12-12-2011
Ronald T. Robinson
In my most recent, I asserted that conscious recall was not necessary for a Radio-ad campaign to be effective. Lucky for us, too, as hardly anyone remembers anything about the content of those ads. Only if the ad is sensational does a listener remember anything about the spots ? at all. Yet, Radio can work wonders. So, in my model-of-the-world ? that?s just weird and shudder-spooky. Or, as when Elmer Fudd says, ?There?s something vewwy screwy going on heyew.?
Since we have already covered the basic neurology about this, we can move on to other, related matters. Some years ago, when fashion furs were still in vogue and incredibly profitable to the suppliers and retailers, I was engaged to write and voice the radio campaigns for a local furrier. This relationship lasted for the years right up until the wearing of furs became as politically/socially correct as firing up a Camel in a hospital nursery.
For the years I worked for the client, he had an ironclad rule that applied to every one of his sales staff. They would not be paid unless they first produced a completed, detailed survey, which was pulled from every customer. For our purposes, the pertinent question was: ?How did you come to know of the client furrier and/or our current promotion??
Meanwhile, so flush and savvy a marketer was this client that he spread his advertising dollars around Radio, Print and Television ? and lavishly, too. He gave ?reach? and ?frequency? a whole other benchmark and ?throwing it against a wall? another meaning altogether. It wasn?t uncommon that a Saturday Radio remote consisted of either 3 or 4 stations broadcasting from the retail location simultaneously. (Often, the cut-ins were all going on at the same time!) All the announcers were excited as hell as the deals were, truly, sensational! Still, he would temper his ad investments based on the season and, occasionally, on his ability to maintain an ample selection of goods. What he would not do, however, is overlap all three media at the same time. He would go for strong buys on one medium at a time. And, of course there were the times where there was no media participation at all. The majority of the marketing budget, however, did go to broadcast.
Now back to the customer survey. ?How did you come to know of the client furrier and/or our current promotion?? For all the years I was engaged with the client, the survey results were as follows - and in descending order:
1. I heard about the store/promotion from an acquaintance.
2. I read about it in the newspaper/magazine.
3. I saw the ads on Television.
4. I heard about it on the Radio.
An important element to this is that the Television and Radio client-reports were way down on the list. Way, way down. So much so that an otherwise reasonable client would be excused for canceling all broadcast advertising entirely. There was virtually no recall for the Television or Radio ads.
A further point is: this information from the surveys was being collected continuously? and for years. He had crates of surveys. That there were also occasional, large gaps of time between Print, TV and/or Radio campaigns came to be of no arguable consequence. Nor did the surveys reflect what media was being applied at the time of the promotions. The results of the surveys were always? consistently? same-same, with Radio always coming out at the bottom!
Still and even as the Radio-reps were wandering around muttering and counting the easiest commissions they had ever earned, some did learn to stop pitching from the Radio = Recall-soapbox.
I think it?s safe to say that people experience themselves as being reasonable and rational human beings. More than that - they insist such is the case. They will reject emotional reactions as being of a secondary nature and also, to be of less consequence than their ?thinking? capacities. My experience as a citizen and a radio-guy generally, and as a counselor and trainer, specifically, demonstrates that, when under stress or in emotion-generating environments - rational thinking and the consideration of evidence are the last capacities to kick in ? should they kick in at all. ?Reason? is only an option.
Our responses tend to be ?knee-jerk? and dependent on the ?tapes? (unconscious programming and imprint experiences) that are consistently running in our heads. I further submit that those who support and promote ?dogma? ? of any kind on any subject - demonstrate the lack of a primacy for ?reason? and the attendant, limiting result of failures to apply rational thinking. When electronic media are influencing people at not only less-than-rational levels, but at unconscious, emotional levels of experience, it is easy for a person to reject such influencing as not even occurring. Thus, where recall is unavailable ? as it is for most electronic advertising - the choice to come to a defense doesn?t even show up as a matter of any consequence to those being influenced. Most will deny it even when the idea is brought to their attention.
There are other factors, and I?d like to mention just one more. It has always been the case that the public/consumers/customers have, over the years, been more and more unwilling to admit they have been moved to a sale by a broadcast commercial. For some reason, it just isn?t cool to do so. They?re not lying, either. The phenomenon just isn?t in their awareness. The exceptions are rare, but they can be mighty, indeed. (I?m thinking of the magnificent TV spots produced for Budweiser ? the ones with the bowing Clydes - that honored the fallen after the 9/11 attacks.) Emotional? Readers who are aware of those ads can consider them again and judge for themselves if their feelings for and the credibility of Anheuser-Busch didn?t go up a significant notch.
Meanwhile, the evidence, I suggest, is quite clear and compelling. Radio works more efficiently when the elements that influence emotions and imagination are included with the content. I?ll sum it up with: ?Ronald?s Three Basic Rules of Radio Advertising?.
1. Acquire and maintain the attention of the audience.
2. Develop and sustain an emotional response from the audience.
3. Introduce service or product. (But only if the client gets real snotty and absolutely insists.)
The immense power of Radio is an innate property. Exploiting the potentials, though, will still take the skills of reinvigorated and even more highly trained Talent and Creative Departments ? those that remain.
Ronald T. Robinson has been involved in Canadian Radio since the '60s as a performer, writer and coach and has trained and certified as a personal counsellor. Ron makes the assertion that the most important communicative aspects of broadcasting, as they relate to Talent and Creative, have yet to be addressed. Check out his website www.voicetalentguy.com
Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
