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

This Thursday, most of us will sit down with family and friends and overeat. Consuming massive portions of turkey, stuffing and cranberry, we’ll glaze over in front of the evening football game as our carbohydrate-rich meals (not tryptophan) cause the letter “Z” to appear and multiply above our heads.

Let’s not lose sight of the real reason we commemorate this day: To give thanks.

In 1621, the Pilgrims declared a three-day autumn feast to thank God and to show appreciation to native Americans who helped them reap a bountiful summer harvest following a harsh New England winter that killed nearly half of their population through starvation and sickness.

Today in 2008, we still give thanks for the harvest. And for the love of our family. Appreciation for our community and world leaders. Thanks to God. And usually, embedded in the rote recitation of those we thank, we experience a moment of genuine appreciation. A flash when we truly feel grateful for an act of kindness, a deed of service or some effort that’s been made on our behalf.

I’ve studied the science of biofeedback and was fortunate to learn how to generate and suppress Alpha waves, the brain waves most commonly connected with physical pleasure. For example, if you envision yourself alone in a field staring down into a dark, empty hole, you’ll suppress Alpha. But if you visualize yourself doing something that truly brings you joy, you’ll generate Alpha. The trick lies in knowing what truly brings you joy - and not what society or the media might sell to your ego as happiness. Often times, what the ego thinks makes you happy is the exact opposite of that which truly does make you happy.

Testing and measuring hundreds of thought patterns over a seven-day period, I found the most reliable way to generate Alpha was to experience genuine appreciation; expressing thanks to my parents, my family, my friends, my co-workers and, above all, the one to whom I give thanks as Creator.

For me – and I’ve since learned this is typical – the humble act of showing appreciation sets off a physiological reaction that generates Alpha and creates a natural state of well-being bordering bliss. This pure and simple understanding has made me a better father, a better business owner and a better man. It’s also made me a better copywriter.

So when Thursday rolls around and the smells of Thanksgiving dinner fill the air, I’ll be doing more than paying lip service to the notion of giving thanks. I’ll be showing true appreciation.

As selfish as that may be.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO

One of the great things about writing and producing a radio commercial is how 15 people can read the same piece of copy and hear it expressed in their heads 15 different ways.

So going into a production, as a producer, how should you manage expectations? Easy. Don’t have any. I know what you’re thinking. How’s it possible to read a script and not think this sound effect would be great here, that piece of music would sound great there or this sentence HAS to be read this way.

I admit, this is easier said than done.

As soon as you decide something HAS to be done one way, you’re no longer open to other option that may evolve when you’re recording or editing. This unflappable approach leads to frustration and disappointment when the spot doesn’t sound precisely the way you imagined it.

It also limits your creation from becoming a stronger marketing message than you’d originally envisioned.

That’s the reason why I’m hesitant to select sound effects, music or any other scripting element until AFTER the voice has been recorded. It’s too easy to fall in love with a piece of music or sound effect that doesn’t, ultimately, match the voice. It’s much easier to find effects and music to complement the voice than it is to match a voice to the effects.

That’s not to say you don’t need a plan of attack to produce a commercial. After all, you need to have a target before you aim and fire. Just don’t fall into the trap of determining that this is how your commercial HAS to sound before you get anything recorded.

Sometimes our most successful commercials end up 180 degrees away from how I thought they would turn out.

Ian Cohen, Production Director

Format Description:
AC stands for Adult Contemporary, but in today’s crowded radio landscape there are now several versions of AC radio: Hot AC, Rhythmic AC and Urban AC. This format focus is on traditional Mainstream AC. These are established stations with extremely high brand awareness and very loyal listeners.

Audience:
25-54 Adults and Women

Core Artists:
Matchbox Twenty, Sheryl Crow, Santana, Phil Collins

Key Radio Stations:
WLTW/New York
WBEB/Philadelphia
WLIT/Chicago
KRWM/Seattle
KODA/Houston

DR Factor:
AC can be a frustrating direct response format. Much of the audience in this highly-rated format comes from “at work” listening. That means that long stretches of time reported “as listening” are spent in meetings, talking on the phone and doing other activities secondary to listening to the radio. Because prime time ratings are usually strong for this format, Madison Avenue agencies keep ad rates high, making it difficult for DR marketers to profitably crack the format. Further compounding the challenge is a limited number of commercial avails each hour on this music intensive format.

For more information, visit:
All Access
FMQB
Wikipedia

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

In a recent headline, Advertising Age shouted out that “Radio Is Gaining Audience – But Not Revenue.”

Good news!  Long Live Radio!

The Radio Industry has relied heavily on transactional business from local and national advertising agencies for far too long.  Year after year, transactional business has represented 80% or more of radio revenue in the top twenty markets.  When a large percentage of that transactional business migrated to the Internet, radio was unprepared for the loss.

The Internet caused an incredible shift in the marketing paradigm.  Accountability became tantamount and the money poured in.  For the first time in 2008, the Internet will generate more advertising revenue than radio.

The Internet allows marketers to monitor consumer behavior; it’s accountable, targeted and interactive and delivers a measurable return on investment.  No traditional media channel can deliver those metrics like the Internet.  Radio hasn’t even tried.

Radio never liked being held accountable for the success or failure of an advertising campaign.  I remember one radio manager telling me that radio’s job is to deliver “ears…success or failure of an advertising campaign is the advertiser’s responsibility.” That attitude has radio in dire straits.  Advertisers no longer want “ears.”  They want results.

Lately broadcasters have been touting new revenue opportunities with HD Radio…a new technology that nobody cares about, exposure on their websites and guaranteeing audience delivery with post-media analysis.  This is not a quantum leap into future success.  There is still no real focus on the needs of their clients and the ability of the radio station to deliver results.

Let’s change that!  For example, here’s an idea that might benefit the beleaguered auto industry AND radio.

With new-vehicle sales slumping to a 25-year low, car dealerships from New Jersey to California are going out of business at an alarming rate.

If I were a car dealer, I would offer a radio station a commitment of $20,000.  I don’t care about spot rate, number of commercials, market rank or audience composition.  I only want results.

Get the station involved at all levels.   Weave the dealer into the fabric of the broadcast. Involve the jocks, use online streaming and banners, and try aggressive Direct Response tactics.  As a car dealer, I’m concerned about one thing.  RETURN ON MY INVESTMENT.  I need to sell fifteen cars attributable to the partner radio station.  And I need to do it in a month.  If the radio station performs, we’ll do it again, month after month after month.

This approach creates a true partnership built on satisfying each partner’s needs.  The radio station needs revenue and the car dealer needs to sell cars.  It’s that simple.

Similar “win-win” campaigns can be crafted for virtually every product category.

Radio: Deliver results and advertisers will beat a path to your door.

Advertisers: Commit a substantial investment and radio stations will find a way to earn and keep your business.

As a direct response agency, we often broker these “arranged marriages.”  Both parties win and everyone lives happily ever after.

Let me know if you’d like me to play matchmaker.

Vince Raimondo, Vice President of Marketing

Change. It’s a word that politicians embrace to win elections. And a word that common, everyday folk use a lot more than they enact.

There are more than six billion people in the world. Most of us spend at least a portion of our lives thinking we can change others. Maybe even change the world. Brides and grooms walk the aisle daily, confident they can change their new mates to make them perfect. Sometimes it works, if only briefly. More often than not, we’re left to reexamine what we believed to be our innate power to change others.

In the end, most of us finally realize that of the six billion humans on earth there’s only one we truly can change with a high probability of success. Ourselves. The lessons of time and experience bring mixed results when we try to change the behavior of a child or a world leader. But true harmony comes easily by changing the way we react to this behavior, because we’re in a perfect position to make that change.

Apply that realization to direct marketing and you might find a conundrum. If I can only change myself, how can I change thousands of others in a 60-second radio commercial?

The difference is subtle. You can’t change them. But you can make them want to change themselves. It’s the fine line between barking out commands and seducing someone to action.

Most people hate to be sold, but they love to buy. Earn the right to issue a benign directive (“Call now!”) by making your target want to buy.

To do that, you need to walk a mile in their shoes. You may know that the best reason for a consumer to use your product is that it contains 50% less fat than your chief competitor. Your consumers may tell you they like the color of your packaging. Or that Oprah uses your product. Be open to change. Then be willing to make that change.

The wondrous thing about direct response is its instant ability to measure the impact of change. Change a word. Change a price point. Change a promise. Change a guarantee. Change one thing at a time (so you can measure the change) and you may just find yourself presenting a very different marketing message three months from now – one that generates greater top line sales and bottom line profits.

And that would be a change for the better.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO

When the holidays end we can all start anew in January. Whether your product is new or old, breathe new life into your brand by offering radio listeners a chance to sample it for the first time or use it to better themselves in the New Year. Here are a couple of ways to get attention using radio promotions on demo-specific stations.

If your product or service caters to women concerned about looking or feeling younger and stronger, celebrate with a “55 Is the New 35” promotion. January 2^nd marks the 35^th anniversary of the 55 mph speed limit. Offer spa treatments or products, personal trainers, the newest in workout gear, shoes or clothing, energizing new cooking products and ingredients, etc. I’ve never heard of celebrating the birth of a speed limit, so this one is sure to get you some attention on any female-skewing radio station.

No matter who wins this week’s election, we’re all more aware of the great state of Alaska. For all of those travel websites, airlines, cruise lines or travel-related products and services out there, offer radio listeners a free trip to Alaska to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of our 49^th state! This promotion could span across several radio formats targeting Adults 35 – 54.

Finally, while The Sopranos may have uttered its last bada-bing, we won’t soon forget Tony and the rest of his “family.” Radio stations can promote your brand by doing a Sopranos trivia contest in celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the show’s debut on January 13, 1999. Prizes could include gift certificates to Italian restaurant chains, fine Italian products (new Sopranos wine, handbags, clothes, accessories), trips to Italy or a Soprano-inspired weekend in New York with dinner and shopping spree. There are dozens of possible ideas for prizing that include your brand and tie you in with one of the most popular television shows of the last decade. And, this type of promotion would be welcome on almost any radio station. Fugheddaboudit!

For even more radio promotion ideas that help you start 2009 off right, call us!

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager