{"id":18936,"date":"2016-02-15T00:07:45","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T08:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?p=18936"},"modified":"2016-02-15T00:07:45","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T08:07:45","slug":"radio-advertising-whats-your-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/radio-advertising-whats-your-story\/","title":{"rendered":"RADIO ADVERTISING – Who Are You? What\u2019s Your Story?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cheeses\"<\/a>First, let’s listen to this radio commercial, and then I’ll ask you a few questions.<\/span><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/TraderJoes-DanBane.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n


\nQuestion #1:<\/strong> Who voiced that spot? (He gave his name at the beginning of the commercial.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Answer:\u00a0<\/strong> “Dan Bane”<\/span><\/p>\n

Question #2:<\/strong>\u00a0 Who is Dan Bane?<\/span><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> Unless you have some connection to Trader Joe’s or are a friend or relative, you have no idea who Dan Bane is.<\/span><\/p>\n

He’s the CEO of Trader Joe’s. <\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t know, either. But a little Googling uncovered the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question #3:\u00a0<\/strong> Inasmuch as no one knows who Dan Bane is, why is he delivering Trader Joe’s sales message in this radio commercial? <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, because…<\/span><\/p>\n

Um…<\/span><\/p>\n

Because he’s the public face of the company, and consumers instantly associate him with Trader Joe’s? Well, no.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it because as CEO of the company, he knows more about the individual foods they sell in their stores? <\/span><\/p>\n

Unlikely. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to know “What are the most popular special items this week,” almost every employee at every one of their markets can give you a more knowledgeable answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wait, I’ve got it: He’s voicing that commercial because he’s so darn good at effective one-to-one communication via a microphone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, except for his sing-songy delivery that’s the hallmark of someone who is reading, rather than talking.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re thinking, “Well, gee, at least he’s not shouting at the audience,” you’re correct. <\/span><\/p>\n

But neither is he speaking naturally.<\/span><\/p>\n

Play the spot again and imagine he’s a friend of yours and he’s talking to you that way over the telephone. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is that how your friends or colleagues actually speak?<\/span><\/p>\n

I will gladly offer him one compliment: his delivery of the line, “Or Utah.” But that was the only nonrobotic element in that radio ad.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nDan Bane sounds like a pleasant enough chap. But it’s clear that he’s reading someone else’s script into a microphone; he’s not talking to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Copywriting<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

As I’ve mentioned previously, the people write the copy for Trader Joe’s print flyers<\/a> are exceptionally good at writing for print.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

But you can’t simply take that style and apply it to a radio spot.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you look at one of their flyers, you don’t read every paragraph on every page. <\/span><\/p>\n

Your eyes skip over stuff you know you won’t be interested in and pause at items of interest to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can’t do that with a radio commercial. <\/span><\/p>\n

You can’t skip past the irrelevant parts.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re the targeted consumer, a radio commercial needs to command your attention from its first sounds and keep it until the Call to Action has clearly and convincingly been given.<\/span><\/p>\n

Replay that spot. <\/span><\/p>\n

After the first 18 seconds, we still don’t know what the actual message is. <\/span><\/p>\n

We know it has something to do with Trader Joe’s, but that’s not enough grab and keep our attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two Quick Ways to Improve this Commercial<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

1.<\/strong> Begin with the story, not with a rambling set-up. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Have you seen our spotlight cheeses?” is far from being the best opening line I’ve heard in a radio advertisement.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it’s better than, “This is Dan Bane of Trader Joe’s, where shopping for groceries is something you’ll want<\/em> to do.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember, Successful Radio Advertising Solves Problems.<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

I don’t enjoy shopping. <\/span><\/p>\n

You won’t see me in a supermarket unless I’ve already eaten every morsel of food I can find at home. <\/span><\/p>\n

That includes stuff in the refrigerator that I can’t identify but which I know probably at one time was edible.<\/span><\/p>\n

But “not enjoying shopping” isn’t the problem Trader Joe’s might be able to solve for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Finding interesting stuff that I haven’t had before and that appears both healthy and tasty” — that’s a challenge Trader Joe’s might be able to help me overcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of opening by defining a problem the advertiser doesn’t actually solve for consumers, they could’ve opened cold with, “<\/span>Have you seen our Spotlight Cheeses? I’m Dan Bane of Trader Joe’s” \u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 and then they’d need to deliver a compelling reason why the targeted listener should see their Spotlight Cheeses.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 If for some reason “Dan Bane” must voice the spot, explain to the listener who he is. <\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m Dan Bane of Trader Joe’s” means…Well, it could be a spokesperson. Or an employee.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m Dan Bane, CEO of Trader Joe’s” would tell us, “He’s the head of the company.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Or…uh…”He’s the Big Cheese at Trader Joe’s.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly Trader Joe’s invests a lot of time and care in the creation of their monthly flyers. <\/span><\/p>\n

They expect their copywriters to take all that information and make it appear not just interesting but fascinating.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, they don’t hold their radio advertising to the same high standard.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, let’s listen to this radio commercial, and then I’ll ask you a few questions. Question #1: Who voiced that spot? (He gave his name at the beginning of the commercial.) Answer:\u00a0 “Dan Bane” Question #2:\u00a0 Who is Dan Bane? Answer: Unless you have some connection to Trader Joe’s or are a friend or relative, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"\nRADIO ADVERTISING - Who Are You? 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