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Friday Poll: 2 Questions about the Radio-Mercury Awards
As some RSC members recall, last year's RMA judges decided that none of the radio station-produced entries was good enough, so the panel chose to withdraw the category prize. This caused a backlash among broadcasters across the country, resulting in hard feelings and harsh words, especially from stations that had paid their entry fee(s) in good faith, believing that their work would be considered and judged on its merits relative to other commercials submitted in that category, not by the same standards that applied to agency creative work.
That's water under the bridge now. The RAB/Radio Creative Fund, hoping to smooth some of the ruffled feathers, said that it would double the category prize in 2010 (to $10,000), in the hopes that it would attract higher quality entries than were received in 2009.
The Call for Entries will be forthcoming in April, according to yesterday's release from the RAB.
So, this week's Friday Poll Question is two-fold:
1) Will your station enter one or more commercials in this year's Radio-Mercury Awards?
2) How does your station leverage the library of finalists and award-winning radio commercials archived at the RMA's website?
Thanks, as always, for sharing YOUR perspective with us!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sally Groome on -
Can UK Radio Stations submit entries?
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Permalink Reply by Rod Schwartz on -
Sally,
Not sure. We may have to wait for the Call for Entries in April to find out what the parameters are this year. We'll try to keep you posted.
Meanwhile, if you and your associates would like to hear some great radio advertising, you will enjoy the archives at the RMA website.
Here's just one example from one of my favorite campaigns. if you search for "National Thoroughbred" in the past winners archive, you can hear more spots that have been produced over the years along the same lines.
Enjoy! (And let us know what you think of them.)
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Permalink Reply by David Neely on -
I'm not sure it's "water under the bridge." What are they saying by doubling the prize? Do they think $5000 isn't enough to attract the best entries in the country? Will the entries get better because they're now offering $10,000? I don't think so. I feel folks enter because they believe their ad is the best. I don't think a prize of $5000 OR $10,000 will change the quality of submissions. As long as they continue to have agency reps do all the judging, and as long as they keep the standards for locally produced ads the same as agency produced, there likely won't be a local winner. Sorry for the rant, but it really irks me.
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Permalink Reply by Rod Schwartz on
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1) Yes, I'm planning on entering perhaps several spots this year - mindful that the bar for judging locally-produced radio commercials is likely to be as high as it was last year. I still believe the RMA's are an asset to our industry.
@David Neely: After last year's controversy, I publicly and privately urged the RAB to include judges from the radio side next time, to provide some needed balance on the panel of final-round judges. Don't know how it will shake out, but I remain cautiously optimistic. We'll see...
2) I enjoy sharing with clients and prospects the examples of exceptional radio advertising found in the RMA archives. Certainly they're not all of equal quality, but the best are indeed remarkable examples of what can be achieved in 30 or 60 seconds on radio.
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Permalink Reply by Patrick Cleary on -
Being the one who raised the loudest stink last year, I have not decided what to do. We did some excellent work last year, and I would love to see my staff acknowledged for it. I believe we would have a good chance at winning if they actually give an award.
But I too want to see who the judges are and what the rules will be. And I do find the RAB's response to last year still underwhelming. I don't see any signs that anyone is using www.bestofradio.com, for good reason: It's not very good.
Patrick Cleary
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Permalink Reply by Chris Rolando on -
Nope. I still feel the BEST advertising is one on one communication with the listeners... same as Paul Harvey and others have done. What wins these awards is usually cutsey stuff that while memorable, seems to, in many cases, miss the mark of what the advertising was intended to do.
Part 2: We do not... for much the same reasons given above.
Now, this is just what WE do... I am in no way trying to tell others what to do. More than one way works for everything. I just hope that when we all write ads we keep in mind that our job is to get results (make sales) for our customers. Anything else is gravy.
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