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ANNOUNCING PHONE NUMBERS ON RADIO COMMERCIALS

That is an interesting claim by the publication. There are bland, no-handles-to-remember phone numbers and there are phone numbers that seem to have a "ring" to them. (sorry about that <g> )

I guess I would argue with the publication. There are domain names that have-no-handle-to-grab, and there are domain names that are memorable.
 
Direct response mentions #'s 4-5 times so people can write it down and call.

Does it work? Yes. I owned a DR company that spent $5million a year in radio, profitably advertising how-to products, without PI or PO.
 
Personally, I find that if a number is said more than two times in a commercial, it becomes very irritating.

I think most people would agree. The idea of saying the phone number twice in the middle of the commercial and then repeating it twice at the end, irks me to no end.
 
Unless you can drive a singing phone number like "588-2300...Empire" into people's heads for decades, I'm not a fan of phone numbers in radio ads.
 
Catch up people, nobody uses the telephone anymore. Just give the web address.
 
Right On! I spend a LOT of time telling this to clients. As a copywriter the phone number is irrelevant 90% of the time. Some clients get it, some don't.

tcsnrayp said:
Catch up people, nobody uses the telephone anymore. Just give the web address.
Click to expand...
 
When I try to visualize the demographics of the target audience that a majority of the telephone-number-hammering commercials are trying to reach, I would propose to you THESE ARE THE PEOPLE who

(A) may not be part of the wired generation.

(B) These are the people who are NOT looking for what you are selling so they are not going on the web to find you.... you have to use radio, direct mail, TV or something to hunt them down like a bounty hunter and force-feed them with your message.
 
I heard an ad this afternoon which repeated the phone number 8 times in 60 seconds!! Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, folks... :'(
 
Once I hear a new commercial I decide if I will listen to it again. If not, the instant it comes on again I hit the pre-set. There are very, VERY few commercials I want to hear more than once.
 
landtuna said:
Once I hear a new commercial I decide if I will listen to it again. If not, the instant it comes on again I hit the pre-set. There are very, VERY few commercials I want to hear more than once.
Click to expand...

Ahhhhh...now we're getting to the meat of the matter.

Creativity Sells! Quality Sells! Listeners remember good stuff and ignore pounding phone numbers, warp-speed disclaimers and all the other poop that shows up in commercials today.

In the mid-70's, a clothing store in the market I worked in produced a series of commercials that were like episodes of a radio serial. Listeners actually called the request line asking when the next one was going to run so they could keep up with the story!

Lines from creative TV and radio commercials have become catchphrases. Everything from Where's the beef, to Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon to the duck screaming Aflac have worked their way into our daily conversation. Why? Because the commercial caught our interest and we enjoyed it.

As for phone numbers, I agree with everything that's been said about how they turn listeners off. But consider this. In the mid to late 1960's, long before I got into radio, a taxi cab company in the city I lived in ran a commercial pounding the phone number only. But instead of just repeating the number or screaming it, they did it with an announcer who (for lack of a better word) chanted it in rhythm over a bongo bed. An early form of rap? Possibly. The spot went exactly like this:

When heading for a shopping spree,
Call three seven four, oh three three three.
Meeting, eating, or just a tea,
Call three seven four, oh three three three.
The Black and White Cab Company,
Call three seven four, oh three three three.

Corny? Yep. But forty-some-odd years later, I still remember it word for word. And if I gathered a bunch of old friends who were around then, they would remember it, too. Phone number and all.

Let me say it again...Creativity Sells.
 
Ooops, one thing I forgot to put in the previous post.

That cab company commercial wasn't done by an agency, but by one of the local stations.
 
OK new variation on obnoxious:

Heard today on a local FM:

Same :30 spot played back to back to make a :60 spot. No, it was not an automation hiccup, I heard it a couple of times during the day. Personally I didnt like it, sounded like the station screwed up so that would reflect poorly on the station. And there was nothing remarkable about the spot, cold vocal end straight into a cold vocal beginning! ugh....
 
I think the blame for this falls to whomever is doing the writing on the ad...I've noticed very few people understand the flow of words and how important that flow is to the success of something that's only :30 or :60 longs.

They also don't tend to understand that what works for one sort of company doesn't work for others. One of the first things that a writer should ask themselves is what one piece of basic info should be pushed for the ad in question. Usually boils down to number, url or address. From there, it's a matter of conveying the point of the commercial and that information to the listener in a way that is useful to them.

What I think we may be prone to forgetting is that many (if not most) people listening to radio are doing so in their vehicles...and that most people now use cell phones as well. The writer's goal with a phone number should be to repeat it enough to be remembered long enough to get out the cell phone and plug it in (not necessarily to call right then, but to have it on hand). 7 or 8 times is excessive, and twice in a row is probably actually too close together (for this purpose anyway, especially since after the number the next ad is going to start almost immediately, distracting the listener).

As a many-times frustrated listener I'd like to hear phone number of the business at least twice because I can get it typed on my phone at least, and then saved. A Url for many people may serve the same function, but many people still don't have fancy phones...and it's not even a trick of getting the listener to remember the website, it's a trick of getting them to remember they wanted to get ahold of the business in the first place.

Just some thoughts...I'm sick...please forgive me if this is lacking cohesion or making-senseness ;)
 
This topic may have been touched on before; If it was, I'm sorry.

Yes, I am a Production Director and Copy Writer by trade. Repeated phone numbers are a drown-out and uninspired. There are so many of them people switch or it becomes background noise. Most of these are national commercials, btw, i.e. credit repair, weight loss pills, etc. Unfortunately a lot of (no, not all) salespeople will see that the 'nationals' do it and will want their clients' to be the same way. The best way to air the spot, if you can't make it creative and memorable, is to have a vanity number (i-800-Safe-Auto) or and Easy URL. Also try to include a location (On Main Street, right across from Mc Donald's).I've dubbed in spots where they say the number 5, 6, 7, 8 times and I STILL won't remember it and I'm listening to it attentively!

It's very frustrating having a spot break with a couple of these at a time!
 
In my fantasy radio station, the commercial would merely be another element of programming that was just as entertaining as the previous element of programming. I know reality from both sides of the desk...on air and in sales.

Radio has never really embraced the concept of the commercial being adapted to the format. The nearest we came was when stations running Beautiful Music formats refused upbeat and load commercials. Radio has taken the attitude that about 20% or more of every hour was going to be a feature that could never mix with the other 80% of the hour. In no other business would the consumer accept 80% and find it acceptable.

Imagine if you were watching a crime show on TV and the commercials used the same theme to sell their product. Radio should have a long track record of making the commercial this way. Imagine a bunch of police at a crime scene with that Geico gecko in the shot. What I'm describing is the commercial is a part of the programming.

Sales, on the other hand, has financial goals that can mean success or failure for the salesperson and the station. They have others out there trying to grab their dollars and way too many clients who have an idea of what they want their commercial to sound like. The agency placed ads and, many times, co-op ads are to remain 'as-is'. Sales really does want a great commercial, they're just torn by the directives of the client, agency or the person approving co-op copy. When somebody is paying you, you must do it their way.

The phone numbers being repeated over and over is a real irritant. Some think if they say it 3 or 4 times people will remember. At oneb point I might agree, but not these days. The average listener has a busy mind and too many devices dividing one's attention. There has to be a better way.

Creative copy is the key, but most of the time we think humor or serial type spots. We need to think the personality of the station and the hot buttons for the audience. We need to educate the advertiser that to effectively sell to a certain lifestyle and/or age group, we have to change how we deliver the message so it sticks with the listener.

It can be done some of the time and when it works, other advertisers watch and modify their thinking. We need to strive to marry the commercial to the programming so that the advertiser's message is just another element of programming. It starts by everybody in the building understanding the audience and personality of the station. The salesperson has to be a teacher and business partner in each sale, not just an order taker. Creative has to know how to weave the message to become a part of the listening experience that is positive, not like a speed hump in the road you take at freeway speed.

Back to phone numbers: it better be really easy to remember, be a word or two or not said at all. Locations can be remembered. Websites are much better because one can go to a search engine and find it on their phone or on the computer at work or home. Websites are critical. The websites are the brochure to the business card if the commercial is the business card. The ad sparks interest and the website drives the sale for an skeptic.

Per Inquiry spots are the best with the toll free numbers over and over. Why not a website address. Stations get credit by zip code when they order online or obtain the phone number to call in. These PI groups can work out the logistics (ie: every station gets a toll free number so that buys from their number are paid a commission to that station) and their should be an easy way to do it. I hear lots of ads offer a 'code word' to enter for a special discount.
 
Sorry about the typos in the above posts...informercials are the WORST, not best. I was distracted trying to recall a phone number.
 
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