Andrew just checked in from Florida getting ready to cut some audio for the Creative Identity Group… “In addition to being mere feet away from the stove that is baking home-made chocolate chip, walnut and raisin oatmeal cookies made from scratch by my Bride, I get to produce spots that include the offer to win free … sheep. Pick up a treat bag with any car purchase and win up to $500 or a free sheep - or stop in and register to win a free sheep … twenty to be given away”.

Makes you wonder what you have to do to get the sheep…

Justin Kaiser
Creative Identity Group

Jay is one of the Creative Identity Group associates and passed along some ideas on his style of writing creative copy… 

I write every ad unto itself. Sometimes characters setting a scene works, sometimes testimonial style works, sometimes a single announcer works, other times, two announcers work, to try and pigeon hole EVERY ad into the same hole makes them all start to sound like the Radio Ranch…EVERY ad that comes out of that place sounds like a comedy sketch, in fact if you line them all up they sound like the same comedy sketch: Dufus guy does dufus thing, and smart lady corrects him only to have sensible announcer round the whole thing out. There is nothing wrong with that formula only that NOT every ad falls into that arena.

Big name talent would say it takes the right voice! On some level that’s true, but I’ve made the worst AE and Receptionist sound reasonably good with some decent coaching because the script was excellent.

Each approach is different. What they do ALL say that I agree with is that the client’s message needs to be individual and succinct, not WE SELL EVERYTHING…BLAH BLAH BLAH…et cetera

Have a great Morning!

Justin Kaiser
Creative Identity Group

I don’ agree with all of it, however, felt it was worth passing along…  From Steve Casey at http://www.upyourratings.blogspot.com/ 

A lot of smart people have been expressing their concerns about the quality of our commercials.

I think most of us are forced to agree with them.

As programmer Bobby Rich has written “Every time we play a screaming car dealer or an offensive TV station spot I can hear radios punching out and turning off.”

What can we do to improve the quality of the advertising?

Here are five suggestions:

1. Write out an explanation of the role your station plays and the mood it provides to its listeners. Explain how you talk to your listeners, and why. This should be a joint effort by the General Manager, the Sales Manager and the Program Director. Once you all agree, this needs to be presented and taught to the sales staff. Based on their questions and feedback, refine it. This will be more useful than you can imagine. Clearly, the way a commercial is written, produced and voiced for a smooth jazz station is very different than for a CHR. And commercials for an active rock station require yet another approach. By the way, this will be a useful tool for your air staff as well.

2. Create a production “bible”. Write down the guidelines for spot length, information required, levels, repetition of phone numbers, speed of delivery, use of sound effects and music, etc. This is a document which, if your station is like most, will continue to evolve over several months. Put it in a loose leaf binder so it is easy to update. Obviously, this becomes required reading by the sales staff and the air staff. Revisit and revise at least quarterly.

3. Allow the air staff to note anything they believe falls short of your standards of quality. This needs to be reviewed daily by the program director and your production staff. You can either look at it as a painful and time consuming exercise, or a way to continually refine your standards and build a better station. I hope you’ll choose the second.

4. If you do any research, continually ask your listeners about the quality of your commercials. Learn how you compare with other stations. When you can, play actual spots that you are concerned about. What do the listeners say when you ask for their comments? Are they as sensitive as you are? When you can see results that show you are perceived as much better than your competitors, it will have been worth the effort.

5. Put even more effort into the quality and creativity of your promos. More than any other “commercial” a promo reflects on you in a very direct way. Always be proud of that reflection.

It is easy to forget that our brand is communicated every second of every day. This doesn’t stop when the commercial starts. When we think more about the quality of each commercial, when we insist that standards are met in the copy and production sent to us by advertising agencies, when we always respect the mood and energy level our station’s listeners expect and want from us, we can go a long way toward improving our radio stations.

From the RAB Daily Sales Tip… I thought this was a useful article…

It’s the initial call, your prospect is engaged and you’ve begun your discussion. After your prospect responds to several of your open-ended questions, you begin to discover the prospect may not be a prospect at all (at least not for the next quarter or two).

No money.

No timeline for implementation.

No perceived urgency, no need, or other pressing priorities.

Whatever the reason, you know you should invest your time elsewhere.

You need a clean exit — an exit that’ll allow you to move on without offending the prospect, while also leaving the door open for future contact initiated by them or you.

Invest some time (on your own or with your team) in creating a couple of solid and polite exit statements for those difficult sales situations where you know you can better serve elsewhere (at least for now). Here are a few examples:

/”At the moment, I’m not sure we can provide enough value to you but I’d like to keep in touch should things change. May I keep in touch periodically?”

“That sounds like an exciting project. We may be a little early in our discussions given all of your priorities. May I give you a call in two months?”

“Wow, you really have your hands full at the moment. Perhaps we should talk again in a few months and let you focus on these other priorities.”/

A professional and courteous exit will help you create good will and plant seeds among people who may one day become qualified prospects. And remember — you reap what you sow.

I read an essay recently called Crossroads By Harriet May Savitz Bradley Beach. Radio days Posted by the Asbury Park Press (of New Jersey). I thought I’d share it…

There are radios in every room of my house. I like old fashioned ones with two knobs — one to turn it on and choose the volume, the other to select the station. I do not need more than that.

One radio is in the kitchen, one in my bedroom, one in the guest room, one in the living room. Many times they are all working, so that when I walk from room to room, my radio friends travel with me. Those who live inside my radio become my company. Though I cannot see them as they speak, I imagine their faces, their expressions. I do not wish to know more about them than what I hear from their voices. While invisible, they can become what I wish them to be. Some might be very unattractive to the eye, but I do not realize this and often hope I will not discover them on television when the mystery will disappear. It is the voice that intrigues me, reaching out as if I am the only listener.

There is something intimate about listening to a radio. I do not feel that way about my television set. Rather, I feel I am just one of the gang, a fleck among the masses. In fact, it makes me feel quite expendable, as if there are 1,000 to replace me if I turn off the set. Television does not encourage my imagination. But the radio encourages me to be in partnership with it. Together, we can shape the program. However it is delivered to me, I have the opportunity to create the people behind the voices whatever way I wish. It is in my power to embellish them with youth or strength or beauty.

The radio has always offered my imagination the opportunity to soar. I grew up shuddering when listening to “The Shadow.” We would cut short a Sunday afternoon ride to return home for a radio show — it was that important to the family, even more important than getting ice cream. My father had a favorite ice cream shop one hour away and we would drive there on Sundays. But often he would ask the time and then say, “We’d better hurry up if you want to hear “The Shadow.’ ” Of course, we all knew he wanted to hear it also. There was just one radio those many years ago, a large one in the center of the living room. And only one program available at a time. So there had to be a lot of give and take and negotiating. “The Shadow” always received a unanimous vote.

Later in life, when an illness confined me to bed, it would be the radio that would rescue me, save me from boredom and isolation.

But now it is so much better. I have many radios and many stations. There are fewer people in my immediate life to enjoy them with me, but my radios do not care how many are listening. They are undemanding and they do not need me to sit still while listening to them. I can do the dishes, clean the house, attend to chores or close my eyes while they speak to me. They are quite content to offer me the news, talk, music and sometimes drama. I do not need to sit in a chair and stare with full attention. We are like an old couple who are quite content to share as many hours as possible with each other in full understanding.

Sometimes at night, when I cannot sleep, I reach out in the dark and turn the dial to a favorite radio station. The room is no longer silent, the hours no longer lonely. The night loses its bleakness as I am swept away by the creativity coming from the radio.

It plays for me as if I am the only one.