My God… I think I’m about to write a post about radio.
Regular readers will know that I very rarely cover the subject of radio.
That’s because I don’t listen to the radio (except for the utterly wonderful Sirius station Classic Vinyl when in LA).
Also, almost nobody gives a shit about radio advertising.
But that’s a bit of a shame, isn’t it? After all, radio is less scrutinised by clients, and because many of your peers don’t care about it, it’s fertile territory for awards (if you’re into that kind of thing). You also get to meet very famous people and tell them what to do for an hour. Wot larks!
A couple of months back I met the lovely Clare Bowen from the RAB, who pointed me in the direction of this initiative they’ve set up with D&AD. So check it out and get inspired.
Also, news reaches me of this radio campaign for Women’s Aid. It’s rather hard-hitting (pardon the pun), but what interests me is the fact that the team used a TV director (QI’s Dominic Savage) to get the right performances from the actors (or maybe he beat the shit out of them).
I find that interesting because the best radio ads I ever did also involved getting some outside help to plump up the casting and direction. If not for the boys at Eardrum, I think the ads would never have made it into D&AD. So next time you get a radio brief, why not see if some of the best in the business can lend you a hand. You have nothing to lose but the shit ads you might have made without them.
Me and my old mate Chris Palmer always used to volunteer for the radio briefs when the rest of the creative department used to run away from them.
It’s how we learned about writing and directing dialogue and the importance of sound.
…but most importantly we got to meet a lot of our boyhood radio and screen heroes in the form of most of the ‘Round the Horne’ and ‘Carry On’ gangs.
Happy Days.
Sort of on topic. The radio ads from Polyfilla that are currently assaulting our ears end with the words “check out our Facebook page.”
Ha ha ha. Polyfilla have a Facebook page. I must friend it. So first I must sign up to Facebook. So first I must becme a brainless moron.
I love writing for radio. But then I’m an art director, so what do I know?
Anyone got a top ten of radio ads or a link?
Msr Denton Esq.?
I vaguely remember one done a while back for Prostrate Cancer Check-up with Ricky Gervais. Think the agency was Publicis.
Anyway, IMHO radio is a great medium.
http://www.cstthegate.com/davetrott/2009/04/what-made-mike-myers-better/
John – The RAB are launching a smartphone app called LoveRadioAds in a couple of weeks which streams radio ads from a database.This will include top ten radio ads. In the meantime, there’s a hall of fame on the RAB website. Ricky Gervais is quality – personally I also love the Rob Brydon Diet Tango stuff too.
Clare – Sweet.
I love radio ads. A dying art no doubt. I did the same thing recently on a campaign – got a TV director in to help us produce some spots with the talented Mr Serafinowicz, which worked out well (in one’s humble opinion). I can recommend it as an approach.
is D&AD cool again? hmmm… i thought it was publicly decapitated a couple of weeks ago in this very same blog by pretty much everyone.
Some of what D&AD does is good; some of it is shit. We call it accordingly.
As a guy who has helped plenty of clients make money via radio advertising, I’ll vouch for the effectiveness of a well done radio campaign.
Also, if you want to reach a customer via Pandora, Spotify and the like, a good radio advertising background will go a long way. Those shiny videos and banners are going to be languishing in the non-visible non-active tab while the listener is browsing Reddit. Meanwhile, the audio is still coming through.
Peter Serafinowicz, you say, Mr Sell Sell… very interesting. If you email them to me at clare.bowen@rab.co.uk I’d really love a listen. The man is a comic Midas and everything he touches turns to gold.
You get a free lunch/smoothie/coffee from a Soho eatery of your choosing.
Historically the creative bar for radio has always been set pretty low. So a great ad on the radio shines out like a beacon. I’ve always felt that the stations themselves should take a stand and say ‘No. We’re not accepting that ad. It’s dreadful and will annoy our listeners’.
I wonder if any of them have ever said that…?
There was once a black pencil awarded for radio.
An anti smoking ad with Michael Palin. As far as I know, the only ad he has ever done.
Spot on, Mister Gash. Think the stations could do a lot more. They also make a lot of radio ads in house…
Oh! And Most Importantly, there is no such thing as a free lunch/smoothie/coffee.