Are we really trying?

Greg Jennings is Creative Director for Prime Radio in Queensland, and formerly of Nova 100 Melbourne.

In his article below for Radio Today, Greg asks if we are 'really trying'?

On a recent trip overseas driving through Spain, I enjoyed trying to make sense of the radio ads. Even through the language barrier, you hear similarities to Australian commercials.

Ad breaks are loud. Ad breaks are filled with lots of words. Also, that guy and girl having a random chat about a product, they must travel the world, ‘cos they were in a few ads too.

It was then, as a creative, I experienced a line in the sand moment.

When did making a basic radio ad, one we know will get client approval, become sufficient?

So many ads we make are just full of words and generic statements.

When you stop, then actually listen to the commercials we play, (on any network) one can certainly pose a question.

How many of the ads created, are trying to truly get a result for the client?

We’re all guilty some days of slapping a commercial together, just to get it out of the way or squeeze those extra 20 words in. To defend us all, the pace and resource demands of our industry at station level has become so great, we have to let a few slip through. But is it becoming dangerously common?

With such competition to win the advertising dollar, we may not be able to afford to ‘bang’ out ads for much longer. This presents us with a challenge, but one with a huge opportunity.

That’s to take a breath, and reacquaint ourselves with radio’s number 1 weapon.

Sound

A lot of us will say, “But I don’t have time”

Yeah we do. Start by setting aside one hour a week.

As writers, producers, and client managers, if we’re all talking about the power of sound again, we’ll achieve stand out results.

“Oh but the client won’t listen”

Yes they will, when we provide them opportunity to listen. 

Finding that time and space, starts with us all at station level. 

We may not be able to hire a studio for a whole day like a creative agency to trial 6 voice artists, three choirs, and a bloke banging a wooden spoon on his knee just to get the right knobby tone.

But the thing is we don’t need to. Regional or metro, all our teams do it best.

What we can do together, is draw a line in the sand, and get back to using the power of our number 1 weapon more often.

Sound

It’s what put radio on the map. It’s how we get noticed. It’s entertaining and engaging. Once we own it again at station level, then we can truly say we’re making ads that are trying to get our clients results.

Greg Jennings is the Creative Director for Prime Radio Queensland, you can drop him a line here.