onsumer products than anyone can imagine.

Years ago, Kaiser Aluminum Foil was getting no shelf space in supermarkets. Stan created a cartoon character named Clark Smathers, Kaiser Aluminum Foil Salesman, who walked into grocery stores and hit the owners over the head with a small hammer for not carrying Kaiser Foil. It was funny, it was entertaining, and tens of thousands of supermarkets began stocking Kaiser Foil in a matter of weeks. Read about it in “It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” Stan’s autobiography.

There was a restaurant located at the confluence of several roadways. It was the scene of a greater-than-average number of fender benders. Lousy place to put a business, don’t you think? The owner didn’t. His ads had cars crashing in the background. His slogan? “Food good enough to risk your life for.” People will listen to that.

None of this means you can’t be serious in your advertising. What good writers are really go

Do the first five seconds of your radio ads make anyone want to hear more? Probably not. The writing and voicing of 99 of 100 ads share this quality: they’re positively, truly boring. Why is this, and what can you do to make sure your ads get listened to?

You’re going to hate this: When the vast majority of ads are aired, listeners' minds go someplace else. Hear the alarm bells going off in your head? You’re wondering if your ads really are that bad, because you’re spending a large number of dollars running them. If your business is doing well, you undoubtedly think a lot of it is due to your ads. I’d bet more than even money that your ads don’t have much to do with your success, again, because most ads are terrible. If your ads were truly good, your business would be doing even better.

Your ads are getting tuned out because, first, they sound like ads. People hate ads. They get in the way of music or talk. So why do you have radio ads that sound like ads? Next, they’re written by radio station people, or you’re writing them, and neither you nor they are trained in the psychology of persuasion. Don't take offense: I don’t mind if someone tells me I shouldn’t fly airplanes, because I’m not a trained pilot.

People think radio stations know about advertising. What they are not aware of is that the station copywriter, if there is one (many stations make their account reps write the ads), is not a trained copywriter. Stations are sales-driven, not ad effectiveness-driven. This is not good news for you. Further, station ads are voiced by people who cultivate “radio” voices, which are necessary for everything to do with radio – except advertisements. No one talks like that in everyday conversation. Deejays read dozens of pieces of copy about products and services with which they have no experience, and therefore no credibility. Whoever is reading your ad is reading copy for three or four of your competitors, too. To make things worse, most radio ads are announcements, not advertisements. An announcement is a list of facts--name of your business, what you sell, a list of sale items. Our minds are not wired to remember such lists.

Moreover, station copy is usually riddled with clich?s. “See the experts.” “Friendly staff.” “Competitive prices.” “The sale you’ve been waiting for.” “…and so much more.” They’ve been overused for so long they’ve become a drone. We no longer pay attention. Most ads are filled with them.

Click on Dan O'Day's Amazing Bad Commercial Generator for a hilarious (and instructive) idea of what I mean.

In a true advertisement, an association is made between something the listener already likes and wants (love, happiness, attractiveness, security, trust) and the product or service advertised. For example: in a FedEX commercial a few Super Bowls ago, a bedraggled Tom Hanks character (as from Hanks’ movie Cast Away) appears on a woman's doorstep with a package under his arm, tells her he's been on a deserted island for five years, and says that he'd promised himself that if he ever got off the island he'd make sure he delivered the package to her personally, because, he tells her, “…I work for Federal Express." This advertisement hammers home the idea that you can absolutely, positively depend on Federal Express to deliver your package ...no matter what happens.

Everyone looks forward to Super Bowl ads because they are entertaining and filled with surprises. People want to be surprised and entertained. It is far easier to tell them what you can do for them if it's done in an entertaining way. Stan Freberg has written some of the most successful commercials of all time. Each one surprises and entertains. Stan’s ads have sold more consumer products than anyone can imagine.

Years ago, Kaiser Aluminum Foil was getting no shelf space in supermarkets. Stan created a cartoon character named Clark Smathers, Kaiser Aluminum Foil Salesman, who walked into grocery stores and hit the owners over the head with a small hammer for not carrying Kaiser Foil. It was funny, it was entertaining, and tens of thousands of supermarkets began stocking Kaiser Foil in a matter of weeks. Read about it in “It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” Stan’s autobiography.

There was a restaurant located at the confluence of several roadways. It was the scene of a greater-than-average number of fender benders. Lousy place to put a business, don’t you think? The owner didn’t. His ads had cars crashing in the background. His slogan? “Food good enough to risk your life for.” People will listen to that.

None of this means you can’t be serious in your advertising. What good writers are really goo

ve radio ads that sound like ads? Next, they’re written by radio station people, or you’re writing them, and neither you nor they are trained in the psychology of persuasion. Don't take offense: I don’t mind if someone tells me I shouldn’t fly airplanes, because I’m not a trained pilot.

People think radio stations know about advertising. What they are not aware of is that the station copywriter, if there is one (many stations make their account reps write the ads), is not a trained copywriter. Stations are sales-driven, not ad effectiveness-driven. This is not good news for you. Further, station ads are voiced by people who cultivate “radio” voices, which are necessary for everything to do with radio – except advertisements. No one talks like that in everyday conversation. Deejays read dozens of pieces of copy about products and services with which they have no experience, and therefore no credibility. Whoever is reading your ad is reading copy for three or four of your competitors, too. To make things worse, most radio ads are announcements, not advertisements. An announcement is a list of facts--name of your business, what you sell, a list of sale items. Our minds are not wired to remember such lists.

Moreover, station copy is usually riddled with clich?s. “See the experts.” “Friendly staff.” “Competitive prices.” “The sale you’ve been waiting for.” “…and so much more.” They’ve been overused for so long they’ve become a drone. We no longer pay attention. Most ads are filled with them.

Click on Dan O'Day's Amazing Bad Commercial Generator for a hilarious (and instructive) idea of what I mean.

In a true advertisement, an association is made between something the listener already likes and wants (love, happiness, attractiveness, security, trust) and the product or service advertised. For example: in a FedEX commercial a few Super Bowls ago, a bedraggled Tom Hanks character (as from Hanks’ movie Cast Away) appears on a woman's doorstep with a package under his arm, tells her he's been on a deserted island for five years, and says that he'd promised himself that if he ever got off the island he'd make sure he delivered the package to her personally, because, he tells her, “…I work for Federal Express." This advertisement hammers home the idea that you can absolutely, positively depend on Federal Express to deliver your package ...no matter what happens.

Everyone looks forward to Super Bowl ads because they are entertaining and filled with surprises. People want to be surprised and entertained. It is far easier to tell them what you can do for them if it's done in an entertaining way. Stan Freberg has written some of the most successful commercials of all time. Each one surprises and entertains. Stan’s ads have sold more consumer products than anyone can imagine.

Years ago, Kaiser Aluminum Foil was getting no shelf space in supermarkets. Stan created a cartoon character named Clark Smathers, Kaiser Aluminum Foil Salesman, who walked into grocery stores and hit the owners over the head with a small hammer for not carrying Kaiser Foil. It was funny, it was entertaining, and tens of thousands of supermarkets began stocking Kaiser Foil in a matter of weeks. Read about it in “It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” Stan’s autobiography.

There was a restaurant located at the confluence of several roadways. It was the scene of a greater-than-average number of fender benders. Lousy place to put a business, don’t you think? The owner didn’t. His ads had cars crashing in the background. His slogan? “Food good enough to risk your life for.” People will listen to that.

None of this means you can’t be serious in your advertising. What good writers are really go

eading copy for three or four of your competitors, too. To make things worse, most radio ads are announcements, not advertisements. An announcement is a list of facts--name of your business, what you sell, a list of sale items. Our minds are not wired to remember such lists.

Moreover, station copy is usually riddled with clich?s. “See the experts.” “Friendly staff.” “Competitive prices.” “The sale you’ve been waiting for.” “…and so much more.” They’ve been overused for so long they’ve become a drone. We no longer pay attention. Most ads are filled with them.

Click on Dan O'Day's Amazing Bad Commercial Generator for a hilarious (and instructive) idea of what I mean.

In a true advertisement, an association is made between something the listener already likes and wants (love, happiness, attractiveness, security, trust) and the product or service advertised. For example: in a FedEX commercial a few Super Bowls ago, a bedraggled Tom Hanks character (as from Hanks’ movie Cast Away) appears on a woman's doorstep with a package under his arm, tells her he's been on a deserted island for five years, and says that he'd promised himself that if he ever got off the island he'd make sure he delivered the package to her personally, because, he tells her, “…I work for Federal Express." This advertisement hammers home the idea that you can absolutely, positively depend on Federal Express to deliver your package ...no matter what happens.

Everyone looks forward to Super Bowl ads because they are entertaining and filled with surprises. People want to be surprised and entertained. It is far easier to tell them what you can do for them if it's done in an entertaining way. Stan Freberg has written some of the most successful commercials of all time. Each one surprises and entertains. Stan’s ads have sold more consumer products than anyone can imagine.

Years ago, Kaiser Aluminum Foil was getting no shelf space in supermarkets. Stan created a cartoon character named Clark Smathers, Kaiser Aluminum Foil Salesman, who walked into grocery stores and hit the owners over the head with a small hammer for not carrying Kaiser Foil. It was funny, it was entertaining, and tens of thousands of supermarkets began stocking Kaiser Foil in a matter of weeks. Read about it in “It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” Stan’s autobiography.

There was a restaurant located at the confluence of several roadways. It was the scene of a greater-than-average number of fender benders. Lousy place to put a business, don’t you think? The owner didn’t. His ads had cars crashing in the background. His slogan? “Food good enough to risk your life for.” People will listen to that.

None of this means you can’t be serious in your advertising. What good writers are really go

example: in a FedEX commercial a few Super Bowls ago, a bedraggled Tom Hanks character (as from Hanks’ movie Cast Away) appears on a woman's doorstep with a package under his arm, tells her he's been on a deserted island for five years, and says that he'd promised himself that if he ever got off the island he'd make sure he delivered the package to her personally, because, he tells her, “…I work for Federal Express." This advertisement hammers home the idea that you can absolutely, positively depend on Federal Express to deliver your package ...no matter what happens.

Everyone looks forward to Super Bowl ads because they are entertaining and filled with surprises. People want to be surprised and entertained. It is far easier to tell them what you can do for them if it's done in an entertaining way. Stan Freberg has written some of the most successful commercials of all time. Each one surprises and entertains. Stan’s ads have sold more consumer products than anyone can imagine.

Years ago, Kaiser Aluminum Foil was getting no shelf space in supermarkets. Stan created a cartoon character named Clark Smathers, Kaiser Aluminum Foil Salesman, who walked into grocery stores and hit the owners over the head with a small hammer for not carrying Kaiser Foil. It was funny, it was entertaining, and tens of thousands of supermarkets began stocking Kaiser Foil in a matter of weeks. Read about it in “It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” Stan’s autobiography.

There was a restaurant located at the confluence of several roadways. It was the scene of a greater-than-average number of fender benders. Lousy place to put a business, don’t you think? The owner didn’t. His ads had cars crashing in the background. His slogan? “Food good enough to risk your life for.” People will listen to that.

None of this means you can’t be serious in your advertising. What good writers are really go

onsumer products than anyone can imagine.

Years ago, Kaiser Aluminum Foil was getting no shelf space in supermarkets. Stan created a cartoon character named Clark Smathers, Kaiser Aluminum Foil Salesman, who walked into grocery stores and hit the owners over the head with a small hammer for not carrying Kaiser Foil. It was funny, it was entertaining, and tens of thousands of supermarkets began stocking Kaiser Foil in a matter of weeks. Read about it in “It Only Hurts When I Laugh,” Stan’s autobiography.

There was a restaurant located at the confluence of several roadways. It was the scene of a greater-than-average number of fender benders. Lousy place to put a business, don’t you think? The owner didn’t. His ads had cars crashing in the background. His slogan? “Food good enough to risk your life for.” People will listen to that.

None of this means you can’t be serious in your advertising. What good writers are really good at is writing copy that gets and holds attention while putting your point across simply, intelligently, forcefully.

Are effective ads hard to write? World-famous advertising agency guru David Ogilvy observed that good writing is slavery. Find an advertising agency whose clients say does effective work for them. Don’t write your own ads. Never allow radio stations to do them. Besides using good writers, serious agencies employ voice over actors, not announcers. Radio advertising authority Dan O’Day, who is very pro-radio announcer, nevertheless says that an announcer seeking voice over work with a voice talent agency should not tell the agency he or she is in radio because they will not get hired. Agencies know the importance of believability. You wouldn’t do your own appendectomy, nor would you let a medical student with three weeks’ schooling do it. Get professionals to do your advertising. It costs too much not to.

Well-written, believably-voiced radio advertising is inexpensive because it brings you results you would not otherwise enjoy.