If you’ve ever listened to the radio, and I’m guessing you have, then you’ve likely heard many radio commercials. Probably hundreds. And of all the hundreds of commercials that have graced your morning and afternoon commute over the years, it’s likely that there have been a few that you remember. Maybe it was a catchy jingle, or it made you laugh, or perhaps it was memorable because you hated it or hopefully, it provided you with something you really needed. Whatever the reason, something grabbed your attention. And isn’t that the main objective of a good radio spot?
Of course it is! Unfortunately, the memorable are few and far between, probably 1 out of every 30 or 40, which means that in the course of a week or two, maybe (and that’s a big maybe) there was one that actually connected with you.
So what makes a radio spot successful? That depends on many variables. The real question is, what is it that you want the listener to do? What’s the objective? The answer is simple. You want them to engage. Pick up the phone, go to a website, eat at a restaurant, buy whatever it is your selling. But before they can engage with your message, they need to hear it in order to relate to it.
Radio advertising starts with connecting to the right demographic. The job of a great creative radio spot is to present a client’s message in the most impactful way possible to that demographic. But before I dive too deep into the absolute, #1 Thing every radio commercial needs, please note that this is just about general creative, not overall strategy when it comes to branding, frequency, and everything else that makes up a successful campaign.
But let’s be honest, it all starts with good creative!
#1 Thing every radio commercial needs is something that will grab the listeners attention in the first five seconds. Commercials can be disregarded immediately if you haven’t peaked a listener’s interest within the first few seconds of your spot. There are many ways you can do this, but knowing the overall objective will determine what that first five seconds sounds like.
Here are a couple of examples of how to solicit an immediate listener reaction using creative radio.
Provide a tidbit of information that is designed to get a “Wow, I didn’t know that” reaction. If you can present a surprising fact that grabs the listener’s attention, chances are they will want to know more. For example, I recently wrote a spot for an Auto Detailing shop. They wanted to get more moms in to clean their child ridden messy family vans, which sometimes require more than just a car wash and vacuum. We started the spot with this fun fact –
“That car you’re driving has more dangerous bacteria lurking than a public toilet.”
Bet you didn’t know that!
What happens next is backing up the facts, then offering a really great solution. We targeted moms, and what do you know, this client has more family cars coming in for that “sterilization” service.
And;
Creating a character or unique voice that introduces themselves as something unusual will perk ears up because listeners will want to find out who this character is. Especially a character that is born of an inanimate object, animal, or in this case, poop.
Our client, a porta potty company (Yep, you heard me), is definitely a tough sell for sure! The number of people that are going to rent or buy a porta potty is pretty slim. But that wasn’t the objective. This client wanted to piss off his competition and get people talking about his company while making the experience memorable, so that if they ever needed to rent a porta potty, they would remember his name.
We created a character named Mr. Poop. Yes, a talking piece of poop. But he was really friendly, and helped you to understand the difference between his porta potties and the competition. We used puns and adult humor that laid low under the radar so to keep it “family friendly” and opened each spot with “Hi, I’m Mr. Poop”.
Tell me you wouldn’t want to hear more.
Mr. Poop was a hit, the client was thrilled and his competitors were not happy!
Your radio creative will be successful if you can keep the listener engaged. And as long as you remember that simple rule of “leave them wanting more” then you should have no problem doing just that.
