Any spots ever move people to purchase?

[F.D. Fritz]

Radio has never meant to be a "point of purchase" or "impulse buy" advertising medium. Radio is meant to be subliminal. Radio advertising has never been meant to sell a product the instant the spot is heard. Rather..it is to be used so that the consumer thinks in his or her head "hey, I need to buy a new lawn mower"...then your local lawn mower shop..the one that utilizes radio..is the one the consumer goes to. They arent sure why they are going..they just are. This is how your dutiful sales person should pitch radio to a prospective client. In advertising the agencies love to use cost per point and other gimmicks to screw radio stations out of their spot rate. and the sales peeps and managers are all too often ready to supply the lube needed. But when it comes to a succesful ad campaign it comes down to two things REACH AND FREQUENCY. The subliminal part is in the frequency.

Good spots are hard to find. Maybe..maybe one in every 20 spots are really good. If you want to hear excellent spots I suggest the "Radio Ranch" in California. Check their website out. You may know them from their "helpwanted.com" ads which have been on the air for years. I worked for CC for years and one of the best times I ever had was when CC was rolling out "less is more" (yes, i know it sucked..but in my experience thats because CC didnt stick to their guns and gave in to the evil ad agencies). CC sent hundreads of us..GM's, PD's, Sales, Production managers and more to Atlanta for a 2 day seminar on spots. Also there were clients. Mostly car dealers. One of the speakers took the stage in the first 30 minutes and asked for all the car dealers in the audience to stand..proudly they stood...maybe 20 of them..he then told them they are whats wrong with radio advertising! about 300 of us stood and clapped!..It was awesome. Sadly though it was the pinnacle. CC let the ad agencies kill the idea of better radio for fear of losing more $$$.

Anyway, thats my two cents..

 

[nojustice]

Car dealers what is wrong with radio?

LOL

Hilarious....

In some markets (like it or not)...they are radio.

I get the gist though.

I feel your pain...that is why I asked the question.

 

[Catliz69]

To Nojustice:

I can't say that a radio ad has ever inspried me to buy something that I didn't already think I needed, but, as one other poster commented, they have helped me to find the vendors for services that I have used. In particular, when I went to purchase new flooring for my house, the first place I called was SFO (Surplus Floors Outlet) because I had heard their ads on KLIF on The Wells Report. I checked several other vendors as well, but ultimately, I went with SFO because they gave me the best deal on what I needed. I have been delighted with my new floors, the service I received, the installation job, and the great deal I got.

Furthermore, I have been considering getting my concealed handgun license and will most likely go to DFW Gun Range, primarily because of their advertising spots on KLIF and the comments of J.D. Wells.

Hope this info helps.
Cat

 

[dismuke]

One of the speakers took the stage in the first 30 minutes and asked for all the car dealers in the audience to stand..proudly they stood...maybe 20 of them..he then told them they are whats wrong with radio advertising! about 300 of us stood and clapped!..It was awesome.

Sorry - maybe I am missing something I should have picked up on. Why are car dealers what's wrong with radio advertising? And what was the "less is more" all about?

Just curious.

 

[little1]

Less is more was Clear Channel's failed attempt to cut down on their spot loads. Less spots was supposed to translate into more- more listeners, more TSL, more revenue from the remaining spots (law of supply and demand, less supply, more worth to the spot) etc etc.

And the car dealer thing usually has more to do with the type of commercial- and the presentation more that just that it's a car ad. Your typical car ad is in-your-face, high pressure, over produced (do you really need a guying banging an anvil on every word of DON'T MISS THIS SALE!!!) etc. Spots that don't really fit the sound of the station, don't connect to teh audience, etc.

Let me give you afew examples- #1 there's a "couple" that do car ads, starts out with bad jokes, that segues into an awkward transition into the copy, they give out some price points, laff at each other's jokes, etc. They're supposed to sound 'live' but any intelligent listener can probably see through their bit. Not funny, not entertaining, doesn't connect with the listener, etc...
#2- the ego spot. The owner, General manager, or the sales manager voices the spot. Not because they're good talent, but by gooly, they're paying thosuands of dolalrs a week, they're damn sure gonna get their names out there...
#3- the speed freak. That's what it takes to produce this spot because they have so many specials, so many models to choose from, and so much disclaimer to read, that you end up with 90 seconds of copy in a 60 second spot.

Here's an experiment you can do at home- listen (or watch) a car COMPANY commercial, and see if the themes and messages are carried through down to the dealers spots. In most cases, it's not. So why Toyota, Ford, buick, is spending millions building a brand image, the dealer doesn't follow through. They just push price points because that's what they think sells cars.

 

[marksman]

Radio and TV advertising are two of the biggest frauds every committed.

They use speculative ratings and sell advertisers things that are not true.

It is amazing how long they have gotten away with it. Even when I was buying ad time on both tv and radio stations locally, I knew it was such a fraud. It is so silly, and that is why television, for instance, is deathly afraid of actually having to perform based on real numbers and not extrapolated numbers that have been massaged to the point of making them money.

The reality is short of some really dumb tricks (you see this a lot now with tv commercials having a stupid extender on their domain like www.buymycrap.com/r1 or something like that, so they can try and track the effectiveness of ads.

That is the reality, tv and radio owners have been able to sell dreams for years where performance was never actually measurable. And it worked amazingly well.

I am sure I have been influenced to buy something from an ad I heard on the air. I am also sure I have sold some things based on ads I have aired. That being said, the chances that an advertiser on tv or radio are getting fair value for their advertising dollar is no, in most cases.

 

[dismuke]

little 1 -

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions on this.

I have certainly heard examples of all the types of car ads you describe. That is a very accurate description. I never really gave it much thought before - I just kind of assumed that any sleaziness in the ads was just a carry over of the buying process in general and the nature of the people buying ads. There is a reason why there exists a negative stereotype about car salesman.

Last time I purchased a new vehicle it was a nightmare. I had already done my homework and knew exactly which make and model I wanted. I have excellent credit so financing was not a problem - any lender would have taken me at good rates. Heck, I even had enough in my savings account that I could have paid for the bloody thing in cash if I had wanted to.

I should have been the easiest sale in the world. All I wanted to do was make sure that the price I was getting from the dealer down the street from me was competitive with the rest - I wasn't particularly interested in driving all around town just to get a few bucks knocked off. Trying to get an actual price out of these people was like pulling teeth. Instead of a price, they kept asking me how much I wanted my monthly payments to be. I remember one exchange went: Salesman: "How much can you afford in monthly payments?" Me: "More than I am willing to pay. Now, once again, please tell me what the thing costs."

I walked out of the first dealership because the manager insisted that I needed an upgrade that I did not want and told me an outright lie. I walked out of the second dealership when the saleswoman accused me of being a liar when I provided her the quote the first dealer had given me and asked her to match it. The third dealership quoted me a price several thousand dollars over the price they advertised the exact same model for in the Morning News - and when I pulled out the Morning News ad the sales rep pretended that he was not aware of the ad. Me: "Your employer spends big dollars to run ads to bring people in for you to make your pitch to - and he does not make you aware of the offers that are bringing people in the door?" Salesman: "uhhhh.....uhhhhh......let me talk to my manager for a moment." When he emerged and told me that his manager "allowed" him to give me the price in the ad, I actually made the kid speechless for a second when I said: "Ok. You made a sale. What do I need to sign?"

God help anybody who who has to go through that process not knowing what they want or needs help with financing. There are probably car dealers and car salespeople who are exceptions - but I suspect that exceptions is what they are. So I just always figured that sleazy people are going to run sleazy ads. Perhaps it is different with the luxury car market where one would assume a customer base that can hopefully more easily see through such tactics and is presumably less willing to put up with them. But, based on my experience, mass market dealerships seem to assume that their potential customers are mostly a bunch of easily intimidated simpletons.

Here's an experiment you can do at home- listen (or watch) a car COMPANY commercial, and see if the themes and messages are carried through down to the dealers spots. In most cases, it's not. So why Toyota, Ford, buick, is spending millions building a brand image, the dealer doesn't follow through. They just push price points because that's what they think sells cars.

Yes, there is definitely a difference. But isn't there also a huge difference in the objectives of the ads?

The car companies ads are clearly aimed not just at people who are currently in the market for a vehicle but also to build brand image up for the long run knowing that, at some point, many who are not currently in the market eventually will be. They seem to view their ads as having both short term and long term benefits. And Toyota or Ford couldn't care less which particular dealership you buy their product at.

Most dealer ads strike me as being mostly aimed at people who are currently considering a new vehicle and are trying to convince people that they need to drive past the dealerships in their part of town and go 30 or 40 miles away to get a better deal. It strikes me that the dealers view their biggest competitors as being other dealers selling the same brand far more so than dealers for the rival car companies. If so, then that will be something reflected in their advertising.

I once had a fellow who worked under me who, at one time, was a car salesman for a GM product. He told me that in his sales training he was taught that, if a customer walks out the door without buying a car, statistically the odds of that person coming back are slim. Most will either end up not buying or will buy from some other dealership that they subsequently visit. So they are taught to do whatever it takes, no matter how outrageous, to prevent someone from walking out the door without saying "yes" - and, if they end up pissing the person off in the process, they really haven't lost anything because, statistically, the person isn't going to come back anyway so the sales rep might as well "go for it." And this former salesman worked for a so-called "no haggle" dealership.

My strong guess is the ONLY thing that local dealers care about when it comes to radio ads is bringing in as many warm bodies through their doors as possible so they can let their salespeople take care of the rest. The only big exception to that I regularly hear on the radio is the high end dealerships whose ads do seem to be more aimed at building up a long term brand image and lack the sleaziness often heard in ads for mass market dealerships.

 

[dismuke]

That is the reality, tv and radio owners have been able to sell dreams for years where performance was never actually measurable. And it worked amazingly well.

Of course it is measurable. Either running ads has a beneficial impact on a company's bottom line or it does not. In some case, the bottom line impact that advertisers look for is more long-term in nature - for example, ads that promote brand awareness. Such ads are going to be more difficult to measure than, say, an ad that directs people to call an (800) number before next Wednesday. But it IS something that companies DO measure.

Very few companies happen to have a surplus of money sitting around that they can spend on "dreams." Even companies that are doing well usually have plenty of things having to do with their daily operations that could benefit from an upgrade and plenty of opportunities for expanding their market/product line if they only had the money to afford such expansion. Most companies cannot afford to indulge in "dreams" - and those that do are usually forced by reality and the marketplace to "wake up."

That being said, the chances that an advertiser on tv or radio are getting fair value for their advertising dollar is no, in most cases.

There are companies out there - Kraft, Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola come to mind - that have been advertising on radio and TV for 80 plus years now. If it was such a rip-off, you think they would have figured it out by now.

 

[grantchester]

Dismuke says:

God help anybody who who has to go through that process...

I say: I let the Car Guy (Jerry Reynolds) do it for me. I was very pleased with the results.
It might also be worthwhile to chat with Ed Wallace, if you can get an open line.

And as for being motivated to patronize a radio sponsor, I have spent money with companies that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't heard their ad. I wouldn't have heard the ad, though, if it had been the 5th :60 second spot in an 8 minute stop set.

 

[woodyrr]

In the vast majority of cases, spots can motivate me to buy, but I wind up buying what I would normally buy anyway - that is to say a Maxwell House coffee ad will remind me that it's time to buy coffee, but when I get to the store, I reach for a can of Folger's as usual. I sort of figured that Maxwell House benefits indirectly from Folger's ads as well.

The real reason that I decided to post was that last night I suddenly remembered that a radio ad actually - did - directly cause me to patronize a particular store and brand. I'm on my feet all day and it was getting to where my feet and shins would hurt as the day wore on. On one of the stations that I regularly listen to, I heard a recurring spot for the New Balance Store. True to the ad, they measured and then helped me find a shoe that fit properly, didn't force me to walk knock kneed or bow legged, and put enough upward pressure on my arch to where my feet no longer hurt at the end of the day.

I have no idea how the New Balance store determines the effectiveness of its radio advertising. As I recall, I don't think that they asked me how I heard about the store. Now, that the radio ad got me to come into the store and make a purchase, they put me on their mailing list and I receive a post card every year reminding me to come back.

 

[dismuke]

The radio ads that make me wonder how they can make money are the commercials that run for David's Supermarket on WBAP. Not sure if they run on other stations or not. David's is a chain of grocery stores in various small towns in the counties to the immediate south of the Metroplex. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David's_Supermarkets ) I've never been in one but have driven past a few. They appear to be typical small town supermarkets in buildings quite a bit smaller than the Kroger/Tom Thumb type stores found in the Metroplex. The chain has gone though the expense of having someone record a lengthy "where the smiles are free" jingle. The ads seem to be aimed urging small town residents tempted to drive to a town where there is a Walmart Supercenter for lower prices to stay at home and shop at David's.

What I have always wondered about is how it can make sense for them to advertise on WBAP which has a strong signal that goes into extremely heavily populated areas that are FAR beyond the market area that David's Supermarket serves. Obviously you live in Plano or Garland or Richardson, you are NOT going to get in your car and drive 60 - 90 miles to Kaufman, Glen Rose, Maypearl or Dublin to shop at a small town grocery store - and David's is certainly as aware of that as anyone. It wouldn't surprise me at all if WBAP has a strong following in those small towns. But, presumably, when one buys an ad on WBAP, the price is based on reaching ALL of WBAP's massive audience of which, I would guess, only a tiny fraction lives anywhere near a David's.

How on earth can a company afford to pay for advertising to a massive audience that is, for reasons of geography, simply not in a position to become customers? According to Wikipedia the chain does have 22 stores - so calculating the cost of the ads on a per store basis will lower the price if one looks at it in those terms. I wonder what the cost of advertising on WBAP is compared with running ads on the various local stations in those small towns. Can it be that, if WBAP's audience in a given small town is comparable to that listening to the local station, the per store portion of the cost of reaching that audience is comparable to running an ad on the local station? That's the only thing I can figure out because, quite frankly, for the vast majority of people listen to them, the ads are as pointless in terms of getting any sort of response as they would be if they were ads for a supermarket chain in New Jersey.

 

[marksman]

I am guessing something like that could be worthwhile as they are probably able to get a good deal. I suspect now is not the best time for traditional media purchasing. I spend tons of money advertising on the internet, and none in any traditional media any longer. This could make sense though, as you said, the signal is far reaching, and thus might reach their customers in those areas at a rate that is effective.

Like I mentioned though, this kind of advertising is not really measurable, so there is no good way for them to know if it is truely worth the money spent. I suspect though, that the programming on the little town and country stations is less appealing than a WBAP, so I suspect in terms of share for those audiences, WBAP gets very large numbers, thus making it worthwhile to those marketing in the country.

I am not convinced any sales driven advertising is worthwhile on tv and radio, since most of the time you can't tell. It is best for companies who wish to do image advertising and just promote themselves and their concepts in general and budget towards that. I don't mean that you can't have a successful radio campaign that increases profitability. I am saying there is so few ways to correctly quantify results that you never really know if you made money doing it or not.

 

[MikeShannon914]

Well, it also depends on who you're trying to target. KAAM is a perfect fit for specific types of advertisers; same for any other station. Trying to hit the masses, and in the coveted target group of 25-44, sure, you need a mass appeal station. This is where putting WBAP on FM makes sense--with the average AM listener being a 56-yr old male, WBAP-AM's demo is growing out of range. I'm sure buyers and agencies would love one-stop shopping, but the radio dial is just too splintered to make that possible. Mix and KVIL might be solid buys for 25-44, but specifically women. KTCK might be solid for 25-44 males, etc. Then an advertiser might be looking at "affluent" 25-44's, so that might be more appropriate for WBAP-FM or Platinum (God rest its soul.) Affluent black listeners, perhaps KSOC? (The Oasis was "it" for targeting that group in years past, much to Kurt Johnson's consternation.) Anyway, that's the general idea.

 

[keithdyer]

Does anybody remember Eddie Chiles and that he was "Mad"???

Wasn't really selling anything to anyone.

Just saying what was on his mind and he had the $$$ to say it.

Plenty of folks remember those spots from what . . . , the mid 80's or???

To me, that was very effective.

K