Radio Direct Response: Direct Response Radio Advertising Agency | Blog Zone

Okay, maybe that’s a little strong, but I’m sure not happy. Another spring season, or as I like to call it—“The Gifting Season”—has come and gone and I just did the math. Since mid-April I’ve given gifts for two baby showers, a baby birth, Mother’s Day, a Holy Communion, four birthdays and two high school graduations. I’m a naturally generous person and the giving of gifts comes as easily as breathing to me.

At some point though, with the help of one of my favorite “Sex and The City” episodes, I realized that the scales are critically unbalanced. I remember when one of Carrie’s prized Manolos was pinched at a children’s birthday party, because she had to leave her shoes at the door. I also remember her failed attempts to get the hostess to replace the $600 shoes! This at the same time her friends were reminding her of all the bridesmaid dresses she paid for, wedding and baby gifts she had given over the years. Where were her gifts? Just because she wasn’t married nor had children of her own she was always on the giving end. Welcome to my world!

Look, I’m “The Aunt Monica,” the rock-star aunt to children both related and not related to me. I’m thinking about trade marking and franchising the name. I love giving gifts, but is it the plight of the never-married woman to go and create milestones to be celebrated or go gift less? Should I throw a party every time I lease a new car or start throwing parties for my dog and cats? I’m thinking there is just so much rawhide and catnip people will gift-wrap.

My 2010 birthday is a big one—a major milestone, which I will not divulge here. Probably the last birthday I really want to acknowledge. But acknowledge it I will—because this is my turn. This is the day I get all those shower, wedding, graduation and birthday gifts back. I AM REGISTERING! Yes, that’s right; I will have a gift registry for this birthday. I don’t care if my friends have to chip in, but this is my last chance to get what I want! And I want it! So get directions to Tiffany & Co., Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Louis Vuitton because that’s where I am registering.

Like a good direct marketer, I am approaching this event with a direct mail campaign—the invitations and a call to action—the gift registry! The fabulous party given by my mother will close the deal!

So unite all you unmarried, childless gift-giving women. Go to the window and open it up and let your self be heard, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Go and register now!

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager

I’m just like most people. I don’t really like listening to commercials when I listen to the radio, even though it is my job to make sure other listeners do that very same thing. So when I come across a radio spot that I enjoy listening to, especially when it is part of a series and I know there are more to come, I have to comment on it.

I listen to a WFAN-AM, the sports talk station from New York City. It is not surprising to have former athletes be product spokespersons. When former New York Giant, Brad Benson takes to the airwaves as spokesperson for his central New Jersey Hyundai dealership you would expect that almost robotic monotone car dealer pitch that dominates local radio. Oh boy, are you wrong!

Benson has made himself more than an ex-athlete with a Super Bowl ring, more than a local car dealer, but a local radio personality. His spots are topical, humorous and most of all a little irreverent. But since launching this radio campaign six years ago, he has gone from selling 40 or 50 cars a month to 300. Benefiting both from his own efforts and those from Hyundai corporate he was up 30% over last April, certainly bucking the doom and gloom trend of the auto industry overall.

I am no copywriter, but I do know good compelling copy. When Benson promises to be celibate (though he has a wife of 26 years) until he moves from the No. 2 Hyundai dealer in America to No. 1, he has certainly set his radio spot apart from the clutter. Or when he makes fun of Michael Vick, Rosie O’Donnell, Saddam Hussein or Eliot Spitzer he not only gets to be the spot that you remember, but you start to look forward to the next one.

Yes, he has offended some people and has had to pull or edit some of his spots over the years, but as a “radio-only” agency person, I wish all my potential clients had his perspective on radio. Benson practices what I preach, that repetition is key. “We feel they have to be heard three times in a week to be effective,” Benson says. Each spot runs at least two weeks before the next one replaces it. Without “working blue,” he realized that when a local car dealer spot can elicit anger or humor or any emotion for that matter except boredom, that he was on to something.

Good luck to Benson in his quest for number one and good luck to his wife for any number of reasons.

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager

Feelin’ Stronger Everyday — Can Your Brand Say That?

I grew up in a house filled with the sounds of Big Band music. The bigger the horn section, the louder my Dad played the music. The image of him standing in front of the mirror on Saturday morning blowing into a pretend trumpet is burned into my memory. So it was my destiny that my all-time favorite band would be Chicago, who 41+ years later features their original horn section blowing their hearts out on stage.

Who knew 41 years ago that infusing a rock n’ roll band with a horn section would endure through generations of fans and sell 120 million records? As musicians they certainly do it right on a stage, but if you look at them as a “brand” they’ve done something right for 41 years.  Not many consumer brands can say that.

I’ve seen Chicago in concert over 25 times in venues ranging from big time arenas to private parties to casino showrooms. Last month, I sat in the audience at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and realized this band is timeless. I went alone and sat at a table for four with three complete strangers in their 20’s. I had to ask: “Did you win these tickets because you seem a little young to be fans?” They were quick to correct me that they were indeed fans and that this was their sixth time seeing Chicago in person. I looked around the room and realized there many tables filled with people their age.

“They just never stop,” was the quote that got me from the youngest of my tablemates. So how do they do it? How does the “Chicago brand” survive the inevitable changes that occur over 41 years: band members (only four of the eight band members are originals), record companies, producers, music trends, vinyl-to-digital collections. How does Chicago keep the fan base growing from generation to generation?

As a fan, I can say that while I went through my disco phase, my hot boy band phase and my hip-hop phase, Chicago was never a phase. They are as constant as my love of Coca Cola, Calvin Klein Jeans and Sony TVs. As a band they stayed true to their fans and their music. The horn section was never replaced with high tech synthesizers. As band members left they were replaced with singers/musicians who were followers of the band from childhood. They knew - and never forgot - where the band came from. They never tried to be something they weren’t. Today, their live music sets include hits from Chicago CTA (their first) to Chicago XXX. The Chicago logo is as recognizable today as it was in 1968 whether it is carved in stone, made out of chocolate or dripping in paint (Chicago CD Cover Art).

As brand marketers the thing we need to focus on first and foremost is staying true to the brand, whether it’s a soft drink, a chain store, an automobile or a rock band. Someone should be able to listen to a radio spot, see a billboard or a print ad, watch a TV commercial and know it is your brand before your name or logo is even referred to by name. Staying true to where you came from keeps you on the path to where you are going. What made your brand special 40 years ago should still be part of your brand philosophy even if you started in your parents’ garage and are now listed on the NYSE. I like to call it he three Cs—consistency, commitment, continuity.

Now, let’s talk about why Chicago isn’t in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame…

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager

Lather…rinse…repeat.  Really?  Repeat?  Directions on a shampoo bottle are ridiculous to begin with, but the “repeat” part has always been like nails on a chalkboard to me.  While some things in life are just too painful to repeat — like sixth grade or your driver’s test, repetition does have its benefits, especially if you are marketing on radio.

Put your consumer hat on for a second.  You are listening to the radio while showering, driving, sunning on the beach or jogging.  You’re probably not going to towel down or pull over to grab a pen and write down that difficult-to-remember 800 number (there’s a finite number of good ones out there, but that’s for another blog) or URL for that product or service you just heard advertised.  You’ll file it away in your head with the million other things you mean to do.  Repetition is key.

People are usually doing something else when they are listening to the radio.  They’ll call or log on when it is convenient for them to do so or when that desire becomes a necessity.  That is why your message has to rise to the Top Five of that “million things to do list.” How do you accomplish this?  Let me repeat myself — repetition.

When direct marketers give up on radio a week or two into the campaign, they are guilty of not understanding repetition, or in radio terms, “frequency.”  Listeners generally need to hear a radio spot a minimum of three times before they take action.  If the phone doesn’t ring on day one or the web site isn’t flooded, panic sets in.  This happens not only with start-ups, but also with household names that dip their toe in the water but don’t dive in even though their competition is on radio all year long.  Why did it work for their competitors?  Let me repeat myself — they were on the air all year long.

I recently leased a new car and while renewing my insurance, my carrier’s rates rose $60 dollars a month.  Leasing a car requires that you carry the maximum coverage, so I either had to renew or find a new carrier.  Three years ago when I last leased a car it never entered my mind to shop for a better rate.  Now I needed to.  I could think of no other name to call but Progressive Direct.  Why?  They are dominating the airwaves — three years ago they weren’t.  And they offer the unique service of showing you comparable rates from competitors.  A one-stop-shop.

Like millions of others who heard their spots on the radio I didn’t act the first time I heard it, or the 10^th time, or maybe even the 75^th.  But I did call when I needed it.  If I hadn’t heard it 75 times would they be my new carrier?  Probably not.

So again let me repeat myself — repetition is key to a direct marketers success.

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager

How many times have you left a baseball game in the eighth inning to beat the traffic, thinking your team had the game well in hand, only to hear a sickening groan by 35,000 people as you fumble for your keys in the parking lot. You turn on the radio, just in time to hear the play-by-play of one of the great all-time comebacks. What went wrong? Was it the bullpen, the defense, the great gods of baseball?

Just like a baseball team needs to have every facet of their game working for all nine innings to win, so does a direct marketer. What good is having a “lights out” pitcher if your second baseman can never turn a double play? Why have the most feared batting line-up if your bullpen can’t hold a lead?

As a direct marketer you may have this year’s “it” product with all the bells and whistles. You may have award-winning creative in place to market it. But what happens if your call center leaves a customer on hold for twenty minutes? What if your fulfillment center ships the wrong item? What happens if your customer service number is always busy?

These are all facets of a good direct marketers’ game. Each one has to be operating at peak performance to keep the phones ringing. Let’s keep it baseball terms and break it down into offense and defense.

Here’s your line-up in the field. Your starting pitcher is compelling creative with a call to action that is always in the strike zone. Your defense is a properly staffed call center. The closer—need I say more— call center operators who can close the sale and even make the upsell seem effortless.

Your offense, of course, is powered by a great product or service. Remember not every ball has to leave the park to win a baseball game. “Small ball” wins just as many games. So to support that great product, make sure you have a “can’t refuse” offer that brings it all home. Timely fulfillment/shipping and stellar customer service are just as valuable as a well-placed bunt or sacrifice fly.

Just like Yogi Berra said, “Baseball is ninety percent mental; the other half is physical.” So that must mean that direct marketing is ninety percent product; and the other half is service. Right?

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager

“Call right now and we’ll double the offer!”  Is there a better combination of words in the English language?  Of course, “Have you lost weight?” and “Wow, you don’t look your age!” also ring my bell, but they don’t propel me to the phone at the speed of light.

Direct marketers are always looking for the perfect trigger that gets a potential consumer to go from “that’s cool” to “I must own it now.”  Based on my January credit card bills, doubling the offer is definitely my trigger.  Crafting the best offer and coupling it with a sense of urgency is the key to any successful DR campaign.  Doubling the offer works best for DRTV marketers because the price point on DRTV items is usually so low that twice the offer is still a moneymaker (especially when you collect additional shipping and handling charges).

DR radio is a whole other story.  Most DR radio products or services are priced at $100 or more, which most listeners won’t discover until they pick up the phone to order. Radio marketers rely on the power of the spoken word.  Listeners can’t see before-and-after pictures or an awesome “Honeymooners Chef-of-the-Future” demonstration.  The offer must be strong enough to cut through the clutter because everybody wants a deal.

“Free”, the other four-letter word, wields a lot of power in the consumer mindset.  There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but a free shipping offer can make the phone ring loud and often.

Once listeners think they are getting a great deal, you have to get them to act on it.  Conveying a sense of urgency can be done several ways.  Phrases like “this is a limited time offer” or “quantities are limited” work well, as do phrases like “the next 20 orders today receive a month supply free” or “the first 50 callers lock in today’s introductory price for all future orders.”

Present an irresistible offer and be ready to handle the lead volume.

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager
Radio Direct Response

When I was little kid, the Christmas season began the day after Thanksgiving, no ifs, ands or buts. Now it seems that if you listen real hard to the school bell ring the day after Labor Day, the sound of jingle bells is close behind. I mean c’mon-Hallmark puts out its Keepsake ornament collection in July. July?

You could knock me over with a candy cane, but the Christmas push this year is the earliest even I can remember and I worked for 10 years as the Director of Marketing for three super-regional shopper centers. My holiday calendar has been way off for years—ordering my Christmas décor in April and my Easter mums in December will do that to you. Yet, I can’t remember Santa competing head-to-head with Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin like he did this year.

Here are just a few examples through November 12:

• I haven’t seen one holiday dinner scene in a TV commercial with a Thanksgiving theme, but the Christmas tree has made several appearances
• Kay Jewelers, Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy’s, TV commercials all had a Christmas focus since November 1
• Hallmark Gold Crown stores held their Holiday Open House, November 3-4
• TBS aired its first showing of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on Saturday, November 10
• Macy’s had Christmas trees up before Halloween
• The Toys ‘R Us and Target holiday toy books were in the Sunday paper, November 4

As a former retailer, I can tell you that an early Thanksgiving like we have this year is a dream come true. That extra week pulled many same store holiday sales out of the Christmas tree wood chipper.

I love Christmas more than any other time of year. I’d keep my decorations up all year if I could.

My Mom did it best. She made a Christmas butter cookie that to this day would be my choice for food if stranded on a dessert island. Christmas was the only time of year I would see her bake. It wasn’t until I reached my teens that I wondered why she only made those cookies at Christmas. All she had to do was change the cookie cutters. Were her cookies really that good or was it that we all knew they would only be available three weeks out of the year?

That’s all for now. I have trees to light, stockings to hang and a Turkey to stuff. Not necessarily in that order.

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager
Radio Direct Response

Now that the swelling in my feet has gone down, and I can dress without wondering which earrings won’t clash with my exhibitor’s badge, I’ve gathered some observations on the DMA’07 in Chicago (October 14-16).

For those of you who don’t know, the DMA is the Direct Marketing Association and once a year its members gather in a major city’s convention center. There you are awash in a sea of list brokers, call centers, sales premiums and every kind of blinking, flashing buzzing piece of tchotchke you can fit in your carry-on luggage. Radio Direct Response has a unique perspective on the event, being the only “radio” exhibitor at the show. We’re pretty sure of our “only” status because of the double takes and quizzical expressions on the passersby when they read our display. This was my third annual show and by now I have enough convention floor frequent walker miles to spot some trends, good and bad.  

The biggest trend this year was DISTRACTIONS.

For a group focused on direct marketing a large percentage of exhibitors took the indirect route to get their message across. Everything from costumed characters and Nintendo Wii games to martini bars and deep-dish pizza created aisles of gridlock. But how much of this traffic was qualified booth traffic? How many of the people lined up for those booths actually had a legitimate business reason for being there? I’m just as guilty. My neighboring booth was serving cappuccino all day. I went back two or three times and I could not tell you what service or product they sold. I just wanted the coffee.

This puts a lot of pressure on exhibitors who rely on wit, charm and case studies to attract attendees on the convention floor. Not saying that these kinds of diversions are all bad. But if the exhibit floor is like this in Chicago what’ll it be like next year in Vegas, the Mecca of distraction?

Here are few tips for making the most of walking a trade show:

• Go in with specific goals. This will help you overcome the distraction factor. What kind of vendors do you absolutely have to meet with? Meet with them! This way you don’t feel guilty when completing your expense report.
• Check out the exhibitor’s list in advance and map out the most effective route. The DMA’s website is updated weekly.
• If you don’t have time to talk, leave your card. Any exhibitor will be happy to do a follow-up mailing of their materials.
• Travel light. Leave the brief case in the hotel room. You know you are going to load up on samples and brochures, etc. so don’t bog yourself down.
• If you absolutely want the tchotchke for your kids, make that your last walk on your way out of the building.

That’s all for now. See you next month. I’m off to grab another cappuccino.

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager
Radio Direct Response