What to Do When Your 
Control Copy Burns Out. 

 

Every Control ad or commercial eventually burns out. When and how to replace a Control is a key component of every successful DR or brand image campaign.

  

      
      When?

An ad or commercial enters technical burnout when cume frequency exceeds responder frequency.  You have developed huge Brand Awareness and Brand Resistance.

     What Next?

The next round of creative should try to overcome Brand Resistance.  There are two good ways to do so.  

     Discussion.

First we'll learn when and why Control Copy burns out.  

Next, we'll discuss what to do next.  

Finally, we'll suggest two good ways to end burnout forever.

     Technical Burnout occurs when the average listener in your Cume Audience has heard your spot significantly more often than your average caller.  

 CUME f > RESPONDER f

     That "People judge you by the words you use!" copy for Verbal Advantage has run unchanged since 1993.  Most regular AM radio listeners have heard it 80 to 100 times.  Phil Bonnell still gets business, though, from AM newbies, ESLs, and young folks entering the job market (or their parents).  Many of those callers have likely heard the spot dozens of times, but they didn't need the product.  Until today. 

     Technical Burnout doesn't mean the brand has burned out, or that the spot doesn't work.  The number of responders who have heard you 45, 46, 47....55, 56....88, 89 times, etc. are about the same.   Your commercial has become the brand.  You're a steady fixture on hundreds of stations.  There's no reason to Call Now!  You'll be there tomorrow.  Old Reliable.  "Later.  Maybe.  Some day."

The greater the difference between cume frequency and responder frequency, the more money you're spending talking to people who have  tuned you out.

Cume Frequency can be measured. Responder Frequency can not be measured precisely.  It's impossible to know how many times any one caller has heard your spot when they pick up the phone.  There are a two clues, though, that do reveal when a Control has reached technical burnout, especially in network radio.

1.  The length of profitable flight decreases.
2.  The time between profitable flights increases.

You run ten insertions on ABC Prime, for example.  The first eight pay off, but the 9th and 10th pull little to nothing.  

You wait three weeks then run eight in a row.  The 8th fairs poorly. 

You wait four weeks, then run seven in a row.

You wait five weeks, then run six in a row, etc.

Each flight picks up people who have heard you dozens of times, but who are also just entering the category. They only need a few hits to remind them that you're still there.

What about everybody else?  Over the months and years you've built huge brand awareness among millions of prospects.  "Later.  Maybe.  Some day."  How can you get them to pick up the phone today?

For decades A&H had built huge brand awareness and huge brand resistance.  Everyone assumed, "It's just for baking. I don't bake."  Then A&H ran commercials that encouraged people to put an open box in the fridge to absorb odors.  Later on they encouraged people to dump the contents down the drain of the kitchen sink to kill lurking bacteria.  Today, they make toothpaste, body powder, pet disinfectants, etc.  All those new executions dramatically increased sales by giving people Something Else To Do With the Brand.  

Your next round of creative should also 
try to overcome Brand Resistance.

    There are two ways to do so:

   Give people something new to do with the brand.
    Defuse an objection lurking the minds of millions.   

   The first tactic requires strategic thinking particular to your brand.  

For example, Dice.com was already the leading IT Job Board among contractors and recruiters when we launched our Click The Dice campaign.  Over the next 18 months we attracted thousands of permanent employees and HR managers.  We also positioned the site as the place IT Pros should go to learn what new skills they should acquire to make themselves more valuable in the marketplace.  Revenues rose from $14 to $40 million. 

   The second tactic only requires you to identify and defuse some "Yeah, but..." that pops into people's minds whenever they hear your Control for the umpteenth time. 

    This no-cost research tool may tell you exactly what to say in your next round of commercials.  Just give each of your TM's one of these:

Ask your TMs to write down the first things people say whenever they hear the PRICE.

     Pay close attention to the verbatim comments from people who called but Did Not Buy.

     When interested prospects learn you're a little more expensive than they hoped they start looking for the first excuse they can think of to bail out. They don't usually have to look far into their minds. "Gotta think about it."  "Gotta ask my wife." 

     Chances are that one or two "Yeah, buts..." that are particular to your category or brand will also bubble up to the surface. 

If one or two top of mind excuses are strong enough to prevent dozens of callers from buying,  those same top of mind excuses are strong enough to prevent hundreds of other people from picking up the phone in the first place!

Your next round of spots should defuse those "Yeah, buts..." among people who have heard you, understand what you have to offer, are mildly interested... BUT.

EXAMPLE.  National Dynamic Speed Tapes had run the same network :30 for nine years, fielding 2,000 calls a week. ("You can learn a language in just 20 minutes a day!") Everyone in America had heard the spot 30 to 100 times.  Could I beat it?  I tried several tweaks and pool outs.  Nothing worked.  Then I asked ND's telemarketers why 78% of people who called did NOT BUY. The main reason was something like:

"Well, I took Spanish in High School and I had a hard time memorizing.  So, um.. I guess this wouldn't work for me."  

I realized I had to DEFUSE that objection by demonstrating  how easy it is to learn a new language without memorizing.  The first spot in the new campaign, S-O-C-K-S, pulled 5,000 calls the first week.  Conversion rose from 22% to 28%.  The roll-out campaign earned $35 million in two years, as much money as the brand had earned in its first nine years on the air.  Click to The Radio Show for five of the 40 spots in the campaign.

CAUTION:  If your Control is a straight VO, chances are that another straight VO spot will NOT beat your Control quickly.   Many people will just assume they're hearing the same old same old once again, or they'll just be confused (EXAMPLE). Try some other format. "Oh, this is new!"