This document provides an introduction to radio advertising and commercial production. It discusses why companies advertise on the radio, why radio is an effective advertising medium, how to write effective radio commercials, important elements to include in commercials like compelling offers and calls to action, techniques like pacing and using sound, and guidelines for production. Students will practice writing briefs and scripts for radio commercials and producing commercials for a real client.

1. MAC 212: Live Radio
& Commercial
Production
Introduction to Radio Advertising

2. What is advertising?
• Sold in 10 second stages
– 30” 40” or 50” usually
• Core funding element of Commercial radio
• All about….
– Changing the behaviour of the audience
– Advertisements
inform, persuade, remind, influence, change
opinions; they may even alter attitudes and feelings”
– (White, 2000, P42)

3. Why advertise?
• Solving a business or social need
• Lack of business? Wrong sort of business?
Perception? Demand? Expansion or start-up?
• Building (or rebuilding) a brand
• Share of mind
• Establish the why…
– Before the “how”

4. Why Radio?
• Radio is….
– Intimate
– Intrusive (it Invades Private Space)
– Imaginative
– Cost Effective
– Less avoidable

5. Media Relationships Map

6. Establish…
• A compelling offer…
– There‟s gotta be a reason to act
• Your USP…
– What does the business/product offer uniquely?
• The call to action…
– What does the listener need to do NOW?

7. The brief
• All good ads have a good brief!
• Who are we talking to…
– A person who…
• What do we want them to do…
– Make a clear point
• Why should they do it…
– The incentive!

8. When writing…
• Don‟t be too creative
– Is the message still obvious?
• Don‟t over-write
– Don‟t cram too much into the time
• Think about comedy carefully
– Is it funny? Will the humour wear off?
• Make sure it SELLS!!!

9. Approaches?
• THERE IS NO SET WAY TO MAKE A RADIO COMMERCIAL…
• But you could use…
– A slice of life?
– Radio to animate objects
– Music
– Comedy
– A straight „read‟
• Think RADIO!

10. Some Techniques…
• A good brief will help (A LOT!)
• “Pace and Lead”
– Find common experiences, pace them and lead the listener to the
sales message
• Emotion
– Powerful weapons!
• Anticipation and Comedy
– Can we look forward to the punchline?
• Use sound
– Do we jump to conclusions?

11. Consider…
• The best ads are often very simple…
• Find the right voices for the commercials and the audience
• Is it a campaign?
– Common themes, styles or “tag-line”
• Is it effective?
– Does it work? Might the audience misinterpret the content?

12. The 7 deadly sins of radio advertising
• Failure to attract the listeners attention
• Failure to appeal to the listeners self-interest
• Failure to use words that paint pictures
• Being so „clever‟ or „creative‟ that you fail to sell
• Failure to give the listener a reason to act NOW
• Cliché-ridden copy
• Too much copy
From www.danoday.com

13. The RAB Guidelines
• 1. Understand the environment
• 2. Speak the listeners language
• 3. Engage and entertain the listener
• 4. Keep it simple
• 5. Judge what you hear, not what you read
• 6. Production values are important
• 7. Plan your production
• 8. Dare to be different
• 9. Take it seriously

14. Listening to Radio Ads….
• Listen for…
• The techniques
• How is the product being sold to you?
• Can you work out what the brief is?
• Is it effective?

16. What can you make?
• 3 Commercials for a the same real client
• Minimum 30 seconds long each
• Must be either 30” 40” 50” or 60” long
• Must be compliant
• Think about: brand values, incentives, USP‟s, etc

17. You need to hand in
• The 3 commercials on CD
• Your brief
• Typed scripts
• Copyright details
– Permissions letters
• Compliance notes
– RACC clearance request
• Research notes etc

18. An Exercise – 1 hour
• Grab a copy of the Metro Newspaper
• Pick an advert
• Turn it into a 30” radio commercial