Radio Sales Café

Here's this week's two-part poll question:

1) When creating ads for your clients, do you encourage them to voice part or all of their ads?

2) Why or why not?

Please post your replies below. Thank you!

It depends on the client. I know the old rule that if he does his own spot he won't cancel himself.
But I will not go to a client with that idea or even a spec spot if he's already spending big bucks for a professional studio production. I won't put him on if he doesn't sound right. That's like using the weekend jock or the girl at the front desk.
If the client can sell his product, by all means use him. But if it's just for his ego, you will lose him when the thrill fadesI

When it makes sense...if they have the personality, and the voice. I believe that people/listeners buy from business/people they trust...so if the voice will reinforce that element of trust, go for it.

Great question and yes I do encourage my clients to voice their own ads because I believe that the ad can be a little more credible when voiced by my client. Who else can be more passionate about their business than the client? They know the business and are generally quite passionate about what they do and that can come across very well in the ad. I know that there is credibility that can come from one of the air talent doing the commercial, but I just think it works better when the client does it.

Totally agree with the comment by Joe Lyons...the client will not cancel his or her self...but there comes a time where you have to draw a line in the sand and if the client cannot do a good read...I just have them tag the spot or something like that on their spot. It has worked well over the years with good success from both the happiness of the client and a good sounding spot.
John Harper
WMEL Talk Radio
Cocoa Beach/Melbourne, Florida

As a general rule we believe that ads voiced by the owner of the business bring a credibility to the ad that no one else can duplicate. Having said that, there are some business owners who don't read well, and putting them in that position makes them very uncomfortable. In those cases we will suggest that they read a phrase or two....like their business slogan...business location...etc. That helps generate the "I heard you on the Radio" responses from customers and people they know which verifies in their minds that we have a lot of people listening to our station. Then of course We tell them if their offer is good, people will buy. It isn't brain surgery, just Radio.

Absolutely!! If they are willing to do their own ads, go for it! Even if they don't sound the most professional, even if they don't use the right phonetics, it's their voice, completely original, that stands out from the rest of the regular jocks! Yes, it lends credibility to their ad, yes, it breeds more trust in what they are saying, but most of all, it catches the listeners ear. VERY rarely have I had to go to a client and say, you're just not right for this.

I encourage my clients to do a test to see if they like their voice on the ad... Cause we all know that non-professionals can sometimes do a very non professional job. Most every client will ask my opinion and if it doesn't sound good enough to air.. I'll have them try it a couple more times and we can usually come to an agreement without hurting any feelings. BUT, if they want thier voice on the ad and even if its pretty bad, they hear non-stop comments from their customers and friends and all of a sudden radio advertising just became the best thing in the world. So it's kind of a win/win situation. Or I will try to do part of the ad voice.. just to help out.

I agree with you. I want to do the best job I can marketing my client's business. If they sound horrible on their ad, it does't matter how different their voice is, it makes the business look bad, that they don't have enough common sense to have a professional record their ad.

Yes, I do encourage my clients to add their voice to their radio commercial. WRJW serves a very small market, and most people in town know each other. Having people they know tell them "I heard you on the radio" is a thrill to them, and let's them know their message is being heard. We are small town enough for this to be an "ego" type event for them. And, I have clients tell me it makes them feel more of a partner with our station in marketing their business. I tell them, you should have your picture on your business card, and your voice on your radio commercial.

absolutely, they're be much more likely to get feedback on ads they've voiced.

I do not encourage unless a small portion of the spot is a personal greeting or invitation from the client.
It requires some personality and a voice that can be understood and adds credibility.

Wow. After reading some of the comments here, I'm almost afraid to post. But unless they are truly engaging, I almost NEVER encourage clients to voice their own spots. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think most clients do so b/c of ego and I don't think it adds credibility. As a listener I think it can sound cheap. Will my mortgage client let me write someone's loan? Will my service station client trust me repair a transmission? Like mom always says, "Leave it to the professionals." As for a client not cancelling himself, I think that guarantee only holds for the initial flight. Unless they're getting the desired results, it doesn't matter who voices the spot.

In certain cases I'll encourage it, in others, I'll stray away. It all depends on the client, and their passion for what they do. Sometimes an increased passion for their product brings out something in them that you would not believe was there, then, when the listener hears that, the passion spreads. If they have the desire, I'll let them give it a try, but if I can't hear the passion in it, I'll recommend otherwise.

Yes, but only when it's part of a creative solution that serves the advertising objective. Never just to get the client on the air knowing that all his/her friends will hear it and comment on it. The clients who stay are the ones who want to build their businesses, not their egos. Our job is to create ads that help the client create customers. When done well, with a client whose voice is pleasant to hear and who is credible, such a creative solution can be exceptionally powerful.

I do encourage people to voice their own commercials on a regular basis especially if they have a distinctive voice and/or are well known in the community. The reality is that more people who tell a client that they heard them on the radio, the more they believe in radio and are willing to spend money on marketing on the radio. They usually will get much better results too. That being said, I agree with some of the others remarks that sometimes if they don't have the right voice or speak in a monotone, then I encourage them to only voice their tagline or use a long time employee to voice it so that when people hear the ad they have a personal connection and a certain amount of credibility on the air. The more we make the client look good the more likely they are to believe and spend money on radio.

I always encourage Non-Profit organizations to have their presidents or board members voice their spots as it really cuts through the rest of the "normal" voices provided by the station and usually doubles the results they are looking for as all of their friends spread the news that they heard about it on the radio.

If it is ultimately good for the client and good for the station, I say go for it!

Julie
KFMJ 99.9 FM

I'm a big believer in having clients participate in their ads whenever it makes sense to do so. As Hal pointed out, they have credibility as spokesmen for their own businesses. It also helps establish a sense of familiarity over time, which can be a great advantage in pre-selling a new customer. Moreover, the increased likelihood that the client will hear people saying "I heard your commercial" - while not to be confused with bankable response - cannot hurt the relationship.

That said, it often takes a lot of time and effort - many "takes" - to coax a non-professional into giving his or her best performance...to get out of the realm of merely reading copy and into that of speaking naturally and comfortably to the listener.

Unless the person is a personality or sounds great I don't usually suggest that.

Remember, we are dealing with the ears, not the eyes. We must learn to write and deliver our message for the ear to transmit it to the brain. How it sounds can make a message work for the client. The client's ego can best be served with a successful ad that gets results.

I would go so far as to suggest getting outside talent to do the read, and pay them. Think of your client's ad running between two national ads; how would it sound? Unless it's sounds on a par, it could have a negative effect,

That’s the same with TV. Note the local spots and the national spots. You can see the difference there, right? Now translate that to radio which is still the theater of the mind

Don't think there should be a black/white rule. It depends on content and the message.

I've attached my Worst Spot in the World. A client spot that will go down in Radio Infamy. The worst.

However, try this . . .

(Sweet elderly lady. A real person.) Hi. My name is Mary Meyer. I'm the receptionist here at Courtesy Chevrolet, 12th Street & Washington and I've been lucky enough to have this job for more than 25 years. In all that time I've watched my boys and girls on the showroom floor help generations of families to buy Courtesy cars and trucks. And for all those years I've kept a candy dish on my desk for all those people who come back and say Hello. It just happened again. A nice lady told me she met me the first time when she was twelve - and she introduced me to her 12-year old son. When you come into Courtesy Chevrolet be sure to say hello. I'll make sure my boys and girls on the showroom floor treat your family right so you'll keep coming back for years too. (Pause. Lowers voice.) And if you ask for me by name, I'll give you a free Tootsie-Pop. Hee. Hee.

As a result Mary's a local celebrity. Llisten to Bert's Surplus - then read Mary out loud. What do you think?

Yes I do. I know I know---some sound awful. BUT---why do you think Joe used car Dealer uses cable? Because he's in the spot and his friends say "I saw you on TV". Why should we give them that advantage and refuse to let the person who's paying for it on the air? Why make our job of selling radio harder? It's hard enough! If they're really really bad, give them :20 in the middle of a :60 and have a pro do the rest. But I'll tell you, some "really really bad" client spots have made millionaires out of people on TV because they were so bad they took on a life of their own! Remember Earl "Madman" Muntz? No times have NOT changed. People are still people. Use the extra money you'll make by having them on the air to hire good people who can do something compelling and interesting besides play jukebox, and that :60 seconds becomes a good thing! I'm an owner---having to make payroll 2x a month makes you real damn practical!

That's not THAT bad. I once had a real estate agent whose very bad hearing gave him a pretty bad speech impediment. Insisted on doing his spot. Sounded awful. Man's a millionaire. I'm not. He got response!

There are probably a few clients at every radio station who do a good or even great job at commercial production. We have two I can think of right off the top of my head here at our stations. However, most clients should never be offered, invited, or encouraged, to do this work because they absolutely suck at it. And, once they've done it, you'll never get them to stop.

This isn't to comment one way or the other. Just wanted to share a story that I still think is funny. Many years ago, I used to call on an office supply store in a medium sized market. The first time I met the client, he looked me dead in the eye and said he liked to think of himself as a young Lee Iococca. I had been told he was very self centered, but that took the cake. Anyway, I said why isn't your voice on our station? Of course he recorded his own ads. They were not horrible, but not really good either. But, he had enough of an ego that he ran a lot them, and the campaign worked for him. The only down side was he became one of my bigger clients and I had to go see him every week and listen to him go on and on about how much he was accomplishing and what a great leader he was. I often wonder where he is now. Maybe he is running Chrysler??? Have a great week!

Literally laughing out loud, Mark . . . thanks for a Monday chuckle! :-)

One thing I haven't seen people mention is the "tune out" factor that hurts radio. Not that I'm saying we can't do it because of that, but interesting that none of us mentioned.

Another is that, depending on the type of business, what you hear is what you get. If we put together a professional VO that is dramatically different from what the real client and experience is, that's a disservice. Don't want the ad to represent the business different from reality. I appreciate the edited (and oh, what a time-consuming edit!) of the unscripted client, talking about what they do, why they do it and how their customers and prospects should give a hoot. Takes a great producer to keep asking the right questions to get the proper audio, but then it never sounds like a "bad read" of a script. It sounds like the experience the listener will really have if they act on the message.