruin the rest of his show.

P.S. If a consultant ever hotlines a jock, the consultant should be fired.

Uh….Well, I kinda invited people who already have registered for Summit 2008 and who have attended at least one previous Summit — I call those people “Repeat Offenders” — to create spots for me to use to, um….

Pay tribute to their remarkable talents?

Thrill, delight and/or inspire you?

Okay, it was so I could use the spots to promote the Summit. There, you forced me to say it. Happy now?

But they’re very good spots, and you are free to note the techniques they used even if you don‘t come to the Summit.

Ric Gonzalez will be attending his 8th Summit. Here’s what he sent me (note the very smooth transition; unlike most commercials, the “story” actually does connect to the “product”):

Ric’s Summit Spot

Meanwhile….

Pete Jensen will be attending his 6th Summit in August.

He produced this very cool spot to promote the event. Aside from the legendary Chuck Blore, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone get this good a performance out of a 6-year old.

In the just published issue of my Radio Advertising Letter, a subscriber wondered:

1. Is a particular commercial illegal? (Unless the FCC has changed its rules, it is.)

2. What should he do about it? (He tried to explain the problem to the station’s Traffic Department and, essentially, was told to mind his own business.)

Any subscribers who want to add their own comments, here’s where to do it.

Once at one of my copywriting seminars, a radio station account exec protested, “What’s wrong with using clichés in commercials? Obviously they must work, or people wouldn’t keep using them.”

I guess I’ll just need to keep repeating this to radio programmers, copywriters, producers, air talent, and salespeople:

If everyone does it, it’s probably wrong.

I know nothing about engineering, so I have no idea if most radio station engineers do their jobs poorly.

(Somewhere in a desk drawer, however, I do have a copy of my First Class Radio-Telephone Operator’s license. With that piece of paper, I was allowed to stand around and “supervise” while the unlicensed engineer/owner converted the station’s transmitter to a nuclear power plant.)

Anyway….

The fact that “everyone uses clichés in commercials” should be enough reason for you not to.

But here’s a more specific explanation of why clichés are to be avoided like the plague.

Using timeworn clichés invites the audience to stop listening.

If I say to you, “It’s just like riding a bicycle…” you are free to let your mind wander because you know what I am going to say next.

If I’m trying to get you to take an action as a result of hearing my commercial, I can’t afford to have your mind wander — not even for a few seconds.

Bad copywriters don’t fill their commercials with clichés because they work. They fill their commercials with clichés because they’re bad copywriters.

A Partial List of Cliches You Never Again Will Use In A Radio Commercial

“Going on now”

“Now is the time…”

“They won’t last long.”

“Service second to none”

“Savings throughout the store”

“The sale you’ve been waiting for!”

“It’s sale time!”

“It’s midsummer madness time!”

“It’s bargain time!”

“It’s inventory time!”

“It’s big savings time!”

“It’s clearance time!”

“Storewide savings”

“It’s happening now!”

“It’s happening at…”

“We service what we sell.”

“For all of your _____ needs”

“Friendly, knowledgeable staff”

“Locally owned and operated”

“Conveniently located”

“And, what’s more…”

“So hurry on down…”

“For the finest in…”

“It’s our people that make the difference!”

“Quality service”

“Not to mention”

“And, what’s more…”