Tune into Radio Experts FM

July 29th, 2010

We’d all like to have our own radio station. So technologies like Spotify , Last FM, We7 Radio and others all allow you to access this world of Radio On Demand.

And just as we would all like to have our own unique radio station, so it is that every client would like to have radio commercials that are unique to his company and his brand.

Commercials he can call his own.

Which brings us back to Radio Experts, whose experience and expertise has helped clients across a wide range of disciplines: estate agents; tourism and travel; house developers ; private health insurance.

Clients who benefit from innovative planning, precision air time buying and stimulating creative.

Clients who demand to use a specialist and therefore expect the best.

Radio Experts has the client list and the testimonials to back up its specialist credentials.

Ask to see them. Even better give Radio Experts a brief.

Once you’re tuned to Radio Experts, you’re locked onto the best show in town!

Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Radio Advertising | No Comments »

Time for Eloquence

July 22nd, 2010

Before TV, radio was an all – powerful medium. Sir Winston Churchill used it to bolster Britain’s morale to help win the Second World War.

His eloquence has never been equalled in 70 years. Why?

Well a 30 second radio commercial leaves little time for eloquence. But that’s no excuse for not trying. I don’t mean using flowery and high falutin’ language as favoured by Churchill.

I mean putting the case for your product forcefully, each word carefully chosen. Choosing words that will get the desired response from your target audience, both emotional and practical.

It is said that Churchill re-wrote and re-phrased his famous wartime speeches many times and that before delivering them he rehearsed in front of a mirror!

Ask your creative agency to work and re-work a script, to re-write and re-phrase until you feel comfortable that what you’re signing off is saying exactly what you want to say to get exactly the response you want from your audience.

I had a client once who, if he thought I was getting a little complacent or a little slap dash , would take my proffered scripts and scrawl across them : CALL YOURSELF CREATIVE?

There’s no greater put down for a writer than that.

Try it sometime. Hopefully you’ll never need to do it with Radio Experts !

Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Radio Advertising | No Comments »

Our Fear of Silence

July 20th, 2010

We’re all just a little bit afraid of silence. By ALL I mean those involved in creating, approving and producing radio commercials.

We feel compelled to fill every second of the commercial length – after all, we paid for it didn’t we?

Of course, too MUCH silence could throw the listener, inviting him to re-tune his radio, because he will assume he has lost the signal.

However, in filling every second of our precious radio advertising airtime we are in danger of putting 35 second scripts into 30 second commercials, cutting out all the breaths and presenting our listener with  nothing short of a gabble.

Perhaps we should all take a deep breath: treat the listener with respect. No talking down. No talking too fast. Let’s engage the listener, have a conversation with our audience, pause for breath, talk one to one and at a pace at which your listener can take in what we say and respond accordingly.

Nobody wants to have the equivalent of a lull in the conversation but let’s not be afraid of something many of us secretly yearn for sometimes – the sound of silence.

Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Radio Advertising | No Comments »

When two can be better than one.

July 15th, 2010

Back in the 1970s in America, there was a comedy duo called Stiller and Meara who became spokespersons  for a wine called Blue Nun. Each commercial told a story, sometimes a little sad but always with humorous twists ,which ends in the couple sharing a bottle of Blue Nun wine. The equivalent today would be Gavin and Stacey making up over a bottle of Lambrusco.

The point is the scripts were witty, involving and the product was always the hero of the commercial, not just the two star voiceovers. OK, they had the luxury of 60 seconds but they got an unprecedented response from listeners who not only enjoyed the radio commercials, but also actually looked forward to the next in the series.

Perhaps therefore we should look further than the short term -consider producing more than one commercial and look for creative solutions that are also long term campaign solutions.

That way you build a bridge with the audience and who knows, it could be your commercials they start looking forward to.

Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Radio Advertising | No Comments »

Every Second, Every Word, counts.

July 6th, 2010

Normally, a radio commercial is 30 seconds long. Take off five seconds for a phone number or website address and you’ve precious little time to make your case, tell your story, woo your listener.

30 seconds -it’s a good discipline, meaning the writer has to make every word count.

And that’s the currency so that’s it – or is it? 40 seconds is a maybe sometimes but second for second a lot more expensive than a 30.  60 seconds – now that’s as rare as hen’s teeth. Imagine then 90 seconds.

The general rule is that wherever possible it’s the creative that should drive the ad duration, not the ad duration that should drive the creative.

If media is a frame and creative is a picture, well a frame that’s too small is going to cause you no end of problems!

Here at Radio Experts, our clients regularly call us to simply discuss their marketing challenge. We’re able to immediately tell them what ad duration or durations will best fit their objectives. It can save everyone a whole lot of time, in more ways than one!

Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Radio Advertising | No Comments »

Interrogating the Creative Brief

June 16th, 2010

When a radio advertising  brief arrives, every writer looks for clues, nuggets of information, little handles on which to hang his scripts.

It might be a detail, such as a superior service or a product feature, that sets your company apart from the opposition. It might be a genuine USP which takes the writer into new territory.

Sometimes, however, the message seems to be identical to its competitors, so radio has to do what other media have traditionally done as a matter of course: create a brand personality. One that reflects the attributes of the brand, creating an affinity between the company or product and its consumer. A brand personality that resonates with your target audience to the extent that they prefer your product to any other in the market.

Creating a brand personality sounds entirely problematic for radio until you turn the equation on its head with one simple question. What is my brand’s tone of voice?

And all of a sudden its very very easy to see how radio can deliver a brand personality.

So throw down the gauntlet. Radio Experts, for one, will be more than happy to pick it up.

Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk

Tags: , ,
Posted in Radio Advertising | No Comments »

Celebrity Voices. Are They Worth It?

June 8th, 2010

The cult of celebrity, of course, has always been with us. From Cleopatra to Henry VIII, from Rasputin to David Beckham.

The question is:  does a celebrity voice add value to your company or brand’s  radio advertising? If so, is the celebrity voice worth the additional cost? All of this then leads to the bigger question –   is this ‘voice’ a good investment for my company?

Personally, I think some radio advert scriptwriters use celebrity voices in the absence of a relevant idea for the brief and the target audience. In the end, it’s the message not the messenger which is most important.

If the message is not relevant to the audience you want to reach or memorable either, no celebrity can help. But sometimes, just sometimes, you hear a celebrity speaking up for a company or a product and you think ’that’s a good fit’.

That’s when celebrity voices become powerful.

Like the time when there was a queue around the block for the launch of a new property development

Or the time we helped introduce a new car model and the manufacturer sold out for the first 6 months of production

Or the time we helped a new domestic brand to market and it researched as a househould name within 3 months.

These are just some of the many successful campaigns we have seen at Radio Experts, where skillfully chosen celebrity voices have added some rocket fuel to an advertising campaign.

Like so many things in life, the answer is that if a thing is done carefully, it is done well.

And one more thing – it’s radio so we will never ask you to choose a celebrity with a well known face but a little known voice! You’d be surprised how many people make that mistake…….

Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk

Tags: , ,
Posted in Radio Advertising | No Comments »

Newer Entries »