U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

HOMETOWN U.S.A. Clinic Commercials With Jazz Make Listeners Bright-Eyed, Mot Bleary As a sales weapon, a commercial must meet one test ol battle that makes it truly stand out as effective: Do people really listen? It the answer is yes, a campaign is on solid ground. And it it's "no." that answer poses another question: What can be done about it? Often suggestetl, of course, is the standard cure-all of making the commercial "different." One man who has some definite feelings on how to get listenership from a commercial is Alexander "Sascha" Burland, presidcni ol C/Hear Services Inc., New \drk. "One way to get the audience to wake up and listen is to use jazz as the musical background," he explains, noting that he has used this method successfully in producing a number of radio spots. "Jazz has a beat and emotional quality that gets under the skin of people," Mr. Burland points out, "and after all, that's what the advertiser wants to do in his commercial, get under the skin of people. "For years," he says, "jingle and copy writers turned out the 'hit-'emover-the-head' type of conuncrcial. Demands by advertisers for 'hannnering' the sales message w'ere supported by the supposition that irritation, as well as repetition, was necessary in order to sell. "Because advertisers tend to imitate one another, the airways were full of the same type conunercials. Naturally, with all the commercials sounding alike, they tended to cancel each other out. "As a result, there was a shift to an entertaining spot, a commercial that would elate rather than irritate," he recalls. "The idea was to coerce people pleasantly toward a product. " With the advent of the so-called "entertainment" commercial, .Mr. Bin land explains that another problem developed: "Conunercials ^viili jingles that entertain compete wiiii the popular nuisic played on a station. The two are battling lor listeners on their own home giountl: tnteriainmeiil." He adds dial "(he music of the regular progiam lare is written, produced and pel lot nied l)\ liu' lop artists in show l)usiness. And the only way to hold the listener's attention over long enough to hear the commercial is to use an ex( iting com Ijination of sounds." .Although ihc type ol music he writes depends on the campaign and pioduct, Mr. Burland prefers to work with ja//. "Ja/v is the oiilv music that is truly .\meiican in cliaractci. It is oui own loini, not boi rowed lioni that of another culture. For this reason, it elicits an emotional resj)on-ie Irom people that no othei type of music can sinuilate on such a broad scale. Ja// has a mass appeal as well as a class appeal. When identified with a product in a commercial, it stands out against other conmiercials as well as most popular records," he says. Whenever possible, Mr. Burland likes to "salt" the words in a commercial with a subtle humor. He feels that this adds to the palatability of the message by making it even more entertaining. "Here, too, it's absolutely necessary to be imaginative. Nothing is so old or so dead as stale humor," he asserts. "It is ollen much belter id produce the radio commercials in an ad campaign before the print ads have been plamiecl," Mr. Burland suggests. "The long-favored habit of mapping the prim strategy before ilie broadcast is oulmocled. "A ]jrint ad may be seen only once by a reader during a campaign, depending on l)o\\ many magazines, and which maga/ines he reads. On the other hand, the same person may have steady listening and viewing habits that expose him repeatedly to I lie Ijioadcast message. So it makes much more sense to work on the jingle and copy framework at the beginning, and carry the llifme over into piinl lor a campaign ol more unity." Commercial Contest An intcinational contest lor the best radio and television commercials is underway, sponsored by the Hollywood Advertising Club. Advertisers, agencies, producers of broadcast commercials and stations may enter the competition for awards, to be presented during Advertising Week, February 5 through II, l!)(ii. Awards will go to radio commercials ill seven classes: Local or one market coniiirjrc ials of any length or types; musical commercials of one minute or more, and .SO and 20 seconds; and spoken commercials of minute, 30 and 20-second duration. A grand prize will be awarded regardless of category. Although the competition is worldwide, radio entries must be in English, transcribed at .S3 1/3 r.p.m. Deadline lor entries is December 31. • • • 52 U. S. RADIO • November 1960