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April 03, 2009

Should Your Radio Ad Have Music In It?

It seems most people assume that a radio ad should have music in the background. But that's almost always a big mistake.

One reason is that background music can make it more difficult to understand the words that are being spoken in the ad. Beyond the obvious of being drown out by the volume of the music, the snare drums and cymbals can interfere with decoding words that have "s" or "t" sounds in them.

Another reason putting music in your radio ad is often a bad idea is that it is precisely the absence of music that can help set your ad apart and make it stand out.

From a direct response radio advertising standpoint, we've tested ads both with and without background music and the results support our assertion that background music is more often a negative impact than a positive one. Of course there are exceptions, but the main point to remember is not to make the automatic assumption that music "should" be in your radio ad.

Posted by Jeff Small & Brett Astor at 02:59 PM | Permalink