Saturday, August 07, 2010

What Does Radio Think Of You?

Quick.

Which LOCAL radio spots have you heard recently that have stuck out in your mind?

Uh-huh. Me too.

It’s not supposed to be that bad. Really.

Here’s what they’re saying over at the radio station:

“I’m often embarrassed by some of the work I do which is considered acceptable to A.E.s and clients”

“I put a little extra time in a spot to sell the product better and I was told by the GM I had spent too much time on it and the client wasnt worth the effort.”

Wait a minute. Did you hear that?? THE CLIENT WASN’T WORTH THE EFFORT ?!?!?

Local radio revenues are down 5-7% in most markets. National sales are off 15%.

So tell me… which clients AREN'T worth the effort?

How many GMs and AEs have had bad experiences at a restaurant? Probably quite a few. Wonder how many ate there again?

So if a client doesn’t get proper customer service, if they get less than expected results, if any, from a poorly produced message, think they’ll be opening their wallets again?

The restaurant doesn’t advertise a Ptomaine Platter. But I’ll bet the chef knows if his Blue Plate Special makes his customers sick, he’ll lose more than customers. He’ll lose his customers’ friends. Because they’ll hear about it.

Radio is dishing out the same poison, and they have a hard time believing advertisers aren’t beating a path to their door.

That's why you hear trite, time wasting phrases in local radio spots. They're being written (and produced) for free. So the mandate for the writer/producer is
**Get It On The Air**, not **Let's Get Results For The Customer"

So when someone asks me if radio is a good buy, I say, "Yes. But you need to devote a healthy budget to it, and don't forget to budget for outside message development and production."

Then, give us a call.

–thanks for reading