U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1959)

Doug MacNamee Howard Wilson EWR&R Kenyon & Eckhardt ly ill the coming ycai. "A jingle (;in be the easy way onl lor an agency's creative people, ^vho write a brief copy platform and then call in the jingle writers to carry it Irom there," he contends. "When music is the best possible way to convev a picture in sound, of course it should be used; otherwise, no. Radio shouldn't be categorized as a music medium — it is a great channel lor conversation, for skillfully directed sounds of many kinds." A problem each copywriter must solve, he believes, is how to keep from getting so involved with techniques that he forgets to write. Taking the idea of creativity a step further, Miss Greenbaum and Mr. McDonnell define the good copywriter as both a "thinker" (with ideas about what to do) and a "showman" (with ideas about how to do it). "Basic thinking must come first," they point out. "You don't sit down for a copy session and say 'Let's use a sound effect' and then try to adapt the problem to suit it." At FC8cB copywriters work " in depth" on accoinits, writing for both broadcast and print to provide what the agency considers a more cohesive campaign. Miss Sherman describes the copywriting process at M-E as combining all-around and specialized skills "depending on the talent of the people involved." Some copywriters produce only broadcast material, others do only print, still others do both — the original idea comes from "any locale," and the pattern is set in advance by the creative plans board to achieve a unified campaign, she says. As an instance, she refers to the Chesterfield "Men of America" series. "We planned the theme song for use in both broadcast and print. Radio showcased the music, television dramatized it and print picked up the television frames anci ran the words of the music underneath." Agiccing ill. II llic iciigili III (oiMiiici(ia!s is Iciidiiig iiioic lo iiiiiuili's, llic agciuy j)(i)j)!c .idd ilicsc (omiiienls: Wilson; " I iiiu' is Irecpiciil ly di(lalcd by a\.iiial)ililics. Xatuially llic i)est ( omiiu 1 ( i.i 1 is ilu' one dial's long enough to do liie job— and (•\en (i's, (an do a great job, depending on the < ii ( iiiiisi.iiK cs." Mr. Stone: "A iiuisical (ommercial generally recjuires the lull luinuir for proper effect. I lic jingle has grown up into a legitimate "musical miinite' that provides its own setting, which is particularly important for the majority of announcements not built into special programs. " ^fiss Greenbaum and Mr. M(Donnell: "Minutes will (onlinuc to be used by prac tically every advertiser except by someone so well established his product needs only a reminder. An ID serves as an 'outdoor ]josler' for the ear. The explanation lequired for most new products can't be given in less than a minute. " Mr. MacNamee: "When it comes to saturating radio, shorter commercials can be very effective but they need to be tied in with longer ones. Most products need the full treatment of a minute; an outstanding exception is Sinclair." Miss Sherman: "The tremendous resurgence of radio in recent years makes it one of the best buys available. Obviously our agency is not the only one aware of this, and as more and more commercials go on the air the creative person's problem becomes more and more 'How can I get people to listen to ?7?v copy?' The answer requires ingenuity and imagination." Ending the discussion on as provocative a note as it began, Mr. Wilson sums up: "Actually we knew more about how to use radio before the advent of television than we do now. We must go back and rediscover — literally rediscover — this medium, one of the most wonderful in the world. Suppose, for example, television had been invented first and then somebody got a great idea — why not television without pictures? It would be cheaper, and there'd be more concentration on sound. "Now, what's the best way to use it?" That's one tune a growing number of creative people are humming under their breath.* • • 'Reverse English' Kxpci iiiii-iiiiii;^ with a new apliroacli III coiiy, 'i'ilil^ & Caul/ a<lvcilisin}; ajiincy in l.o-. Aiinr-Nrs has inlruiliKctJ what it calls a "ncgalivr;|iii-iiivi-" rDiiimiTcial. F: "■()iii |iiir|i()-c." says Marvin >. ly Cantz. aficiiry (lartner, "is to 'talk' to the consumer in rpalistir terms. We may admit that the product is y not the eighth woniier of the world, L: that it is not intended to he all things to all people. But wp will immediately counter with proof of what makes the product better under spe == cific conditions." m As an example, he cites T&C's S current campaign for a California I radio station which plays up the fact g that some people (cool characters J and teenagers) dont listen to that g particular station — instead, its audiS ence is stable, adult, mature, with g buying power. II "We have rather strong feelings at g T&C about the use of humor in radio g advertising," Mr. Cantz continues, g "and we approach it with extreme I caution. We are aware that the g humorous vein is quite voguish at g the moment. [ "True, most people enjoy a good g laugh. But this, in our opinion, can P be dangerous in advertising — unless = the humorous techniciue is carefully B (very carefully I welded to a sound g and compelling reason to buy the M product." = With so many demands on the g consumers' dollar, the agency be g lieves. there are relatively few in g stances today where customers won't g give serious consideration to the g comparative value of the products g they buy — and they seldom make g their buying decisions on the g strength of a joke. g "We might suggest, however, that g radio copy make better use of its g priceless ingredient — the spoken g word." Mr. Cantz says. "This is g radio's decisive advantage over = printed media.'' g A voice with "convinceability" — g one that is easy and natural — g coupled with a negative-positive copy g approach generates a great deal of m confidence in the product, he con B eludes. U. S. RADIO • January 1959 43