Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Radio Ad

Posted by Anonymous on 12/8/2009 at 3:47 PM ET 250 Points
I am a children's Magician and wanted to get some ideas for a Radio ad...

Thanks,
Brandon Maddux
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  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/8/2009 at 5:08 PM Accepted
    Dear Brandon,

    You, as I recall, are the 17 year old magician who wanted advice on a website not long ago. How's it going?

    Hmm. Magic. On the radio. Hmm. Brandon, I might be wrong here and no doubt there will be people who don't agree but with magic being visual, I'm not sure radio would be the best use of your money.

    Think about it.

    Radio's GREAT at building name recognition but to do this it needs sustained use and to do this radio relies on reach (the number of listeners in any given area or time slot), and repetition.

    And for radio to really have an impact, it needs to be visual—that is, it needs to weave stories in the mind. Radio ads that bellow their message (think, used car lots) like this: "WE WILL NOT BE UNDER SOLD! BARGAIN, REDUCED, NO OFFER REFUSED!" ads like this don't exactly stick in the mind.

    Why? Because they're bloody irritating!

    Likewise ads that repeat the telephone number fifteen times in a 30 second spot. If the most memorable thing is the telephone number, the service and its many benefits must be pretty lame.

    Lame radio ads are a blight ... not that I have any strong opinions on this you understand.

    So, having said all this, might it serve you better to do video ads that you then set up on YouTube and on a small but modest blog and then use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to drive traffic to them? With a link in the video that in turn drives people
    to your new and improved website where they can make a reservation for your stellar show!

    Think video is hard? Wrong. All you need is a Flip camera and a tripod and a story. You already have sage presence, so why not make the most of if? The videos don't have to be super polished, and you can do simple editing in iMovie and add titles, links, and fades. Know someone with a Mac? Then you're golden. And a Flip Ultra HD camera will set you back $180 if that (perhaps Santa will bring you one!).

    You could do a series of short videos: close up magic, street magic, pick a volunteer from a small crowd, and away you go. Connect your visuals with your ideal audience and you create feelings of kinship. And the nice thing about video is it's more targeted. Radio might be just too much of a shot gun approach.

    But again, I might be wrong. However, I hope this at least gives you food for thought. Good luck to you.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
  • Posted on 12/8/2009 at 9:56 PM Author
    Hey guys, this is going to sound odd, but overall I agree with Gary, even before he said anything.
    Thanks for remembering me Gary, I am that 17 year old magician.

    Ok so I think regular radio would be a waste of my time and money. However I am planning on advertising on Internet Radio, you can specify down to the zip code of who you want to hear your ad. So only people in the three zip codes around me will hear my ads. You only pay per thousand people that hear your ad and you can set a limit per month as low as $7.50
    Besides magic, I write here and there and I believe that you can make a huge impact just with words, if you say the right thing, to the write people, at the write time. Internet Radio would allow me to do this. I just need your guy's help for FUNNY ideas of what I can say.

    I am working on making more videos, I have a someone who will be videoing my next couple of BIG shows and we will make another video with that.

    Thanks so much for the advice, it really is good for me to think through this, but since I can set whatever minimum I want it seems like something I should give a try. So time to end the debate about whether or not I should do this and ask again:

    What are some ideas of things my ads should say to make it really FUNNY and memorable?
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/9/2009 at 9:07 AM Accepted
    For your next show, get great audio of your audience laughing, oohing and aahing, and the occasional WOW. That audio is your spot, with a voice over. Perhaps it's "If you want to SEE the magic that others are LOVING, contact me" or "If you can't see the trick I just did contact me", etc.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/9/2009 at 9:22 AM Member
    Dear Brandon,

    No more debate? Ever? Oh, all right then.

    Hmm, humour (I spell it with a U because I'm British). Done WELL, humour on radio is sublime. There's a great deal of wonderful comedy on the BBC Radio 4 website, which you'll find here:

    www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/genres/comedy/player/episodes

    When it comes to funny radio ads, my favorite of all time is one from the mid 1990s. Performed by Mel Smith & Griff Rhys Jones and written by Tim Delaney, it's an ad for Phillips video. You'll find it on this page, near the bottom of the piece.

    https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7940524.stm

    Humour is always going to be subjective. What amuses one person will turn off another (no pun intended). My best advice: keep it clean, use alliteration, don't play for laughs, dead pan delivery can be incredibly effective.

    The secret is probably not to set out with the intention of being funny. Your ideas MUST engage people. No one will listen to you if you're not engaging. And to do this, you must develop your ideas, you must then be able to write and edit your script (and be prepared to re-write it for time and timing: reel length and pauses for laughter), and you must be able to perform it (or work with people who can perform) and then record and edit your spots.

    There are huge differences between funny voices and characters, and then there are are the vehicles of satire, parody, and general comedy.

    You'll find a guide to writing comedy here:
    www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Comedy-Guide-Scriptwriting-Radio/dp/0709059639

    And I suggest you visit your local library to see if you can find audio recordings of well known comedy plays and radio. Use nothing visual here: when you listen with your mind you see with your ears.

    You'll find a "Writing and Producing Radio Comedy" guide from Dan O'Day here (it's not cheap and it's on cassette) https://radio-mall.com/wpr.htm and although it may not be quite right, it may at least give you better guidelines than I'm able to, given the space restrictions of this forum.

    You'll also find a free, hour long selection of classic BBC comedy here: www.talking-book-store.com/Title.aspx?titleId=7241 You'll need RealPlayer or Windows Media Player to listen, but again, the recording is free.

    I hope this is of help. Good luck to you.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA



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