KISS
My Great Uncle had a cattle ranch out in the sandhills area of northern Nebraska back in the 50's and 60's. He couldn't quite figure out why so many of his cattle would die after branding. He called his local vet, who searched and tested, but couldn't find any biological pest to blame it on. He even had the feed tested at regular intervals to make sure there was no taint. There wasn't. Still, the cattle would die in amazing numbers....and always shortly after branding.
It was Uncle Russel's brother, Uncle George that finally solved the mystery when he was helping Uncle Russel with the branding one summer. "Well, yer darned fool", he said in his bestGabby Hayes, "Maybe yer shouldn't be branding the whole ranch name on yer poor critters". Sure enough, Uncle Russel was just vain enough to have named the ranch; Russel Machlan's Star Bar Ranch, Home of the Tastiest Beef in a Five State Region Where Your Satisfaction is Our Success and There's Always Plenty of Free Parking and a Friendly Helpful Ranch Hand Ready to Serve You, Call Cherry 7658 Conveniently Located Near George Machlan's Place Just Down the Road from the Old Windmill.
Ah yes, the old "Keep it Simple Stupid". It's never more relevant than when it's applied to advertising. Especially radio advertising. "Radio is very good at accomplishing very little". I'm not even sure where I came up with that one. It was probably an old sales manager that I worked with. What it means is that you need to boil down the message to it's bare bones. You know, like "Eat at Joe's"! Okay, maybe not quite that mundane, but it is essential that you micro target what it is you want to accomplish. Radio isn't at all good at explaining a new product. "This new topical lotion is perfect for the person with Soriasitic tendencies or those living in a humidiness climate". How about, "Smooth skin is just a mouse click away at clearskin.com"? Suddenly, you've moved from hoping that radio can sell your product for you to driving them to your website where you can spend all the time in the world telling interested clients what your product can do for them.
I remember a printer client we had a few years back who just wasn't sure that radio would work. "How will I know?", he asked me. I convinced him to simplify his expectations. "Let's see if radio can make your phone ring", I proposed. He agreed and I went to work. What I came up with was something like this:
Good day and welcome to finger exercises. Today we begin our four week program guaranteed to make your fingers more shapely and in better condition. Let's begin. Simply pick up the phone and dial 555-2234. That's 555-2234. Go ahead, pick up the phone and dial 555-2234. I'll just wait while you do that. (Pause) Hey, do you want flabby fingers or what? Just pick up that phone and dial 555-2234. That's better. And while you're dialing 555-2234, I should tell you that it just happens to be the number for US Printers. They're wonderful printers and like me, want you to have fit fingers...etc etc, you get the jist, nudge nudge, wink wink.
His phone would ring off the wall every time the spot aired. Does radio work? You bet it does. Listeners want to be engaged. And if you offer them a little fun at the same time, so much the better. So there it is....the old "FUN" thing rears it's ugly head once again. Try to have some today, thanks for reading and we'll leave the mic on for ya.
It was Uncle Russel's brother, Uncle George that finally solved the mystery when he was helping Uncle Russel with the branding one summer. "Well, yer darned fool", he said in his bestGabby Hayes, "Maybe yer shouldn't be branding the whole ranch name on yer poor critters". Sure enough, Uncle Russel was just vain enough to have named the ranch; Russel Machlan's Star Bar Ranch, Home of the Tastiest Beef in a Five State Region Where Your Satisfaction is Our Success and There's Always Plenty of Free Parking and a Friendly Helpful Ranch Hand Ready to Serve You, Call Cherry 7658 Conveniently Located Near George Machlan's Place Just Down the Road from the Old Windmill.
Ah yes, the old "Keep it Simple Stupid". It's never more relevant than when it's applied to advertising. Especially radio advertising. "Radio is very good at accomplishing very little". I'm not even sure where I came up with that one. It was probably an old sales manager that I worked with. What it means is that you need to boil down the message to it's bare bones. You know, like "Eat at Joe's"! Okay, maybe not quite that mundane, but it is essential that you micro target what it is you want to accomplish. Radio isn't at all good at explaining a new product. "This new topical lotion is perfect for the person with Soriasitic tendencies or those living in a humidiness climate". How about, "Smooth skin is just a mouse click away at clearskin.com"? Suddenly, you've moved from hoping that radio can sell your product for you to driving them to your website where you can spend all the time in the world telling interested clients what your product can do for them.
I remember a printer client we had a few years back who just wasn't sure that radio would work. "How will I know?", he asked me. I convinced him to simplify his expectations. "Let's see if radio can make your phone ring", I proposed. He agreed and I went to work. What I came up with was something like this:
Good day and welcome to finger exercises. Today we begin our four week program guaranteed to make your fingers more shapely and in better condition. Let's begin. Simply pick up the phone and dial 555-2234. That's 555-2234. Go ahead, pick up the phone and dial 555-2234. I'll just wait while you do that. (Pause) Hey, do you want flabby fingers or what? Just pick up that phone and dial 555-2234. That's better. And while you're dialing 555-2234, I should tell you that it just happens to be the number for US Printers. They're wonderful printers and like me, want you to have fit fingers...etc etc, you get the jist, nudge nudge, wink wink.
His phone would ring off the wall every time the spot aired. Does radio work? You bet it does. Listeners want to be engaged. And if you offer them a little fun at the same time, so much the better. So there it is....the old "FUN" thing rears it's ugly head once again. Try to have some today, thanks for reading and we'll leave the mic on for ya.
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