Here are three entertaining radio imaging spots by three brilliant radio producers: Howard Hoffman, Terry Phillips and Jamie Watson.
It’s difficult to imagine your not getting at least one idea for a spot of your own from one of those three guys.
Download the entire 90-minute radio imaging presentation here.
In a recent posting I declared, “Never give a client the authority to ‘approve’ the copy — that is, the actual script.”
I went on to explain why it’s a bad idea and, in fact, unfair to the client. And I ended by promising in a subsequent posting, I’d answer the question:
“How do you get a client to approve a commercial without giving them script approval?”
Especially with a new client, it’s important for you to establish that you’re the expert.
If you begin your relationship with the understanding that the client is buying not just “commercials” but instead your station’s expertise in motivating its listeners to act on the client’s sales message, the relationship is likely to be more enjoyable and profitable for both of you.
(One way you begin this process is to define them as “sales messages,” not as “commercials.”)
Naturally, you don’t simply take the client’s newspaper ad and agree to turn into a radio commercial. Instead, you ask lots & lots of questions about:
The real story is not that they’re the oldest shoe store in town.
But it might be that they have put shoes on the feet of more people in your town than any other shoe store, starting back in The Great Depression when Great-Great-Grandpa opened his little cobbler shop and extended credit to anyone who would look him in the eye and promise to pay when he could.
You define the client’s Unique Selling Proposition: “Why should I give my money to you, rather to your competitor?” (The answer, of course, must be from the customer’s point-of-view, not the client’s.)
And before you leave the client with your promise to create a whiz-bang advertising campaign, you establish the client’s Conditions of Satisfaction:
What absolutely must be included in the commercials — uh, in the sales messages?
Write it all down, in plain sight of the client.
When the client is finished, you say:
“And what else?”
The client might add one or two items.
“And what else?”
The client probably has run out of “what else.”
Now you look at that list and chop away at anything that you don’t believe is essential.
For example, the client probably wanted his phone number mentioned. Three times.
If you’ve educated him properly, you’ve already explained why a shoe retailer shouldn’t waste valuable commercial time touting its phone number.
If so, you remind him now. If you forgot to educate him on that point, do so now.
1. “If you had to choose between (Point A) and (Point B), which would you say is more important?” (Client replies, you nod your head.) “I agree. So let’s just cross off (Point B).”
2. “Mary, as you know, every second counts in a radio commercial. Yours is going to be voiced by one of the top talents in the business. The last thing you want is for him to rush through the copy, trying to squeeze in too much information.”
(Looking at notes, pointing to a non-essential item) “I think this is the part we should omit. Agreed?”
3. “Mary, we really don’t need to talk about how friendly your staff is. Instead, let’s focus all of our attention on the fact that if you buy shoes anywhere else, you’re spending more than you should. Make sense?”
After you’ve done your best to limit the key points that must be mentioned in the spot, you hand the client a copy of the Conditions of Satisfaction:
“Mary, I want you to hold onto this. You’ll want to refer to it when I bring you your recorded commercials. Especially because this is the first time you’ve advertised with us, I know you’ll be excited to hear the new campaign. But I’ll need you to listen carefully to make sure everything we’ve listed here is included in the finished commercials. So please put this somewhere safe.”
When you return with the finished spots, don’t even bother to ask Mary if she still has her copy of the Conditions of Satisfaction.
Instead, hand her your own duplicate copy:
“I’ve hardly been able to wait to play these for you. I’m really pleased with the way they turned out. Here’s a copy of that list we made of key points that absolutely had to be included. Please do me a favor and check them off when you hear them….”
Now you have reframed the question from “Do you like these commercials?” to “Did we cover everything we were supposed to?”
A Loyal Reader Writes:
“My father-in-law got an Arbitron diary last week and I made him throw it out. And now I am feeling like a jackass…
“I think I did the right thing but their whole family does actually listen to my show so it wouldn’t be embellished much if at all. I just didn’t want the stink of cheating a book on me. Did I do the right thing?”
Technically, there was no “right thing” for you to do. The ethical burden was on your father-in-law, who had to decide whether to be truthful when answering Arbitron’s questions that could disqualify him as a diary-keeper.
In my opinion, you would’ve been doing the wrong thing if you had asked or encouraged him to lie.
Although you won’t have to look far to find some radio people who will ridicule your choice, when you’re faced with an ethical dilemma erring on the side of honesty is a pretty good policy.
First, the radio commercial….
That’s a mediocre direct response commercial that probably gets some results…but not as much as it could.
The single biggest problem: Sloppy direction results in the audience’s inability to understand the name of the product being advertised.
Can you understand what the woman says at :10 of the spot?
I’ve listened to it repeatedly. I still can’t be sure, but I think she says, “And I called to try a sample…” (What I actually hear is, “And I called the tri-sample” — but because that doesn’t make sense, my brain has worked overtime to guess at what was lost in translation.)
The product name is not well-known. But both voices treat it as though we’re all familiar with the name: Lumiday.
A better director would have the voice actors stress and slightly elongate the first syllable: LOO-mi-day. And pause for a quarter-second after each presentation of the product name, so that the name stands out without destroying the attempt at a conversational tone.
* The woman who opens the spot: Do you believe her? Do you believe she’s sharing her personal story?
No, you can tell it’s a voice actor, reading copy. The copy isn’t bad, but she doesn’t really know what she’s saying. (Or, as I’m always quick to point out, perhaps she’s perfectly following the direction of someone who doesn’t know how to serve the copy.)
Especially her delivery of what is supposed to be the turning point of her story: When she “said, enough is enough.” She says that phrase very casually, lightly – communicating to the listener that reaching that decision was no big deal:
“Y’know what? I decided that being unhappy and irritable and worried all the time was just stupid. So I ordered a pill to fix it.”
But that line is supposed mean, “Finally I decided to stop accepting my mood swings and constant worrying as something that I just have to suffer with. There must be something I can do to take back control over my own life. I heard about this stuff called Lumiday, and I decided to give it a try…”
* The second (“announcer”) voice does a better job of communicating, perhaps because she’s playing the role of “Announcer” rather than as “Real Person.”
But she, too, delivers the product name as though the target audience already was familiar with it.
Bonus Lesson
This is not part of the critique, but in case you missed it, here’s a copywriting insight:
Do you think this commercial claims that the product has been clinically proven to promote a more positive mood?
Nope. It’s the individual ingredients that have been clinically proven to promote a more positive mood. (A nice little copywriting sleight-of-hand there.)
One of my two “apps mentors,” Chad, truly has created a formula for building a successful “smart phone apps” business. Follow the formula, and you’ll succeed:
How To Convert Downloads To Money
In case you don’t know the story: I never dreamed of creating my own iPhone app. Being non-technical, the idea never even occurred to me.
Then a friend of a friend asked if I’d help promote his apps- making course. I told him I never recommend anything without examining the product firsthand, so he gave me full access to his course.
Soon I realized, “Wow, I really could publish an app.”
Almost immediately I had an idea for an app that simply didn’t exist elsewhere.
Although I knew that was not a good sign (it’s much smarter to choose an existing market), it seemed like such an obvious (and handy) idea that I decided to give it a try.
Following the instructions in that original apps course, I began in December, 2011. I released my PhotoVoice app in February, 2012…despite approximately 3 weeks “down time” for the holidays, New Year’s, and a week-long seminar trip to Japan.
Since then:
– PhotoVoice has been downloaded in 72 countries.
– Apple says as of April 30, 2013, it’s been downloaded 15,349 times. (Apple hasn’t yet updated my “stats” from May.)
– PhotoVoice has been featured in the “What’s Hot” listings in the iTunes stores in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Croatia, Iceland, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (that’s how it’s listed in the App Store).
– I’ve been approached by a European app maker to do a joint venture, and a company in Texas contacted me to see if they could pay me to create an app for them.
Let me repeat that: I’ve made one app, and a U.S. company wanted to hire me to make one for them.
– Something I never anticipated: You wouldn’t believe how impressed people are when they learn I created my own iPhone app. They look at me in awe— probably because to most people it sounds like such an impossibly complicated thing to do.
My Confession
When I created PhotoVoice, I didn’t know HALF of what Chad teaches in his new apps-making program. (I knew maybe 10%.)
I gave very little thought to “monetizing” my app. I just impulsively jumped into it.
Y’see, I keep jumping around from project to project. (The way I work always reminds me of those plate-spinning people we used to see on TV variety shows.)
Imagine how much more successful PhotoVoice would be if I’d followed a real plan…a formula for success.
Maybe you’re like me, and having just one successful app would be rewarding enough for you.
But if you’d like to have your own app business — something that generates ever-increasing income and frees you from the tyranny of employers’ whims — follow Chad’s apps business formula.
It really does work.
The moral of this story? If I can do it, you can do it.
P.S. That course I originally was asked to evaluate? It’s no longer available. But it turns out the guy who created that course and built his own hugely successful apps business…
…was mentored by Chad.
P.P.S. If you decide to join us in this exciting “new frontier” adventure, be sure to sign up via this link...and let me know as soon as you do, so I can invite you to join my private Apps Mastermind Group.
