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

Silly songs, wacky parodies, goofy melodies. With April Fools’ Day fast approaching, this seemed a good time to take a merry musical break.

A great place to start your journey is Dr. Demento’s website, the place where you can stream classic Dr. Demento radio shows online and relive the first time you giggled to “Shaving Cream” and hundreds of other offbeat ditties.

Here at RDR, we polled the staff and compiled a list of some other fun tunes, great to lighten the workday and make April Fools’ Day that much more foolish.

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, according to Wikipedia, prompted a sudden takeoff in bikinis sales and is credited as being one of the earliest contributors to the acceptance of the suit in society.

Abominable Snowman in the Market has to be one of the strangest songs ever, based on, yes, an abominable snowman in a supermarket.

Bicycle Race by Queen blends over-the-top vocals and lush orchestration in this MTV-era video, featuring a solo by a chorus of bicycle bells. According to Freddie Mercury, “fat bottom girls make the rockin’ world go ‘round.”

Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Things, also known as the Outback Steakhouse theme song, turns this commercial classic into a cool video game. Let’s go Outback tonight!

Living With a Hernia is one of countless parodies from Weird Al Yankovic. James Brown’s “Living in America” becomes “Living with a hernia / Got to have an operation!”

Lazy Sunday, a digital short from Saturday Night Live, turns a craving for cupcakes and worship of “The Chronicles of Narnia” into an angry, nonsensical rap by Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell. (NC-17 for language)

D*ck in a Box takes SNL’s digital shorts to the next level, pairing Andy Samberg with Justin Timberlake for a special Christmas gift that became an instant classic. This is the uncensored video.

The Streak. Back in the 60s and 70s, the phenomena of streaking a/k/a “running naked in public,” shocked and amused the American media. Ray Stevens put it to song and made this video.

King Tut by Steve Martin. It’s so rare that ancient Egyptians are referred to as “funky.”

Yummy Yummy Yummy. And, finally, the Ohio Express confounded us all with a set of lyrics that proclaimed: “Yummy Yummy Yummy, I got love in my tummy and I feel like a-lovin you.” Are you kidding me?

Baseball offers sponsors unique radio promotional and marketing ideas. One of my favorites is the “in-game” feature. In Philly, ‘The Daily News Home Run Payoff” designates a specific inning when contestants are randomly selected via post card. If a home team player hits a home run during that inning, the contestant wins a cash prize. This sponsorship takes a full season commitment and effectively weaves the client into the fabric of the broadcast and can transfer to other media if the resources allow. There are other ways get your product or service integrated in the game day broadcast.

Dasher Boards/Billboards: Dasher boards are boards that surround the interior perimeter of the ballpark. They are mini billboards, perfect for a logo and a short slogan, that become part of the broadcast. For instance:

• The play by play radio announcer says something like, “Ryan Howard hit that ball over the Tastykake sign in left field.”
• On television, the cameraman focuses on the home run location and the Tastykake logo gets shown on TV.

Newer Dasher boards rotate to showcase multiple sponsors which increase the revenue opportunity for the team. Personally I don’t think that a shared rotator is as good a value as a stationary board, but it is another option.

Ticket stubs: Great post-game promotion driver. Bring your ticket stub to a local restaurant and get a free meal. Or work with a movie theater chain to get one free admission. There are endless possibilities for discounts and admissions.

Rain delays: When rain visits the ballpark and delays the game, fans run for cover. During these broadcasts, TV usually reruns a classic game from the past and radio generally finds people to interview. Listeners and viewers usually check out for a while and check back in periodically. The good news for sponsors is that you get a lot of bonus weight during rain delays and free commercials are about the best you can get. Even though listenership and viewership diminishes during a rain delay, you only need one response from a bonus spot for it to be successful.

There is opportunity in every game if the media is purchased creatively and aggressively. And with 162 games left to play in the season, now’s the time step up to the plate.

Vince Raimondo, Vice President of Marketing

Major League Baseball and live action sports in general are traditionally non-performers in the world of Direct Response. Spectators and listeners are usually too involved with the game to respond to the commercials immediately, and the in-game, pre- and post-game commercials are sold at a premium which makes it really difficult for DR commercials to perform at an acceptable level.

There are exceptions.

MLB plays 162 games a year, not counting Spring training and the playoffs. Baseball broadcasts usually don’t sell out early in the season and there might be DR opportunities for remnant buying and bonus weight. Most baseball games are carried by sports talk, talk and news-talk radio stations. Regularly scheduled programming gets pre-empted at game time. If inventory is available, spots scheduled to air in regular programming may be placed in the baseball broadcast. Be wary of the cost. If your sales rep tries to bump up your rates, the move may not work. If you’re getting them for remnant rates, it might work. If you’re getting them for free, better still.

As the season wears on, two things can happen. Everyone loves a winner. Your team starts winning and advertiser demand increases, which will lessen the opportunities for DR radio. Or your team starts stinking up the joint, creating more opportunities for DR radio. As interest dwindles, logic tells us that results will dwindle as well. But one never really knows until the property is tested. If we can buy it right or get bonus spots, it’s worth a shot. That shot could be a homerun or a pop-up. If an opportunity presents itself and the client has the extra money to test, step up to the plate and take a couple of big swings.

One way of building an association with a sports team is isolating a player or manager on the team and using them for personal endorsements. The endorsements can run in regular programming as well as in the game day broadcast. A high-profile athlete or coach can lend credibility to your brand and can help drive your allowable CPC, CPS and CPA. You won’t know unless you test.

Know these risks:

• The star athlete’s fee could be prohibitive.
• The player could have a bad year and their popularity could diminish.
• The athlete could sustain an injury and not play an inning.
• The manager could get fired.
• The player could be sent to the minor leagues.
• The player could be traded to a different team.

These are some of the chances you take in sports marketing.
If you’re ready to take a chance on Major League Baseball, “Play Ball!”

Vince Raimondo, Vice President of Marketing

Recently Tribune CEO Randy Michaels gave WGN-AM Chicago news anchors a list of 119 words and phrases they are no longer allowed to use on-air. Like many people, my gut reaction was that this mandate goes against the First Amendment, particularly the freedom of the press part.

Then I saw the list.

I don’t know the motivation behind this and the why behind it doesn’t matter to me. I just know that like it. Looking over that list it seems Randy Michaels wants the anchors to be real and not cookie cutter newsreaders that try to sound smart.

A pet peeve of mine is redundancy. If I’m watching a movie or TV, listening to the radio or reading a newspaper or magazine, I’m the guy that points out redundancy. If I hear (or read) a news report that says it’s “5 a.m. in the morning” or that “there was a fatal death,” it makes me laugh. Last I checked there’s no such thing as “5 a.m. in the afternoon” and I’m pretty sure that ALL deaths are fatal. (Side note: Anyone using your and you’re interchangeably should be openly mocked.)

Randy Michaels’ list is full of similar clichés and doublespeak. Many in the industry say he’s acting as the Word Police and that this directive will hinder how stories are reported. I disagree. This strikes me as a missive to motivate news writers and newscasters to work harder to craft their prose. He’s challenging his reporters to think of what and how they report news and, in the process, to be smart about it. And that’s a good thing.

Ian Cohen, Production Director

Take a moment to consider your radio ritual. You turn the radio on. Then, you do one of three things:

1. You leave it set to station that comes on and adjust the volume.
2. You sample stations until you find one you like and then adjust the volume.
3. You decide, after channel surfing, that you really don’t want to listen to the radio and then shut it off.

This blog is intended to help you make the most of the available audience in groups one and two. Let’s look at what they do next.

Once a radio station has been chosen as the initial listening choice, that station will usually stay on until the listener hears something that compels them to switch. It might be a song they don’t like, an annoying talk show host or caller, or an irritating commercial.

Obviously, there are exceptions. People who listen at work will turn the radio off at the end of the workday and go home. Rush Limbaugh fans will drop everything to tune in at High Noon. Rush hour commuters will glance at their clocks and switch to the All News station for traffic updates at the scheduled air times.

But, for the most part, the listener will remain passive until something happens to compel them to switch stations.

As a commercial advertiser, you are helpless to control what comes before you. A bad song, an annoying DJ or the worst commercial ever could chase listeners away from your “show,” just as Conan O’Brien lost lead-in from NBC local news which lost lead-in from the 10 o’clock Jay Leno Show. So what you do with your 30 or 60 seconds means everything.

How can you walk that fine line to break through the clutter but not be so disruptive as to compel the listener to change channels? The fact is, if you’re going to dare to be noticed, some people won’t like what they notice. And, quite frankly, that’s better than being the radio equivalent of invisible.

Radio advertisers who measure response almost always see a strong ROI from commercials that focus on delivering the message with impact and an urgent call to action rather than making “nice radio.” And we’re not talking about screaming car dealer ads, we are talking about the use of compelling questions, intriguing voice casting and offers that make it easy for the listener to think, “Why not?”

Listeners didn’t ask to hear your commercial. Give them reasons to listen.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO

As a Direct Response Radio Advertising agency we not only create and produce radio commercials, but we also are responsible for making sure that each and every spot arrives at each and every station and network scheduled to air it.

Trafficking is often a cumbersome and detail oriented function of operations, but a vital link in the chain to meet and make certain that commercials air when they are scheduled.

This involves making sure that the networks and/or stations receive the correct commercials with correct information for airing, including flight dates, spots lengths, day part and rotation restrictions – and receiving that information in a timely manner and in the correct audio format. Most accept the current mp3 format as standard.

The Citadel networks specifically require commercials to be sent to them with no less than two weeks in advance of the scheduled airdate. Other networks like Premiere Radio, Westwood One and Dial Global request copy in hand at least one week in advance of their scheduled airdate. When it comes to local stations most ask to receive a commercial one business day in advance (or two days in advance of a long holiday weekends.

With such a staggered schedule of copy deadlines, it’s best to build extra time into your Creative/Production timeline to account for unforeseen delays (e.g. a legal department that holds up production over disclaimer copy).

No one wants to miss their start date. Hopefully, this overview of the process and media deadlines will help you get on the air in time to drive sales when you need them.

Danny Ocean, Vice President/Director of Operations

There isn’t a bigger direct response spectacle purer than a sporting event. Fans in the stands, at home watching TV and listening to the radio respond instantly to every play on the field, cheering good plays and booing the ones that stink up the joint. It’s instant direct response.

Perennial championship contenders constantly work to improve themselves off-season by adding and subtracting players and coaches and testing new plays in hopes of staying at the top of their game.

Just recently, the Philadelphia Eagles football team cut star running back Brian Westbrook after his 2009 season was marred by injuries and concussions that caused him to miss seven games. On paper, he ceased being productive and he was cut. Nothing personal. This was purely business.

The business measure of Brian Westbrook can be likened to a DR radio commercial that’s delivered great results in the past, but then suddenly experiences a drastic drop in numbers. In Westbrook’s case, knee and ankle surgery and concussions that made him miss seven games, compromising his performance and making him expendable.

And just like a DR radio commercial that had run its course, it became time for the team to test new players in hopes of finding a suitable replacement for Westbrook. Will it be last year’s fill-in, LeSean “Shifty” McCoy? This season he will get his chance to be the next successful running back on the Eagles football team.

But the touchdown points to be made here are that the Eagles had a plan. They saw their star running back on the downside of his career productivity and they readied a solid replacement in the wings. The same holds true on radio, where the most successful direct response marketers are ready to make that substitution once their star commercial falters.

If you don’t have at least one, rock solid radio commercial on the bench and ready to take the field, it’s time to put pen to paper and get into the recording studio. Because radio runs 24/7 with no time outs.

Vince Raimondo, Vice President of Marketing

I’ve come to the realization that there are essentially four ways to answer a question. For the sake of illustration, let’s say that question is:

How much is 2 + 2 ?

And here are the four ways to answer:
a) 4
b) 4, and here’s the history of numerology in the civilized world
c) Here’s the history of numerology in the civilized world, oh, and by the way, 4
d) Here’s the history of numerology in the civilized world, Aunt Betty’s brownie recipe and anything else I can think of telling you that will enable me to keep talking without having to actually say the number “4”

One of my great life missions is to exercise patience with the world’s “C” and “D” types. In the world of radio advertising, it pays to be a Type “A” or, at worst, a Type “B.”

A 60-second radio commercial gives you 150 words to do it all. So you’d better leap to the steak and not get lost in the sizzle. Your audience wants to hear you say the number “4.” Say it! Then give them a reason to embrace YOUR number “4” above all others.

Be direct and laser-focused. If a word, phrase or sentence doesn’t move the listener closer to making a buying decision, cut that copy! Lose those sound effects! Silence the music that serves no purpose other than to sound pretty!

Of the next three commercials airing on any radio station, one of those three will clearly communicate that 2 + 2 = 4 and then tell you what to do with that information. The others might just as well invest their money on ingredients for Aunt Betty to bake a batch of her famous brownies.

I’ll have four, please.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO

The month of May offers the obvious choices of Mothers Day and Memorial Day but if you’re looking for something a little different to promote your brand, there is no shortage of opportunities. For instance, the first two legs of the Triple Crown take place in May. The Kentucky Derby kicks it off on May 1st and is followed shortly by the Preakness Stakes on May 15th. Partner with a local radio station and have their listeners predict which horses will win, place and show in each race. The person with the most correct will win a trip to next year’s Kentucky Derby.

May is National Photo Month. Radio stations can drive listeners to their websites to submit photos where they or their family are using your product. This is a great way to combine the on-air message about your brand with a visual component. Listeners can vote to determine the best “ad” on the website. The grand prize could be a top of the line digital camera with the necessary accessories.

Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica on May 4th, 1494. What better way to mark the occasion than to give away trips to Jamaica? This can be done on-air, online or at retail locations. Listeners are thinking about summer vacations in May, so this would be a welcome for some lucky winners.

Some other dates to keep in mind:

• May 6th - 95th Anniversary of Babe Ruth’s 1st Home Run
• May 12th - National Nightshift Workers Day
• May 31st - 20th Anniversary of the premiere of Seinfeld
• May 31st - Clint Eastwood’s 80th Birthday

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager