I saw this article from the Business Journal and realized that if "radio" was substituted for the words "print" and "newspaper"; and "programs" was substituted for "special sections", then this article could be about radio (minus the print hyperbole). Read the article HERE.
So what can we do (or continue to do) to demonstrate Radio is The King in terms of reaching the local audience?
From my copywriters perspective, continue to use radio's words and sound to create a custom image for each listener. Let them become a vested part in the advertising they hear by completing the image with their own ideas, to let them 'see' themselves using the product/service. (Normal Rockwell called this "Frameline Magnetism" - the viewer completing the image past the frame of the drawing. For example the rest of a car, or house, or tree. The picture only shows the left half, but your mind completes the right have in your head).
My favorite example of this simple imagery is to ask you to see a girl on a hill. (see the girl?) Now you didn't just see a girl on a hill, you saw how old she was, what she was wearing, what kind of day it was, what kind of hill she was on. You completed the image to your individual thoughts and ideas, and the image you created is yours alone. Just like the image a listener would create with the right copy and sounds. With every other advertising medium (TV, print, outdoor, online) they will show you their picture and ask you to relate to it. Radio can show you your own picture, unique to each listener, and put the listener into a store buying your client's product or using their service.
Then when they actually are ready to buy, their mind has removed a lot of opposition because subconsciously they think they have already used the product/service because they've already 'seen' themselves do it in association with the commercial. They have already overcome their fear of the 'new thing', and they didn't even realize it.
That is one of the major advantages of radio. Any other ideas how we keep the local focus on radio?
Neil Holmes is President of Voice Creative, a collaboration of award-winning copywriters, voice actors and audio engineers that create commercials that get results for local radio and their clients. Reach him through the website www.VoiceCreative.com.
I love this! Been researching all night(Friday) and now. Learning as I go along. Thanks for sharing, Neil.
Sherna
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