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