When people hear the word ‘traffic’ they think of being out on the road, stuck behind car after car. So imagine my surprise when I was told I would be ‘trafficking’ commercials to network and local stations. “I have to sit in traffic in order to get the spots delivered to the stations?” I thought to myself.  Silly, I know, but what I didn’t know was that after the spots are produced, they are trafficked, or sent via email to stations. There will be more on this process later, you know, when I get out of the car.

Taking a script and turning it into a spot is an extremely vital part of a radio advertising campaign. I would say the script is the most important piece of the puzzle. Without one, you have nothing to sell. But it doesn’t just take a few writers to put together a script; it takes a team of people to get this show on the road. Our process begins when the production director puts together a creative brief that is sent out to five copywriters. Each writer then submits about three scripts, maybe four if they have any extra time on their hands. After receiving the scripts from each writer, the scripts are reformatted and given to the appropriate account manager to review, along with the production director and the agency president. The account manager then sends two or three scripts that work best for the campaign to the client to review.

After receiving the client’s choice of script, the account manager writes up a production order for the number of commercials that need to be recorded and the amount of codes or phone numbers needed for each network/station on the campaign. The production director begins casting the correct voice talent to fit the product, demo and script.

When the commercial is produced, the production director informs the account manager and traffic manager that the spots are ready to be sent out to the stations. The account manager prepares a traffic order of network properties and/or local stations that are going to run the commercials in the upcoming weeks.

The traffic manager‘s job is to make sure the commercials run on the correct stations and networks. The manager is in charge of getting the commercials and paperwork to each station/ network and then obtaining proof that each commercial ran after the campaign. Post Logs are collected at the end of each week to see what properties clear and which did not.  Pre logs are also sent out to the clients the week before the campaign runs, to let them know what is set to run the following week.

I think what makes the process flow more easily is a great script. No rewrites needed or voices to be rerecorded. This will enable us to meet every deadline ensuring the spots will air. Because after all, getting the commercial heard is the objective here, right? Right!

Mallorie McRea is Traffic Manager at The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the RSS link above. Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com