DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

“The More You Know The Less You’ll Grow.”

That’s the “Data Proven Truth” offered by Doug Hall in his classic book, MEANINGFUL MARKETING: 100 Data-Proven Truths And 402 Practical Ideas For Selling More With Less Effort.

(Bias Alert: I’m in that book, offering a testimonial to Doug’s marketing brilliance. I meant every word.)

Quoting from the book:

“Research has shown that the more we think we know about something, the less likely we are to learn when someone tries to teach us.

“This finding comes from three studies of the impact of prior knowledge on learning. In each study, adults were shown information on various new product concepts and then tested on what they had just been told.

“The research found that consumers with the least prior knowledge of the category gave the most accurate answers. Consumers with greater prior knowledge assumed that they already knew about the product category and thus didn’t need to focus or concentrate on learning the information presented….

“….Those who feel that they already understand sales and marketing are less likely to open their minds to learning. Instead of seeking ways to apply the truths, they…process the learning in a shallow fashion. They debate and disprove truths that don’t align with their beliefs or established ways of doing things.”

Let me quickly add that the above doesn’t apply to people who truly are expert at radio advertising; it applies to people who think they already know everything.

The most accomplished people in any field know there still is more to know.

Remember, one key difference between an amateur and a professional is the professional never stops learning.

Those know-it-all screaming-commercial car dealers (for example)? Strictly amateurs.

They could make so much more money with their advertising if only they didn’t already know everything.

One of the all-time classic radio promotions was Jack McCoy’s “Last Contest.”

This piece (written by Russ Wittberger, voiced by McCoy) demonstrates the key elements of great parody, including:

– Writing it exactly in the style of the original work being parodied

– Performing it exactly in the style of the original work (which in this case wasn’t too hard, inasmuch as McCoy simply stuck to his usual, Rod Serling-ish dramatic delivery)

– Ending it with a brilliant payoff that made it feel complete (rather than just continuing until they ran out of jokes)

I was at an international departure gate at Los Angeles International Airport.

The gate agent was completely serious when she announced, “Is there anyone here who does not speak English and needs an interpreter?”

Hey, that was a commercial.

It was a message intended to elicit a reaction that would accomplish a specific goal — identifying anyone in the gate area who didn’t understand English.

Think about your specific goal before you craft your radio commercial message.

It was only with extreme effort that I prevented myself from jumping up, grabbing the microphone, and saying, “If you speak and understand English and do not need an interpreter, please raise your hand.”

Then the gate agent could have looked for any passengers who hadn’t raised their hands.

It was at a Radio Sales/Copywriting seminar I conducted last year that a Radio Production Director complained, “Our station has a deadline for account executives to turn in commercial copy orders, but the salespeople ignore it.”

I responded, “You’re not telling the truth. You say you have a deadline, but you don’t. A deadline is something that is enforced. If it’s not enforced, you don’t have a deadline.”