Advertising at this time of year is usually short terme: it means you want people to go out and buy something right away! I call it cocaine advertising. Why?

Because you are advertising something on the radio and you want to see the result right now. Like with cocaine. (At least that’s what I’ve read somewhere!)

You and me, both professionals in advertising, know that marketing is not like bubble gum or condom machine; insert money and get the product.

Marketing means connecting consumers, loyalty, relationships, love and purpose. It is not about the characteristics of the product, sails, quality etc.

But, I understand! Really! Now is the time to “scream” in your radio commercials in order for consumers to hear you and go buy products!

If the advertiser has good sales results, you get credits, you are the star and the business relationship is blooming!

Well, let me help you create magic and the most efficient SHORT TERM/COCAIN RADIO ADDS and your sails will sky rocket!

You need 5 ingredients. If you dismiss only one, the strategy will fall to pieces!

Let's go:

1. Pushiness (shock at the beginning of the add; sentence, something no one expects and no one can ignore. Please, make the connotation positive, you do not want negative connotation to the product). This will surely get their attention! Warning: make a connection with the essence of the brand.
2. The offer has to be so good that people’s jaws will drop. No, 10 or 20% discount does not count here.
3. Logic. Tell consumers WHY are you offering them this. There will be people doubting you, so you have to make them believe you.
4. Emergency or deadline Give them deadline for the offer. Date, hour when the offer will expire! That will make it hard for them to ignore the offer! Be specific!
5. Repetition. You need a lot of repetition of the add on air. Two-three weeks, 12-15 times a day on ONE radio station (if you have more radio stations in the media mix, then you have to have 12-15 broadcasts on each one of them!)

I can see you smile because you know your advertising campaign will be HIT this season and I sincerely wish you all the best BUT (I hate but too)… I have to warn you; those short term/cocaine campaigns function less and less the more you use them. We do not want to teach consumers to “hear your ad” and just wait for SAILS or those special offers because that’s the way to attract only periodical consumers who are not interested in brand loyalty. Soon they will find “another you”, someone else with a better offer.

You have to think about those… who love investing time to “talk/connect” with your brand on long talks over coffee and who really appreciate your brand and the way it is improving their life!

I wish you all the best! 

Your radio girl, BA Lenja F. Papp

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Lenja F. Papp is regular contributor to RAB Serbia web site.

(CEO RAB Slovenia, the only marketing/educational agency in South-East Europe, 102% dedicated to radio advertising). Talk with me about radio on lenja@rob.si

One of the typical examples is man imagining himself driving or washing his new car in front of the building (so all the neighbors can see him) before he really buys a new car.

The woman is imagining wearing new shoes with that new dress for an important dinner, before she actually goes to buy them!

We all do it unconsciously. This is basic psychology and it partly shows us how the human brain functions.

So, you need to create a picture in listener's mind. And radio is perfect for that! Why? Because radio does not offer finished, complete picture to the consumer like TV, the press or the Internet do it, so the listener has freedom to create personal pictures based on personal experiences and affinity.

So while creating one radio ad, you are actually creating hundreds of thousands of ads, one for each listener. And without additional budget. How? Just use verbs in present tense, talk directly to the listeners in singular or plural, avoid vivid and picturesque adjectives! And of course, do not forget the most important and most powerful word in advertising: YOU!

Try this: ask every college in your team to describe how he or she imagines this little girl, after you read them following text: „You see her playing under a big tree, the tree you planted on the day she was born. She’s holding her favorite teddy bear and drinking hot chocolate from the cup she got for New Years. You see her so clearly, like it wasn’t 20 years ago.“

How does the girl look? How does the tree look, the teddy bear, the cup... how did your colleagues describe this situation?

It is important for you to know that listeners can more easily identify with a brand, brand becomes closer to the listener. So it is logical to expect that your brand will be consumers first choice when they go shopping! And you become the winner. And all that just because you’ve learned how to use the basic advantage of radio – EYES of your listeners and helping them connecting their lives with your brand!

Of course, keep it in mind that „radio secrets“ work only if the brand’s message is relevant to the listeners. If add gives answers to questions no one is asking, there’s no binocular big enough to help your brand become visible on the consumers horizon!

So, use radio eyes for your success and success of your clients!

Let’s raise a glass for the radio!

Your radio girl,

BA Lenja F. Papp

(Write to me and talk with me about radio. I’m waiting for you on lenja@rob.si)