Transform your AD into a TEST-DRIVE

Image from http://ford-life.com/2012/09/12/driving-with-the-top-down/

“The sound of the engine was intoxicating. As I shifted through the gears, I envisioned myself driving the car down the road on a warm summer day with the top down. I was convinced even before returning to the dealership that this was the car I wanted to own. I sat down, worked out a deal that I was happy with and took delivery three days later.” – excerpt from “The Power of a Test Drive” on dealerrefresh.com.

There is a reason why dealerships offer test drives.

Once a person can picture how much better their lives will be with your product…the purchase is imminent.

So today I want to share three tips that will transform your radio ad into a virtual test-drive of your product.

Tip #1: Tell a story.

Image from https://ludensfaber.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/visualization-storytelling-a-pig-does-the-trick/

A good story is like a test-drive. At the dawn of time…early homo sapiens told stories so that others could learn possible solutions before they experienced problems first hand. Many moons later the story telling process was refined by the columnists of Writer’s Digest.

Steven James, guest columnist for Writer’s Digest, recommends that before you write your story, jot down some notes under the following five ingredients:

Orientation: Set the stage: My wife and I just moved into our first home.

Crisis: Define the problem: Every time we get heavy rain, the basement leaks.

Escalation: Make the problem worse by pumping some life drama into it: Our first child is due in a month. Her folks are coming in for the birth. They plan to stay in the basement. How’s it going to look to her dad if I can’t handle a house problem. The first 3 places I called we’re booked solid for two months.  

Discovery: Ta da…a solution: Company X can come right away because they have multiple crews.

Change: Explain how life has become better: The problem is fixed and my confidence has grown. If I can handle a house crisis…maybe I AM ready to be a dad.

Now these are just rough notes but you can already see how this story ad is going to be more powerful than an announcer talking about Company X and their multiple crews for 30 seconds.

If you like organizing the story information by using the five ingredients, get more details from “The 5 Essential Story Ingredients” by Steven James located here:

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-5-essential-story-ingredients

TIP #2: Don’t just state it…demonstrate it.

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The best ads are a combo of both narrative and dialogue so that you have the combined power of both showing and telling.

TELL

Announcer: You’ll know it’s the right ring from Smith’s Jewellers when you see the look on her face when you propose.

SHOW

Male (nervous): Jen…will you marry me?

Female (very emotional): Oh my god…it’s gorgeous.

TELL

Announcer: Plus…when you get the ring RIGHT...she’ll forget about all the other things you get WRONG.

SHOW

Male: Thanks for coming to the wedding. I’ve always wanted to meet Jen’s favorite uncle.

Female (gruff): Um…I’m Jen’s Aunt.

Male: Oh…..(Awkward silence)

Use the narrative to set the stage and accelerate the timeline. Use the dialogue to really hit home with something real. The change of switching between showing and telling will also help maintain listener attention. You can thank Sesame Street for our need for constant change.

Tip 3: Use the power of sound:

Image from http://randomwallpapers.net/power-of-sound-speaker-chair-lamp-artistic_w290431

Direct the voice talent to create authentic performances. Use voices that know how to act. The ad will fail to draw the listener’s ear if the characters sound like they are reading lines. Be open to improvisation. If the voice talent is unable to make the copy sound believable, ask them to say it in their own words.

Only use instantly identifiable sound effects. If the sound effect doesn’t instantly create a picture in the mind of the listener, then leave it out. Ambiguous sound effects only add clutter and confusion to the production. We want sounds that transport the listener into the experience.

Draw the listener into the test-drive experience with emotionally charged music. Spend the time to find a piece of music that matches the feel of the scene and then edit the music to accentuate the developments. Don’t grab the 30 second version. Grab the 2min and 40 sec full mix and then cut it up to fit perfectly with the story.

If these three elements are powerful enough you can even leave the main character out of the dialogue and make the listener the main character. Have the other characters address the listener directly. This will create a true first hand test-drive and a very powerful ad.

Image from http://comefare.donnamoderna.com/come-recuperare-i-punti-della-patente-17534.html

People are much more likely to buy something when they’ve already imagined owning it. Thirty seconds of “straight-sell” information from an announcer does not engage the imagination of the listener.

So stop talking about the product and start providing a test-drive of the results.

Want to unleash the power of a “test-drive” ad for your business? Contact Audio Active Advertising today.

http://www.audioactiveadvertising.com

Ryan Ghidoni is an 18-year veteran of radio advertising and has worked with some of the most creative sales reps, writers, producers and voice talent in the business.

CHECK OUT “Audio Active Advertising” every week on Puget Sound Radio.

THE ONLINE AGENCY IS OPEN: Get “Audio Active” ads for your clients with Audio Active Advertising’s online agency. Check out over 100 Effective Ad Examples and then become the next one by ordering a Radio Single OR a Radio Campaign. Go to audioactiveadvertising.com.

This is why your RADIO AD isn't working

People ask me all the time why their radio ad isn’t working.

The answer is simple.

Because the ad is bullshit!

Are you claiming that your fabulous, contemporary, deep seated, comfortable sofa will drastically improve the life of anyone who is lucky enough to buy it at the sale that can’t be missed?

Do your ads feature two recognisable radio announcers pretending to be normal people who just happen to love your product?

Fake Person 1: Hi Harold. I heard your roof was leaking.

Fake Person 2: It was leaking…until I got the impeccable services of Mr. Roof.

Fake Person 1: Mr. Roof? Tell me all about them and repeat their phone number three times because I’m slow.

Fake Person 1 and 2: Burst into laughter.

Guess what?

Nobody is going to accept the fake testimonial, the clichéd description of the item, or the inaccurate reflection of how it will improve their lives because today’s ad savvy consumer has a better bullshit detector than ever before.

Nobody is buying because nobody is “buying it”.

Roy Williams, author of “The Wizard of Ads”, proclaimed:

“Today's consumers are rejecting pretense. Born into a world of hype, their internal BS-meters are highly sensitive and blisteringly accurate. Words like ‘amazing,’ ‘astounding,’ and ‘spectacular’ are translated as ‘blah,’ ‘blah,’ and ‘blah.’ Consequently, tried and true selling methods that worked as recently as a year ago are working far less well today.”

Not only are they going to be annoyed by your ad, but they will also avoid your store in fear of encountering more BULLSHIT from your staff. I can think of five places my wife and I won’t shop at because she hates their radio ad. That’s right…women, who make the majority of the purchase decisions, detest bullshit. Who would have guessed?

Then why do so many radio advertisements take a bullshit approach?

Harry G Frankfurt, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton and author of “On Bullshit” (Yes, this is an actual book) writes:

“Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he or she is talking about. Thus the production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person’s obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic exceed their knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic.”

So, simply put…bullshit ads are created when the writer is required to write an ad but does not have enough relevant information about the product.

I believe that bullshit RADIO ads are on the rise as the industry continues to focus on short-term efficiency instead of long-term customer service.

Radio writers are being asked to do more with less time.

Some radio writers have been let go and the TV creative department, who specialize in writing with the support of images, now looks after your radio ad.

Maybe your ad is being outsourced to a hub in another city. Now a writer, with a full local client list, also has to write your ad with no first-hand knowledge of your market.

These situations are becoming more and more common and all of them result in less time being spent on each ad.

LESS time = MORE bullshit

A SIDE NOTE: Thanks to online freelance services like Fiver and Upwork, soon your radio ad from an efficiency driven station may even be written and produced by someone in another country who doesn’t understand the culture or the purpose of your product. They will rely solely on bullshit to create your ad. I love online creative services. You can get a company logo for $5 but it looks like the Starbucks logo with a lion on it and the same logo was sold to 1500 other companies in the last month.

The radio industry needs to improve the writer to client ratio.

Until they do…here is a SOLUTION:

Got a good radio writer? The radio industry still has a bunch of them.

Hire them directly.

Pay them a fair price to work on your ad after hours, away from the sausage factory.

This will give the writer time to get to know the product, how it is used and how it affects the lives of the people who use it. Let them talk to the people who sell it and, if they don’t happen to use the product, give them time to talk to somebody who does. It will take more time on the front end but you will end up with an ad that is accurate, speaks the conversational language of the people who use the product, and actually works.

It may cost you $300 to $3000 every three to six months, depending on how many ads you need, but it will be a small price to pay to ensure that you aren’t flushing your $30,000 airtime buy down the toilet because your ad was created during a busy week in the creative department.

Don’t have a good writer? Shoot me an email at Ryan@AudioActiveAdvertising.com and we can instantly schedule a free chat to discuss your needs.

Ryan Ghidoni is an 18-year veteran of radio advertising and has worked with some of the most creative sales reps, writers, producers and voice talent in the business.

CHECK OUT “Audio Active Advertising” every week on Puget Sound Radio.

THE ONLINE AGENCY IS OPEN: Get “Audio Active” ads for your clients with Audio Active Advertising’s online agency. Check out over 100 Effective Ad Examples and then become the next one by ordering a Radio Single OR a Radio Campaign. Go to audioactiveadvertising.com.