ANNOUNCING PHONE NUMBERS ON RADIO COMMERCIALS

[Markieo]

Why is it that announcers insist on repeating phone numbers on radio commercials four, five, six times in the course of 60 seconds? I heard one the other day for a credit repair company that announced the phone number SEVEN TIMES in less than 25 seconds!! Do they think people are that stupid that they can't remember a phone number if repeated twice, maybe three times? Nothing makes me reach for the button faster whenever I hear one of those hucksters start their spiel!

And as for Car Dealer ads, well, I'll post that one later...

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I doubt that the ANNOUNCER is INSISTING on repeating the phone number multiple times. The SPONSOR is demanding it. One of the mistakes of radio ownership and management is ALLOWING such commercials to be accepted. There was a time when stations had a concept of integrity that must be protected.

Now, in contrast to that, there are circumstances when an advertiser may go running to the FCC claiming discrimination and censorship. Besides wanting the revenue, station management does not want to tempt fate by drawing a line in the sand which may result in big legal expenses.

There was a time when station owners to pat themselves on the back for being "tough bastards" and brag about it at the country club and the chamber of commerce. Life is more complex than that today.

 

[radioboy]

The bottom line answer to the question you underlined is: They know people won't remember the number with one or two mentions.

Pretend you're interested in one of these companies - and see if you can remember the number. The majority of folks
can't. The frantic pace of life has contributed to this. The lack of creativity has as well.

I hear :60s with the number mentioned twice in the middle of the ad, and repeated twice at the end. That at least seems more reasonable to me. 7 seems excessive!

 

[landtuna]

I've always thought, unless you had a very easy-to-remember number (or pseudo number), it made much more sense to repeat the name of your business so interested listeners could look up the number later.

Endlessly repeating a phone number irritates most people and I would think that is the last thing an advertiser wants to do.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Nowadays, URLs of the business website (if they have one of course) is more effective than phone numbers especially if it's straightforward with no wierd spellings or hyphens etc... Like "ABC Construction dot com"

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I think we are all dodging around an inconvenient fact in this discussion. I think MOST of the commercials that beat the phone number to death are some kind of direct-sale of something, though some brick and mortar stores have overused the phone number.

The station is often being paid on PER INQUIRY. The station gets paid IF you pick up the phone and call now. If you look them up on the Internet or drive over to the store and make a purchase, that station doesn't get paid. And possibly there is a phone-bank contractor involved, and if you don't pick up the phone and dial the number now, the contractor at the "boiler room" makes no income.

There was a time in our industry that decent stations looked down their nose with a lot of contempt at Per Inquiry ads and contempt for stations to accepted them.

Welcome to 2009.

 

[GlennSummers]

Excessive phone number mentions hide the fact that, in many cases, the copy itself is uninspired and underwhelming.

 

[elchupacabras]

I am not a proponent of telephone numbers in ads in general. They junk up copy, add little content, and frankly, who cares? That said, I think they are important and SHOULD be repeated at least 4 times in an ad where that is THE ONLY point of contact for the client, doing business through a hotline. That would eliminate 95 percent of all numbers in LOCAL ads, where they are typically insipid bits of trivia, tritely inserted by inexperienced sales people writing copy.

 

[LowPayDJ]

If it was my :30 or :60 second ad, I would want my number in the ad to be mentioned as much as possible in it. It might take people awhile to think, oh sh*t, I better write that down.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

If it was my :30 or :60 second ad, I would want my number in the ad to be mentioned as much as possible in it. It might take people awhile to think, oh sh*t, I better write that down.

Curious.

Why? Do you own a store that sells phone numbers?

If you are in a business that depends on people calling you as opposed to people finding their way to your place of business.... (think pizza place that is delivery only) then you should have a phone number that is memorable. Doesn't require a pencil and paper to remember it.

Maybe your business should have a website with a really easy to remember URL.

Phone numbers repeated over and over and over and over again are not pleasant. In fact, as the station owner you have to worry about them being an audience killer.

 

[LowPayDJ]

You ask why? Because if I'm paying for that ad,..that's the way I want it. That's why!

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

You ask why? Because if I'm paying for that ad,..that's the way I want it. That's why!

That alone is not a good enough reason. I guess I was spoiled during my radio days. I worked for some station owners who knew it was their job to BUILD A LOYAL AUDIENCE. If you came along and wanted to run obnoxious commercials or spots in bad taste that the owner felt would reduce the listenership of the station and eventually after repeated bad taste commercials reduce the overall value of the station, then the sales order would be refused until the commercials were upgraded to acceptable.

I'm not going to take your $1,000 advertising order if you insist on a commercial that damages the value of my $750,000 station.

 

[elchupacabras]

You ask why? Because if I'm paying for that ad,..that's the way I want it. That's why!

It don't think so. A good sales executive is a skilled master at providing proper consultation so that an advertising campaign will work. An advertiser might be good at his or her business but may not know how to communicate the urgency of purchasing the product. Allowing a client to say "you do it this way or else," is setting yourself up for failure. Allowing a shoddy ad on the air gives them a good excuses to say, "I TRIED RADIO AND IT DIDN'T WORK!"

While phone numbers are a good example there are others that junk up copy and do the same harm: "Mention this ad and get 5 percent off!" Who the hell cares?

 

[Holland Cooke]

"For all your commercial copywriting needs..."

Excessive phone number mentions hide the fact that, in many cases, the copy itself is uninspired and underwhelming.

Amen!
And copy has suffered as stations have reduced staff.

Only a REAL memorable number will work.

Familiar success story: During the first Gulf War, "Hooked On Phonics" was a new advertiser.
CBS Radio Network started doing news updates on-the-half-hour, which Hooked on Phonics sponsored.
NO SPOT.
Just a billboard, "...SPONSORED BY HOOKED ON PHONICS, 1-800-A-B-C-D-E-F-G."

THAT worked!

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[landtuna]

I'm not going to take your $1,000 advertising order if you insist on a commercial that damages the value of my $750,000 station.

I wish more owners felt that way!

 

[Markieo]

Sorry if I veer slightly off topic, but I saw a 30 second TV commercial (for a credit repair company, natch) which flashes the phone number for the full 30 seconds and announces it 5 times!! Now that's really thinking your audience is stupid! :

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Sorry if I veer slightly off topic, but I saw a 30 second TV commercial (for a credit repair company, natch) which flashes the phone number for the full 30 seconds and announces it 5 times!! Now that's really thinking your audience is stupid! :

I have no more admiration for these commercial than you do. I don't blame the sponsor. The stupidity label belongs on the station or cable-channel thinking the audience is stupid.

The credit repair company has no other message to share than: "Call us on the phone, NOW!" There are not normally companies with brick and mortar locations. The commercial can't invite the viewer to stop in and visit the sponsor. You cannot make in impulse buy down at the Quik-Trip in your neighborhood. There IS NO OTHER success as far as this sponsor is concerned other than having the viewer PICK UP THE PHONE and dial. What else is there for them to say other than give the phone number over and over and over and over and over.

 

[phantom444]

For per-inquiries, pizza delivery, or anything else that involves the telephone as the best and possibly only way to make the sale to the consumer, repeating the telephone number in a radio ad makes perfect sense. But for ninety per cent of the brick-and-mortar retailers who think they have to have their phone number in their radio ad for whatever reason, it's pointless and only rushes substantial copy.

 

[Holland Cooke]

For per-inquiries, pizza delivery, or anything else that involves the telephone as the best and possibly only way to make the sale to the consumer, repeating the telephone number in a radio ad makes perfect sense.

Agree!

And radio can do a GREAT job for direct-response/impulse products/services like pizza.

The trick is having-a-phone-number-that-the-listener-doesn't-have-to-write-down.

In the Toronto radio market, there's a HUGE on-air pizza war, between two advertisers with GREAT phone numbers.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

There was a study in one of the trades (Radio Ink?) this spring that vanity phone numbers are more remembered than domain names in advertising. Like 50% more memorable.

The Per Inquiry advertisers probably aren't the ones they're talking about. More like 499-COOL for an air conditioning business. (although I find it confusing - there are several AC businesses here that have xxx-COOL or xxx-HEAT for their phone numbers)