Interview with Production Director Ian Cohen

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February 23, 2011
Interview with VP of Media Askin Emir
February 28, 2011

Interview with Production Director Ian Cohen

Everything has a burn factor. At some point, a commercial is going to outlive its usefulness. At that point you want to have a new spot ready to go or the next step in the campaign.

Third in our “Get to Know Us” series of interviews is Production Director Ian Cohen. Today we are discussing the creative process.

So Ian before we dive into the creative process, can you tell me what the basic steps are for a creative project?

The first step is to learn from the client exactly what they want to have happen when someone hears their commercial.

Next we get all the information from the client to construct a Creative Brief. That brief should have the features, the benefits, all the elements that need to be included in the spot. The Creative Brief then goes to writers who script copy and from there we’ll figure out the two or three pieces of copy we want to air and then record them.

When it comes to recording the spot what are your thoughts on choosing voice talent?

While there is no set formula, generally, you want to make sure you have the right voice speaking to the right audience and the right voice for that particular piece of copy. It wouldn’t make sense to have a ninety-five year old great grandma trying to pitch the latest and greatest skateboard unless the copy is going against type and is funny. Generally speaking, you want to have the right voice for the copy as well as for the demo the copy is speaking to.

We often see clients with lots of great ideas having trouble narrowing down their focus points. What advice would you give them?

You don’t want too much clutter getting in the way of the major points you want the copy to make. So, focus on one main theme and then support it with two or three other points. There is no right or wrong way to write. There’s no formula to follow. But with audio, there are no visuals, no images so you can only convey your points through sound. By having too many elements it makes it easy to miss what’s important. The focus of the spot should be on the thing that is most important and filter in a few ideas that reinforce it.

What do you advise when it comes time to reinforce those elements via a tagline or positioning statement?

Any kind of tag or position statement should be simple. It should be punchy. It should be as quick and snappy or memorable as possible. Obviously two or three words is a lot more memorable than three or four paragraphs and to make it memorable it has to be short.

When we have all the elements worked out and the ad is on air, how long should we run the same creative before trying something else or retiring the spot?

The public will let you know when it is time to bury a spot. Everything has a burn factor. At some point, a commercial is going to outlive its usefulness. At that point you want to have a new spot ready to go or the next step in the campaign. The challenge is to know when your spot has been “burned” and to have something new ready to go.

Ian Cohen is Production Director 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