Ever have a great mix and then listened to it on-air and you can’t hear it at all or portions drop?  Thanks to Andrew for providing a great technical write-up…

I used to test-mix everything in mono, having spent a fair amount of time at AM and FM-Mono stations. (Music playback in stereo, spots in dual-channel mono.)

Recently, though I noticed material I do for a regional agency sounding very bad on local TV and radio. I have a stereo TV, so anything I mix on the Advents should sound about the same on the TV. Nope. Absolutely getting mono’d out somewhere in the chain. Huge drop-outs during vocal fx, nasty reverbs where there should be a stereo image, etc.

Mostly on one station, but sporadically on them all. So, I zagged, and am now shipping all TV audio with only the music bed in stereo - all fx,
  vocal elements, etc., in dual-channel mono.

Radio, until now wasn’t a problem, but on Rays stations I started hearing the same thing. He went through his system and still can’t figure out the issue. I ship the radio in stereo (music, fx, and vocal elements), but the playback is being summed. I’m noticing it from time to time on his competitors signals too.

Those of you that do out-of-market work, and can’t listen real-time to the audio being played, would well consider doing a mono text mix before you send your production out to make sure your clients are getting something that sounds right. Due diligence is part of customer service.

And, to clarify, “mono” is single channel audio. “Dual-channel mono” is the exact same audio on the left and right channel. “Stereo” is separate audio on the laeft-right pair.

photo credit: Marcus Vegas

Do production values count or should we focus on the content.  You wouldn’t believe how many people missed the boat on this question as it was presented to our producers group.  Each is as dependent on the other.  Thanks Roy for helping us wrap up the topic…  Who Really Cares?

http://creativeidentitygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/WHO%20CARES.mp3

There is another factor, however, that may be more important that the message and the production.  Frequency.

You need to schedule a lot of ads to make your production and message work.  All in all, you have to look at each client uniquely and help guide them into what kind of ad and schedule will work best for them.

Radio can set the world on fire. Ask H.G. Welles… or Don Imus… or the missionaries using radio in Africa to change people’s lives.  Until we start telling the story more consistently and effectively, we’ll continue to catch hell from snooty agency copywriters.

Furniture stores, car dealers, retail stores, grocery stores… they are the ads you hear on the radio the most… because they can offer great sales incenetives… and yes they don’t need to run those but for a day or 2 which is why their sale changes every week/month.  But for doctors, car repairs, lawyers, realtors etc… they have to rely on a good ad, TOMA and long term scheduling.

Sometimes AE’s need to be reminded about things that can make them money and you successful. Simply telling them does not kill two birds with one stone. Like maybe a creative way to tell them which in turn, will show them you have some creativity in your bones. I thought I would share with you.

I came across this very interesting recording. Apparently, different people here different things, but the bottomline is that if you are stalled on some clients and you’re wondering how to get in front of those who may have closed the door on you before. For some reason within this news cast you might here some answers that will speak to only you.

Should you hear anything that might be needing the assistance of this department, keep in mind I am here and anything you hear that you reveal to me will not be discussed with your collegues!

Thanks and give it a listen it might help.

http://www.creativeidentitygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/nprsubliminalad.mp3

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.

I never thought I’d see this from the NAB.   There are still people that do care about producing and writing commercials that work for our clients. Some clusters have just given up. Some just get “it” on.  Radio is hurting right now… economy, war, wall street, bad moon rising over scorpio, whatever. 

I care….  I get paid to care and I provide my clients with the tools they need to obtain market dominance…

Here’s my take.  Radio stations without writers or producers are the target of this article. Holiday is saying to them “pay up”. Either hire decent staff, or outsource. Either way you have to spend a buck to get good creative that works.

“Added value” Bullshit. If it doesn’t have a dollar sign attached it’s free and it’s probably not worth the screen it was typed on.  When was the last time you wrote a commercial that said, “Buy one get a second as added value!”

Fortunately, a few advertisers want a better product than ”added value”?  

It’s that very way that I’ve built my business.Here’s the deal, I have the voices, writers, and software available to make this happen “virtually” for stations around the world.  If you’d like to learn more, let me know.  It’s brilliantly wonderful and we’ve got clients who would NOT have signed without it.

With that in mind…  Take a read…

Justin Kaiser
Creative Identity Group

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Sales Tip from the RAB Training Academy: Nothin’ from Nothin’ Leaves Nothin’

By Doc Holliday, RAB Training Specialist

Have you ever told a client that one of the benefits of advertising on Radio is free production? The trouble with free commercials is that most of them aren’t even worth the cost. In fact, most of the time free commercials turn out to be more expensive because of the cost of advertising that doesn’t generate any results. They cost your station listeners who tune out because of the way free commercials sound. And just think how much money they cost your station and the industry because of clients who tried Radio and now think it doesn’t work.

There are a lot of opinions as to what makes a good commercial. Fact is, most of them are wrong. The client is the worst judge of all when it comes to knowing a good commercial from an expensive waste of airtime and airwaves. Sometimes they even insist that we run commercials filled with information that no one cares about because that’s what all the other bad free commercials are filled with. But they’re FREE…right?

If you have a great production department, and they churn out great commercials that always get great results, and they do it for free…great! If not, maybe you should consider offering your clients commercials that work instead of free commercials. There are many great commercial production houses, both local and national. It doesn’t matter where the production houses are located. Digital delivery is as easy as e-mail. Do your due diligence.

When you have found a production house that will consistently deliver commercials that are compelling and effective, work with them to arrive at a pricing structure that you and your clients can live with.  Negotiate a deal that will make it possible for you to have spec spots to play when you make presentations. Then, when your client compares your creative with the free creative that your competitors may offer, let the quality speak for itself.

Once clients are convinced that you are recommending production that is in their best interests, and they hear the difference in quality for themselves, most of them will have no problem paying a few hundred dollars more for commercials that actually work.

The benefits of getting beyond our free production paradigm are many. If the schedule is done properly, the client gets results, which means they actually see a return on their investment. As a result, they are more inclined to become a repeat customer. You create long-term base billing. And your station sounds better because your commercials are less likely
to be seen as clutter.

Great commercials get great results. Commercials that cost nothin’ and generate nothin’ are worth less than nothin’ to you and your clients.