Happy Friday, everyone!
This week's poll question is based on a response to Jeffrey Hedquist's post, The Five Second Test, in which he suggests this "simple, but possibly painful test to perform on your radio script before you've produced it. Read the first 5 seconds of your commercial out loud to yourself or to members of your intended audience. Then stop and ask: 'Would you continue to listen to this commercial?'"
Sandi Conner replied, "I'd love to rock into my commercials but what do you do when you have clients who are still back in the 60's with 'Tommy's Auto has a lot of great cars for sale' or 'If you are looking for a store that will save you money, ABC sporting goods is the place.' They expect me to name each article being sold, the price, the hours, the location, the owner's name..AGHHHHHHHHH!!! When I try to be creative and use a different approach, I get shot down.. so please suggest a workaround for this archaic attitude. Thanks!"
So here is this week's question:
How do you deal with a client who is resistant to change (for the better) in his or her ad copy?
Looking forward to reading your replies!
(And Jeffrey Hedquist replied with some excellent advice prior to my posting this poll question, so I've included his words below.)
Some clients will always be in the 1960s. It would be nice to move them toward more creative commercials. Keep trying new ideas. As one person told me, the best change is a little one because over time you can make many small changes.
The client feels comfortable with these spots and likely thinks they work for them. If that is the case, just be happy they are spending dollars instead of saying no. In the end, it is their money and their commercial.
I would, if you have not already, try to learn more about the client. I had one client where I asked him to share with me on a personal level. I said I recognized him as a stellar salesman (no lie, he was). I asked him if there was a quote or two that really inspired him. I told him my Dad's story about an uncle. This uncle was the owner of Martha White Flour. My Dad said he had a top floor office in a Nashville skyscraper. He noted an old beat up plaque on his desk that was really out of place in the office: "Early to bed. Early to Rise. Work like hell and advertise". In short, it made the guy bond with me and I was able to eventually make some moves to modernize his advertising but in tiny steps. He shared many experiences and sources of inspiration.
He loved one I shared. My Dad tells of being a young salesman in the 1950s. The company brought in a sales guru to charge up the sales staff. He announced he got $2,000 to speak. My Dad was making $350 a month. My Dad took notes figuring this guy made in a day what he made in half a year. The tip that stuck out in my Dad's mind was the guy saying to always agree with your client in almost every case. His example was great: at home the son and daughter were in an argument. Mom and Dad were reading in a downstairs room. The son comes down and says "Dad, you heard the argument. Who is right?" Dad says "You were son". Then the daughter comes down and asks Dad the same question. Dad says, "You are right". Once the daughter went back upstairs, Mom look at Dad and said, "You were wrong to do that". Dad says "You're right dear.".
Don't let the client go to the '60s in the first place.
You control the interview, you control the questions, you can even control the answers from them.
You are the radio advertising professional. You've proven it in your interactions with them, your research, your presentation, and now the client has decided to sign the contract. Hoooray!!! Signature, AND a check!! Whoop Whoop!!!
They're thinking you obviously know your stuff, you were very thorough in your presentation - bottom line, what you said made sense and they trust you.
It's time to talk about the commercial. The most common question is: "So, what do you want in your ad?"
All the expertise, knowledge and trust you spent so long to establish, just got flushed down the drain. Now the client is the radio expert...and we get prices, hours, "family owned and operated" and "conveniently located."
Instead, start the "copy" conversation with:
"Excellent Mr/Mrs Business Owner. You've made a great decision. Now, your store and our listeners meet...in the commercial. So, let's take some time to talk about the creative. I've got some questions I'd like to ask which will help our creative department craft a specialized message just for your business, to make you sound like no other business. After all, if we say cliches like "conveniently located" and "family owned and operated" you won't sound any different from your competition (or the dry cleaner or the pizza place or the car dealership), right?"
...and you pause, and you wait for them to agree with you. Now they know, and agree, to NOT put "conveniently located" in their ad. Then you continue...
"As you know..."
Stop right there. When I say, "As you know..." I'm assuming you know. You aren't going to prove me wrong, thus coming across as ignorant. So, you're going to agree, whether you know or not.
Those are the three most powerful words in sales...use them sparingly. Because the next statement after "As you know..." is gonna be the knock-out punch, in your favor, no matter what you're talking about.
"As you know...advertising is about your customer, not your business...So, let's talk about your customer for a while."
That puts you on the right path from the beginning. Now you ask YOUR questions. You control the interview, the direction and the information.
Think like a business owner and ask your questions:
What one thing do you want to sell more of? What do you have too much of you want to get rid of? What is clogging up your warehouse or storage room?
Talk about the people who buy:
What is their life like before your product or service?
Why do they buy from you and not the other company across town?
Why would I pick you over them, too?
What is my life like after I buy your product or service?
The trick is also knowing when you have the right answer.
If you ask, "Why would I buy here instead of across the street?" and their answer is, "We're less expensive." That's not an answer. Keep probing...why are you less expensive? How did that happen? Was it a special deal with the factory? You have lower sales margins? Why did you go with lower sales margins?
When you get an answer that is: believable, emotional, and beneficial To The Customer, you've got your answer.
When you are done with your questions (usually over an hour later), the client KNOWS they're not getting one of those "conveniently located" spots. Set the expectation up front, and you won't have to mess with it in the end.
Control the interview...
Ask great questions...
Probe for great answers...
And you'll never get "conveniently located" in a spot ever again.
If you'd like a list of questions, I've got TONS of them. PM me and I'll be glad to send you a couple forms I use for interviews.
Good luck!
Well, I pretty sure this won't be the most popular post. I teach our sales people (and I use this myself) the following regarding ad copy:
1. No phone numbers. Nobody will remember them. Listeners dont write them down when they hear the ad while driving (no matter what the client tells you otherwise). We send listeners to the clients Website or Facebook where contact information is already there. BTW - Radio is the best SEO there is... just tell them the clients web address a gajillion times with high frequency radio schedule. No need to search.
2. No street address. Same problem as phone numbers - listeners don't remember and don't write it down. Use locations: corner of, across from and of course... send them to the clients website or Facebook page.
3. No "we are friendly and dependable". Customers already expect that. wasted words. Tell them something relevant like a W.I.I.F.M.
4. Focus on W.I.I.F.M.'s - the "What's In It For Me" for customers. A business may have a lot of W.I.I.F.M.'s. That's good. Lots of potential ad copy. Every decision a person/customer ever makes answers this unspoken question - W.I.I.F.M. This is the real reason why someone should do business with you.
With thousands of marketing impressions (radio, TV, billboards, print, vehicle graphics, etc.) being directed at consumers everyday the same 'ole style of radio commercials will not break through and GRAB a potential consumers attention. Business owners are writing checks everyday for these thousands of marketing impressions that DON'T get results. These failures become the "I tried {fill in the blank type of advertising} and it didn't work." Our commercials have to be different and effective to build long term success and business.
For radio sales professionals to be taken seriously, we have got to but some starch in our spine, put our big boy or big girl britches on, and tell business owners how to do radio right. If you ARE going to be a professional advertising consultant who is being held accountable for results, you MUST help the client understand why they need to have the best copy possible.
AND, pay attention to Jeffrey Hedquist... he will help you make money.
The most important part of advertising is the message. Nothing else matters if you don't get the script right. I deal with ad copy the whole time in a presentation. Attached is a 3 page comprehensive read that covers the subject as well as I ever seen it done.The pages are in reverse order due to ignorance of the scanner. The presentation was passed out to a sales force in a major market cluster a few years back by creative head. I was so impressed by the thoroughness of the writing I ask her if I could shared this with others in my quest to be the Johnny Appleseed of the radio biz. I hope it helps
Perfectly popular with me, Mark. Every point is spot-on.
Why do advertisers insist on making their ads SOUND like ads, instead of - as Howard Luck Gossage put it:
An Ad Should Ideally Be Like One End of an Interesting Conversation
I used this quote in a recent post on my radio station blog on penetrating the consumer brain. It's so simple, yet how few advertisers think this way.
Great post, Mark!
Victor - downloading and printing it now.
Thanks for taking the time to share!
I once had a doctor that NEVER wanted to change her ads. I finally got her to budge just a little, by changing one line, depending on the season...
Now that the warm weather is here....
Now that the cold weather is here...
From Jeffrey Hedquist:
Sandi,
Clients feel comfortable with commercials that sound like commercials because that’s what they hear on the air, so they feel safe doing them that way. Unfortunately, safe doesn’t work, because listeners hear that all the time and they don’t pay attention to the same old approach.
Potential customers don’t care that “Tommy’s Auto has a lot of great cars for sale.” That opening line isn’t about them, it’s about Tommy’s.
No one is “looking for a store that will save them money.” They’re looking for a solution to their problem. That’s what your audio headline, the first 5 seconds of the spot should be about – the listener. If your client can save them money while solving their problem, tell them that in the commercial after you capture their attention.
Your client is a radio listener too. Test them. Play or read them the first few seconds from a typical radio ad for an advertiser from a different category than theirs. For your car dealer you might try:
“Center Pharmacy has lots on sale this week.”
“Looking for a computer bargains? Virginia Computer has ‘em.”
Then ask your client, “Would you continue to listen to this? Really?” They’ll probably answer, No.” This gives you an opening to discuss the wisdom (or lack) of sounding like other commercials.
Brainstorm with your client what problems the potential customer has and how they solve them. Together, you should be able to come up with several. This is the beginning of a campaign that will work and which you client will approve, since they helped generate the words.
If you can shock, intrigue, invoke humor or drama or touch the heart of a listener in the first few seconds of a commercial, they may listen to the rest of it.
When you “try to be creative and use a different approach,” make sure that your audio headline - the first few seconds of pattern interrupt – really relates to the message. The interesting opening should then lead to the message of how the client’s product or service will benefit the customer.
Regarding clients wanting to list items: Of course. They assume it’s a print ad. They’re interested in the details of their business and forget that the public doesn’t share that interest. Listeners want to have their problems solved, to feel better, to be happier. All those items can help achieve those goals, but you need to tell a story about the listener.
Example:
Music: dramatic, building (under)
This is the hot dipped galvanized screw that holds down the end of one of the 114 planks in Ralph Johnson’s deck. After hundreds of barbeques, dozens of kids’ parties, a few raucous family reunions and 48 seasons of weather, it’s still holding firm. That’s because the experienced guys at Luckman’s Hardware knew which of the 53 kinds of screws they carry would be the best choice. Luckman’s – all the stuff you’ll need, from folks who know how to use it.
In some cases, you can turn a list into a story.
V1: Is your kid a future Olympic athlete, or an intramural goof around? This is the stuff they’ll need.
V2: Wilson basketball $xx.xx Adidas track shoes $xx.xx. Under Armour T-shirt $xx.xx. (list continues under)
V1: Their sports may change, but there’s one place to get the gear they’ll need to be their best – Jack’s Sports Emporium, and when it’s time to get that…
V2: (in the clear) Rawlings catcher’s mitt $xx.xx. (list continues under)
V1: …Jack’s will have it. In their size, etc.
Start the commercial with a provocative or relatable opening audio headline. Use the list of items and prices your client insists on including as a background and bring specific items to the foreground as you tell a story. End with a callback to the opening of the commercial. Your client will be happy, future customers will be served and you’ll get better results.