More than one version of the same spot?

[ThatManDan]

First, let me say I was in broadcasting for more than 25 years and currently am doing something else.
My question is: Should more than one version of a spot be produced?
Why? What I'm getting at is let's say we're advertising an upcoming big event that goes from the first to the 14th of the month.
A spot is produced that announces "Come to the big event, May first through the 14th at Memorial Auditorium."
The spot starts running a week or so before the start of the big event.
And then after the first of the month, the very same spot continues to run, unedited, unchanged unrewritten.
My point is shouldn't another spot have been produced that says, "Now through the 14th!" to run starting on the first?
I think it makes the station sound lazy that only one spot was made. I can't tell you how many times I've heard this or seen the same thing
with a TV spot. Am I totally off base here?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

We used to worry about things like that. As a listener, I don't get the idea anybody takes the time today to polish and shine little details like this.

For those of us who worked in what we used to call "single station markets" I think we worried a lot more about it then. Right or wrong, we like to tell ourselves everybody was listening all the time and they would hear the repeat, the repeat, the repeat. So in addition to having a version that ran before the event began, and another that ran during the event, we would often create a rotation of 3 or 4 version of the before the event commercial, and 3 or 4 versions of the now in progress version. And sometimes we actually put copy in the studio for live read and EVERY time the commercial ran, it had a little bit of originality.

Did that make radio better than today's robotics? Who can tell. Who can know.

In my mind, if you create one commercial for both before and during the event, and run it over and over again, it could plant in the mind of the listener: This must not be an important event. If it were, they would take the time to be timely. So, I shall not go to the event.

It's all theoretical.

 

[jmtillery]

When I did more radio production than I do now, we created several versions of a commercial for before, during (now), tomorrow and today (last day of the event).

Example: "From May 1st through the 14, big sale" which would run leading up to May 1st. On April 30th, the copy would read "Starting tomorrow and going on through the 14th". On the first day of the sale the copy would read "Today through the 14" only to change to "now through the 14th". On the 13th we might do something like "tomorrow is the absolute last day of the BIG sale". On the final day, "Today is the last day". .

Another thing I never did is write nor produce a commercial that read "Come see us" or "we are doing this and that" when the commercial was produced by anyone on staff at the station. If the client produced his own commercial, that was fine to refer to himself/herself as "we" "us" "our" and so on. But it just doesn't sound right when a recognizable air talent's voice is saying "we, us, our" in a commercial in reference to a client's product or service.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Certainly. Another "overworked production guy" example:

"this year's fourth of July celebration brought to you by Johnson & Johnson, the Eagles club, and this Cumulus station"

They couldn't even be bothered to do that tag with each of their stations in the market? Should have taken 15-20 minutes more time.

 

[argytunes]

Sorry I'm late getting in my response to this. But the answer to the question comes down to how important is the event...and what the clients promoting it are expecting?

Sales personnel have always promised the moon to new or faithful clients. But because they're so hungry to get the spots on the air...they don't give the creative and production people adequate time to write and produce the commercial. And so...everybody loses!

Keep in mind that listeners often tune out (or turn to a different station) whenever there's a commercial cluster. I've timed the breaks...and some of 'em last as long as 7 minutes! So the advertisers who are buried in the last 3 or 4 (unless they're national spots that have to run) are usually ignored.

As with all commercials, promos and formats, once the listener has figured out when the breaks will be taken, the volumn level of the radio gets turned down OR a CD miraculously takes the place of the radio programming!

argytunes

 

[Oldbones]

Sales personnel have always promised the moon to new or faithful clients. But because they're so hungry to get the spots on the air...they don't give the creative and production people adequate time to write and produce the commercial. And so...everybody loses!

Trouble is, and this is especially true in smaller markets is that often the client INSISTS on a particular phrase or general wording. They may even write the spot themselves and insist that it be read verbatim (or insist on doing the spot themselves). In the old days when logs were full & we could be a little pickier about what we aired we could often talk some sense into them. Alas, in today's economy most stations have to take what comes their way. I'm hearing lame spots on major market stations today that a station in Podunk wouldn't have allowed on their air 20 years ago.

 

[tcsnrayp]

To me this is a much more important detail than many believe. It IS a disservice to the client to not have updated and correct information. Furthermore, it is a direct reflection on the STATION to not be up to date. So it is not just a client thing, but a station image thing as well.

It is lazy and LAME to not update spots to say "Now" or "Tomorrow" or "untill Sunday", etc.

But the worst to me is hearing "sale days from January 8 through 10th, 2010" when it is Thursday the 7th or it IS Sunday January 10th and I'm hearing the spot.