Pay close attention and make it work the best for you. No doubt you?e listened to, and then quickly deleted,

messages from account execs from your local radio

stations. Maybe you?e even entertained them in your office.

Hopefully you didn? have to sanitize your phone or office

afterwards. Well, radio can be great way to garner awareness cheaply. . .

ahem, inexpensively. . . if you do it right. Remember. . .

97. 823% of all radio ads S-U-C-K. That leaves you to carry

the banner for great radio advertising. And when you do, you

will get noticed. Believe me, you will get noticed. Why do so many radio ads suck? Between the screaming

car ads, nasally voiced business owners who should never

get anywhere near a microphone reading their own ads,

and the next? urnkey?business opportunity, they are all

dressed in their plaid suits and resorting to hucksterism.

They want your money and they want it now. They forget one thing. Well, actually a lot of things, but the

main thing they forget that people are not tuning in for their

ad. Listeners want Rush, Rome, Al, Laura, music, sports,

news, or whatever. People aren? saying,? ee, I gotta hear

great heating and air conditioning ads today!?our ad is interrupting what they listen for. By nature, you are

already behind the eight ball before you start in radio. But

there is hope. First off, do NOT let a radio station employee write your ad. If your exec isn? a writer (you may luck out in that some

radio execs are copywriters in training looking for an agency

gig) and you don? speak up, your ad will probably get

written by either: the station producer- who may have

already written 4 or 5 other ads that same DAY,who doesn?

have enough time to fully attend to your needs, and thereby

wasting your money; OR a disc jockey (strange term- they

don? spin wax anymore, Daddy-O) whose annoyed he or

she has to write an ad, or who? not a talented writer to

begin with, also wasting your money; OR by an intern,

secretary, or other employee - who may relish the

opportunity, but may not have the chops yet, or is being

pressured to write something? uick and dirty?so it can

produced and on the air -- also thereby wasting your money. You have creative control and the ultimate yay or nay, so feel

free to choose your writer. Hint and Shameless Plug : There

is a link here to direct you to an excellent radio writer. It's

http://www. brandedbetter. com. Now, when it comes down to concepting and reviewing

scripts, remember this: Radio is called Theater of the Mind

for good reason. Use it to your advantage. Recall your

disadvantage before starting. Cleverness will grab attention. But. . . it must be on strategy

to be effective. Give your writer ONE benefit to express. How

does that benefit resonate with the target audience? Don?

think if you have a? undane?or? oring?product or service,

there? no cleverness to be had. Give a good writer enough

information, and they will find it. A few of the BEST radio ads I?e ever heard was for a soil

conditioner. Yup. A soil conditioner. Two voices. One

performed by the writer. The other performed by midlevel

(read. . . talented, and nonunion) voice talent. Writer as The

Hick Farmer. Nonunion Talent as the Smart Farmer. Hick Farmer:? ey, nay-bor. . . Whatzzat on yer roof??mart Farmer: (obviously)? t? a satellite dish. ?ick Farmer: "Whazzit fer. . . ? Talkin?to the Martians?"You can almost hear the slack jaw in your head. And it

makes you want to hear more. That? your goal for radio. Another ad for the same product was even better. Smart Farmer: "Hey, neighbor. . . Why so glum?"Hick Farmer: "Aw. . . the weeds, the bugs, the disease. . . my

crops are about ruined. . . I?e had an awful year. The wife

has been pickin?her tooth for leftovers. "Now, I? not a farmer. I never heard of conditioning soil. But,

you can bet I understood what it did after these ads. And did

I mention I was wondrously entertained when receiving this

information?To be fair, these ads were produced by an ad agency with a

good sized budget. The campaign also won some ad

awards and some industry awards. The point is-- a good ad

isn? loud, repetitive, trite, condescending, or tries to jam as

many words possible into the time frame. In fact, silence

works to your advantage. Silence in radio (or even TV) is like

white space on a print ad. It tastefully surrounds the content

for maximum effectiveness, drawing the eye (in this case,

ear) in to read (hear) the copy. Voices are important, too. Ever listen to the radio and hear

the same voice all over the ads? That? usually Mr. or Ms.

Producer-- the person who makes sure the ad gets made.

That? why they don? have time to write a good one for you.

Many freelance writers, myself included, know something

about voices and casting, and can probably get you the best

talent for your dollar. Some writers can even voice their own

copy. And think twice, no. . . three times about voicing it

yourself. Better make that four times. Oh, and if you?e wondering what length of ad to buy? In

most cases, go for the :60. For just a few dollars more, you

get twice the time to play with. If you are spending money on

radio, use ALL the resources available to you to create the

best possible ad. And that usually entails going outside the

radio station walls to get it. ~~John is a freelance commercial writer based in Omaha,

Nebraska. He publishes a free monthly e-zine focusing on

branding, advertising, and marketing from his website

http://www. brandedbetter. com. Speaking with both agency and in-

house experience, he knows the most valuable asset of a

businees is its brand.

Author:
John Jordan