BurkhardWorks: Radio Advertising Creative

All purchase decisions are driven by Emotions and then rationalized with Facts.

The decision to call, click or visit your place of business is a relatively easy one, driven mostly by Fear, Hope, and one or two Key Facts.

Your radio creative should try to prompt the highest volume of emotion-driven Inquiry from Hot Prospects at the lowest CPI.

The decision to actually buy Your Thing may well be harder and more rational. Your TMs, web designers and sales reps should deliver whatever extra Facts are necessary to convert a high percentage of impulse Inquiry to Sales.

Hope & Fear Drive Response Faster than Facts.

Most inquiry comes from Steam Heat Shoppers who have a problem they Fear in some way and are On the Lookout for a solution they Hope will work.

Future prospects may encounter that problem and may start looking for a solution some day, but not today.

You want to attract the highest possible volume of immediate response from Steam Heat Shoppers while you build brand awareness among Future prospects.

I just heard you on the radio Steam Heat Shoppers pay attention and respond quickly to creative that catches the ear and kindles the relevant emotions. In the right column there are several commercials that move listeners from Fear to Hope. Here's a good one. Click to listen. Save Us From the IRS!

Urgent Announcer Radio listeners hear 200 to 300 spots a week, mostly Throaty Announcers reading Urgent Copy. To stand out from that Daily Drone run Real People Radio spots edited from phone interviews with your own happy customers. Real People convey Hope & Fear much better than paid announcers!

Always Sound New.

Radio broadcasters always try to sound new and exciting. But many radio advertisers run the same Control Copy for weeks, even months! Their brands sound Old & Stale. People who do inquire are often Slow & Suspicious. They're much harder to close.

I run campaigns of three or more similar but slightly different commercials. Each spot sounds newish to Steam Heat shoppers. The campaign builds familiarity among Future prospects.

Campaigns give you an edge over all Control Copy competitors and a huge advantage over all first-timers who get one "Free" :60 from a station rep in return for a substantial up front financial commitment.


All purchase decisions are driven by Emotions and then rationalized with Facts. The decision to call, click or visit your place of business is a relatively easy one, driven mostly by Fear, Hope, and one or two Key Facts. Your radio creative should try to prompt the highest volume of emotion-driven Inquiry from Hot Prospects at the lowest CPI. The decision to actually buy Your Thing may well be harder and more rational. Your TMs, web designers and sales reps should deliver whatever extra Facts are necessary to convert a high percentage of impulse Inquiry to Sales. Hope & Fear Drive Response Faster than Facts. Most inquiry comes from Steam Heat Shoppers who have a problem they Fear in some way and are On the Lookout for a solution they Hope will work. Future prospects may encounter that problem and may start looking for a solution some day, but not today. You want to attract the highest possible volume of immediate response from Steam Heat Shoppers while you build brand awareness among Future prospects. Steam Heat Shoppers pay attention and respond quickly to creative that catches the ear and kindles the relevant emotions. In the right column there are several commercials that move listeners from Fear to Hope. Here's a good one. Click to listen. Save Us From the IRS! Radio listeners hear 200 to 300 spots a week, mostly Throaty Announcers reading Urgent Copy. To stand out from that Daily Drone run Real People Radio spots edited from phone interviews with your own happy customers. Real People convey Hope & Fear much better than paid announcers! Always Sound New. Radio broadcasters always try to sound new and exciting. But many radio advertisers run the same Control Copy for weeks, even months! Their brands sound Old & Stale. People who do inquire are often Slow & Suspicious. They're much harder to close. I run campaigns of three or more similar but slightly different commercials. Each spot sounds newish to Steam Heat shoppers. The campaign builds familiarity among Future prospects. Campaigns give you an edge over all Control Copy competitors and a huge advantage over all first-timers who get one "Free" :60 from a station rep in return for a substantial up front financial commitment.		Click to Listen: Stinky Dog. My Brain Broke! Olivia v The Pharaohs It Does Wonderful Things This Is How I Read To Used... Save Us From the IRS! The Perfect Place Michael Quit Work The Party Is Over No Pity. Top 20 Radio Spots Complete Radio Campaigns
How do we track Response? In my system, we track total Media Cost Per Sale using 9th Grade Algebra: is Media Cost per Sale. MCPS equals Response Rate times CPM divided by Conversion rate. is Response Rate. It's short for "Gallons per Inquiry." One Gallon is 1,000 Gross Impressions, according to Arbitron Ratings. One Inquiry is a call, click, store up, package recognition, or some other emotionally driven action that begins the purchase process. The better the creative, the fewer the gallons per Inquiry. Low G <=> High Response.		GM/C=X Explained Target G Advanced Concepts of Radio Pelican Fishing Four Personality Types Beat A Burned Out Control Free Creative v Free Media USP v MSP Steam Heat The Reflection Principle Ditka's Dicta V-Marketing The Brand Promise Burkhard's Laws
Does my Creative Work Better Than Yours? To the right are three case histories in totally unrelated business categories. All three advertisers started off with a solid strategy, spent something on creative, and then sat back as thousands of new customers gladly paid all their media bills.		Dinovite: $5K to $180K per week in 15 months. Dice.com: $14MM to $40MM in 18 months. S-O-C-K-S: +$35MM in 24 months.
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