
(By Dan Price) See if you can spot the falsehood in this recounting:
Recently, we had several things going on simultaneously at our recording facility. In studio A, a booth full of voice actors was improvising to add spontaneity to a radio ad as part of an ambitious campaign for a giant brand. In Studio B, our sound designer was foley-ing and sampling sounds to create a piece of music for a radio spot that would eventually win Best of Show at the Promax Awards.
Meanwhile, in Studio C, we were conducting in-person auditions to find THE husband-and-wife team to be the recurring characters in a campaign that would run for several years.
So, where’s the fib?
Well, that would be the “recently” part. The rest is all true and made for a typical day for us for pretty much 25 years. We remain busy to this day – thank goodness – but it’s in a noticeably different way.
Cue up the Old Man Yells at Cloud meme if you’d like, but if you work in advertising, you know that different doesn’t always mean better. For the most part, our marching orders nowadays, especially for new clients, is for us to “sell stuff.” And I don’t mean in the definition-of-advertising way. I mean that’s all the brief is. Sell, sell, sell. Which doesn’t leave a ton of room for, ya know, creativity.
Gone are the days of ensemble humor, taking risks with audio, or creating memorable, recurring characters. Don’t get me wrong, we continue to fight for all of that, and luckily, there are still some clients who continue to want good, creative, award-winning work. But for the most part, we rarely win the argument that it’s easier to sell once we’ve captured listeners’ attention with something unexpected and interesting.
That’s not to say I don’t get why it’s different now. I do.
After all, there are so many demands nowadays on the “audio ad dollar” that the inclination is that the commercial had better work and work hard. Not long ago we didn’t have podcasts, audiobooks, streaming, or even social media vying for our ears’ attention. And budgets certainly haven’t suddenly quadrupled as these new channels have surfaced. It’s even gotten to the point where streaming services and radio station groups provide creative and production for free to those committing to a large enough ad buy.
These spots, objectively, range from “eh, ok” to “not very good” to “unlistenable.” But it’s easy to offer free work when the provided directive is, “Just read our website copy, say the brand name seven times, and oh yeah, sell!”
It’s this combination of new audio avenues and shrinking budgets that explain how we got here. And “here” is a place where the work is straighter, entertains less, and no surprise, is largely forgettable.
But does this new approach work? Does it get results? I suppose those questions could be rhetorical, but for anyone sitting on the edge of their seats… no, it does not. And recently I’ve read lots of reports saying just that: One from Nielsen revealing that in a study of sales drivers from ~450 campaigns across all media “creative represents 49% of sales.” Another from IPSOS ASI says, “The better the creative, the stronger the ‘breakthrough’, the ability for a brand or message to be recalled.” OK, so… Can we not have both? Can work both be hardworking and great?
Clients still demand results. But things are different now. And so why then aren’t we, the creatives, coming at all of this differently too? That, I don’t have an explanation for. Why is there so little appetite among advertisers for envelope-pushing from the creative writing standpoint? As I say, there’s less money. But so what? Audio can still be creative AND effective; they’re far from mutually exclusive.
How can we still grab a listener’s attention right out of the gate? How can we establish some relevancy to keep listeners’ attention while we establish and solve a business problem? How can we pay it all off with the brand or product as the hero? How can we “just sell” in a unique and interesting way? And, most importantly, how can we continue to reward listeners for their time? Ideally, in a way that’s done better and more memorably than the ads airing before or after our own?
Through strategy.
Because this new normal requires experimentation throughout the process. More “try this, try that” right up to and including during the studio record itself.
Anyone waiting around for 2025’s answer to Real Men of Genius or Motel 6 will be waiting for a while. Times have changed, and the challenges have evolved. And brands probably aren’t going to hand over the budget for new, original music for each spot, or give us the license not to overtly sell anything. Those aforementioned campaigns were brand-building reminders. Creative vehicles that did the heavy lifting of establishing a personality and POV.
They required a leap of faith for advertisers to trust that these spots would work in the long run, especially without the benefit of the level of testing we have now.
So our hope is that decision-makers at the brand level will again challenge creative teams to re-think how they sell, sell, sell. To do it in a fun, creative way that someone might stop and, yes, listen to. Because the talent pool is still there: the writers, actors, sound designers. And they’re all just waiting to get the go-ahead to generate better creative for an audience that’s waiting for it. After all, it’s been a while since that audience has gotten much entertainment from audio ads.
And if given the choice, listeners want good spots. I for one would love to give them some.
Dan Price is the President of Oink Ink Radio, a creative services firm he co-founded 33 years ago. Before founding Oink Ink in 1992, Price led New York operations for Bert, Barz & Company and served as executive producer for RadioBand of America.
And then there’s Jaguar. (TV)
Dan – good reminders. To “sell stuff” you need to break through the clutter, not with a sledge hammer, but by touching listeners’ emotions – you know, where buying decisions are made?
Radio sells better than any other medium but only when it reaches the heart.
Ah, yes ! Finally, some potent creative wisdom from a credible HUMAN source. Refreshing and so desperately needed. Thanks, Dan.