In July, Clear Channel announced a plan to cut radio commercial time to no more than 15 minutes of ads per hour and no more than six ads in a row. And now we learn Clear Channel is using its formidable weight to sway advertisers to use 30-second spots and not 60-second spots. Seems Clear Channel believes bad ads are causing radio listeners to change channels.
[Hey Clear Channel … could it be BAD RADIO is driving listeners to change stations? But that’s another blog for another day.]
The Wall Street Journal reported, “… some advertisers are balking, dubbing the plan Giving you less, charging you more. In the radio industry, a 30-second spot typically costs about 80% of the price of a 60-second pitch: Advertisers usually figure they might as well spend the extra cash and get a full minute. And advertisers, it turns out, don’t like having to cram their message into half the time they’re used to."
To help advertisers make the switch from 60-second spots (where advertisers have time to tell a story) to 30-second spots (where advertisers must be disciplined to supremely focus their message), Clear Channel has created a new unit, Creative Resources Group, to help advertisers produce better and more effective 30-second radio commercials.
[Great. The company responsible for producing BAD RADIO is just the company I want to produce “good ads.” But that’s yet another blog for another day.]
I suggest radio advertisers and the Clear Channel's Creative Resources Group read Hey Whipple Squeeze This. In this book, Luke Sullivan (author, advertising maven, and current Creative Group Head at GSD&M), offers his battle-tested advice for making better radio spots. Luke has specific advice on how to make a better 30-second radio commercial.
If a 60-second spot is a house, a 30 is a tent
Thirties are a different animal. If you think you’re writing sparely for a 60-second commercial, for a 30 we’re talking maybe 60 words. Thirties call for a different brand of thinking, It’s a lot like writing a 10-seond tv spot. If your thirty is to be a funny spot, the comedy has to be fast. A quick pie in the face.
Here is an example of a very simple premise that rolls itself out quickly.
ANNOUNCER: We’re here on the street getting consumer reaction to the leading brand of dog food.
VOICES ON THE STREET: Yellllllchh! Aaaarrrrrgh! Gross! This tastes awful!
ANNOUNCER: If you’re presently a buyer of this brand, may we suggest Tuffy’s dog food. Tuffy’s is nutritionally complete and balanced and it has a taste your dog will love. And it a dollar less per bag, it comes with a price you can swallow.
VOICES ON THE STREET: Yellllllchh! Aaaarrrrrgh!
ANNOUNCER: Tuffy’s. A doggone good dog food.
The following is more advice on creating better radio ads from Luke Sullivan's excellent book, Hey Whipple Squeeze This.
There is no law that says radio has to be funny.
If you want to stand out in this medium, try something other than humor. It may not work, but you should at least try.
Make sure your radio spot is important or scary or funny or interesting within the first five seconds.
If your spot’s not interrupting music, it’s probably following on the heels of a bad commercial. Your listener is already bored. There’s no reason for him to believe your commercial’s going to be any better.
Write radio sparely.
Unless your concept demands a lot of words and fast action, write sparely. This allows your voice talent to read your script slowly. Quitely. One … word … at …. a … time.
You’ll be surprised at how this kind of bare-bones execution leaps out of the radio. There is a remarkable power in silence. It is to radio what white space is to print. Silence enlarges the idea it surrounds.
Recent Comments