Radio Sales Café

Happy Friday, everyone!

This week's poll question comes from Jeffrey Hedquist, president and creative director of Hedquist Productions, Inc. in Fairfield, Iowa.  He writes:

"This is a question for AE's and/or managers. At one time sales reps sold and their production team produced. Today in markets of all sizes, those who sell are also the same people who write and sometimes produce and even voice spots for their clients.

"How many hours per week do you spend writing/voicing/producing spots? (Not gathering client input, but actually creating spots)."

Looking forward to reading your replies!

I recently watched the PBS 'Independant Lens" program regarding the way advertising has changed our behavior and culture. Several famous ad creators from mainly New York agencies were interviewed about their successes and failures, and their creative process. If you didn't see the program, you can view it through the PBS web site and it's worth watching. What pained me was not the program - it was excellent. It was all the terrible commericials I see and hear every day on radio and TV stations...many of them coming from ad agencies, and some written by local people. I'm also guilty of doing some bad ads. However to answer this question, I feel it is my main responsibility to write and usually produce an effective ad for my clients. Therefore, I spend quite a bit of time thinking, writing, producing-often involving the client and/or their customers. Most clients love "Ad-speak" cliches, and sometimes I have to find ways to talk them out of using those old tired phrases. I guess it pays off since most of my clients have been our our stations for several years, and I tend to get referrals every month (Do you ask your clients for referrals?) Paul Weyland of Austin Texas and Roy Williams the Wizard of Ads, are my heros in our business right now.

Usually a couple hours a week...I like to come in a half hour to 45 minutes early to write and produce. The creative juices are best in the morning, uninterupted.
Jeremy Riesenberg

Depends on the week..but on average probably 2-3 hours writing spots. I have found that it is so much easier to write my own spots than to detail information out for the talent to write the spot, then bring to me so I can call the client for approval, etc. Its just easier for me to know what my clients wants, whats important, etc. Just easier all the way around if I take the 15 minutes to write the ad.

Roughly 25 to 30% of my time.

Glad to see you addressing this. I sell the ads, write the ads, choose the music for the ads, and record the ads for the 25-30 accounts I have on the air on a monthly basis. It varies from week-to-week, and season-to-season, but this week alone, I wrote and recorded 13 ads for my customers. My station is currently using a sales consultant, and it's all SELL, SELL, SELL, which my Station Manager loves, but after questioning our consultant, he admitted that in ALL of the other stations he consults, the sales people, do sales, period. They turn in their contracts, and the rest of the process is handled by someone else. I have always said that the sale is the easy part. Maintaining the account and keeping your customers satisfied and profitable is far more time-consuming, but truly the heart of the work. If I hear that someone has 50-100 accounts on the air, I presume they have copywriting and production help, or they aren't serving their customers as they should.

This varies greatly depending on the time of the month but I would probably say that an average week would be 5-10 hours in writing/producing/voicing commercials.

Every commercial(s) is different. Sometimes the script is dummied up before I even have a meeting with the client and other times I spend lots of time developing the script concept.

A single voice read does not take me more then 5 minutes but the sfxs, music can sometimes take up a 1/2 to 3/4's of an hour.

The end result is always worth it if it sells !!

I bet I spend on average 8-10 hours a week recording, editting, writing, and approving ads. Some weeks even more. I have done it this way for my entire 21 year carreer in Radio.

20% of my time writing/voicing/producing spots. Gathering input from clients is another 20%.

Our station recently hired a production person that writes, sends out, and produces 95% of our spots. I spend a small amount of time tweaking the written copy, but after that, it's off to be recorded! It has made an amazing difference in the time it takes to get a client on-air. So, I would say the actual creating of the spot is limited to the time I spend working with clients who voice their own ads.

I had the benefit of working for Don Keyes, originally of the McLendon Group. He introduced me to concepts of commercial writing, like opening with a bang instead of a phone number and writing commercials like Japanese poetry. (And keeping the focus.)
He also introduced me to his friends, like Chuck Blore and Gary Owens. I can now right a sixty second spot in sixty seconds. Sometimes in my sleep. And, without chasing it I get offers for outside voice work.
(By the way, I put that money in a separate savings account, away from my other debts.)
How many hours per week? Not many. I usually have the concept by the time I get back to the station. I also talk to my micro recorder in the car. I get some of my best ideas there.

Researching/thinking/writing/producing commercials occupies more of my working hours than any other task.

I would generally agree with Mike Peterson, that an AE's primary responsibility to his client is to do everything he can to provide advertising that gets results. If the AE isn't skilled in this area, he should either invest in the training and resources to become so, or else find an ally with whom he can partner (in house or out) to create advertising that works.

Ultimately, this best serves the station as well. All other factors being equal, commercials that bring in customers and ring the cash registers ultimately do more to foster successful and unshakable long-term relationships with advertisers than anything else we can provide.