Radio advertising that delivers
measurable results and profitable new customers

« Previous | Main | Next »

October 10, 2006

What Is a "Bad" Radio Ad?

This is why we love direct response radio advertising. LOVE IT. Read on...

Thanks to Mark Ramsey for pointing out this article in the Philly Enquirer, which describes one station's foray into ... testing radio commercials!!!

But there's one catch. It seems that people from the radio side of the business (those selling air time) feel they're able to determine whether an ad is "good" or "lousy".

"People are as turned off by lousy commercials as they are with too many commercials," said Bob McCurdy, regional president, Clear Channel radio sales"

But what's a lousy ad? If you take it from Mr. McCurdy, its one he thinks listeners don't like. But a) how does he know what others like, and b) is the #1 goal of an ad to please listeners?

See, the problem here is in the definition of a lousy ad. Sometimes ads that dare to offend someone are very powerful. Sometimes they're just offensive. But in any case, a sure way to an ad that doesn't drive sales is to make one that's safe and doesn't stand out in any way.

Our main problem with the radio media's attempt to only have "good" ads on radio is that, well, they have a different definition of "good" than advertisers do. Which means their thinking is not aligned with that of their paying customers. Isn't that a pretty big problem?

Advertisers are trying to affect a business outcome - usually one that ultimately increases sales. And that's what the definition of a "good" ad is -- from the advertiser's perspective. It's the job of the rest of the content on the station to attract and retain listeners. That's what a "good" station is - from the advertiser's perspective.

We are glad to see that B101's commercial testing setup includes an "intent to buy" question. But here's why direct response radio is much more effective. We don't ask people to say hypothetically whether they intend to buy, we ask them to buy and if they do, we know with 100% certainty whether the ad drives sales. Therefore we know with 100% certainty whether the ad is "good".

What we hope B101 and ClearChannel realize is that an ad may sound "good" to them but not drive any sales for the advertiser, in which case they'll have people listening but no ads on the air because as much as advertisers would like to be in the entertainment business, they're not. They're in the business of selling their product or service.

Posted by Jeff Small & Brett Astor at 01:54 PM | Permalink