Sponsor (July-Dec 1954)

What copywriter! mm/: \,, one ifl In ;i bettei position to assaj the Btatus ..I radio copy writing than the man who does the .i. tual work, the < :op) w i iter. SPONSi ih talked w ith a numbei "I cop) men, among them one "f the highest paid i opj m i iters in the i ounti j . a man whose cop) has su essfull) launched more than one national product He was of the decided opinion that radio cop) was being slighted at the big agerx ies and ( ited his own experience ic. j.i « . \ e it. "I have to admit," he -aid. "thai in tlii ami nihil ajni. ies radio is left to the last minute. \1\ nun experience is that todaj radio copj is turned out b) the lowest paid people in the agenc) oi |i\ the lower-e helon writers. \ ml even where an upper-echelon write] i concerned, In usually does ii with his left hand, so to -peak." I In vei \ "upper-e< helon" writer >tiin it up tlii way: "Frankly, the copywriters are getting lazier about doing it. tin client less per-nicket\ about O.K.ing it and the account man less conscious thai it e\i-ts at all." In response i" sponsor's request for a case in point, came the following description 'I a typical agenc) meeting: "Let me give you an example that I think i prett) typical in agencies to day. Wi'H having a weekl) creative meeting. We discuss the t\ and print -lufF ami an about to break up when someone casuall) brings up radio. 'How it going?' he asks. There is silence. Nobodj know even though we ourselves have done the copy. So we check it. and find, to our embarrassment, that we have forgotten to altei it to go along with the new treatment o| the t\ and print! Well, we do a rush alteration job. and the radio commercial i now in line. Ordinarily, you would think it would cause some commotion with the client Hut the simple fact i that the client never noticed his radio COpj wa out of line." \nd what about this top-priced copywriter himself ? How does he deal with a radio commercial now'.' \n academic question for this writer, with his great radio experience to call upon, i never asked to do a radio commercial an\ more. \l another well-known agenc) the radio-t\ cop) chief, once assured of anonymity, was quite willing to state that lie wa having trouble with his writer-' radio copy. "'What I tell you," he cautioned, "is not to be attributed to me or this agency. For quotation I've got a whole set of other answers. ! et's face it. Less attention i being Mlii/ Schteeriti t'oi'ls forfeit/** rnrfio cop*/ Is hotter I. ! he advent of tele; had a bei ipon radio CO] stenl thai • departure from radio of some who think you can just buy ;i powerful medium and expect it i tiially to do your work tor you. -• ■ . radio time buying is being 'lone more by those who 31 LOUS of their reasons -their specific reasons, that is — for buying and using the medium. 3. Those products and those cop that Deeded video the most (that monsti ted visually i have gravitated toward tv. This "automatic screening process" has also tended to make the avi effeel immercials remaining on radio higher. I. 0 ■ ral experience from our tests of radio commercials is that the somewhat more effective than those we tested in 1947-48 remembrance, belief. 5. It i in tin ituie of radio, a 0 Qedium, that it re. repetition than do audio and video Combined. Increased realization of pparentl; de radio even mote widely utilized than before for nder and other t\ pi b of repetil tent, it maj r in this paid to radio cop) than before. What's more, less capable people are doing radio. Sure we're lax, but the billing imuch less, considering, and the client won't listen anyway. As a matter of fact, just today I had to reject boom commercials as below par. And they were written b) a \er\ capable guv — he was ju-t sloughing off." Win i tlii -o. Win doe the capable guy "slough off". Perhaps the an-wer lies in bis feeling that radio represents the past and t\ the present and even brighter future. So, at least, the top copywriter quoted earlier feels. He puts it this wax : "A writer feel he can no longer make a reputation on tinquality of his radio copy. He feelnobody is known an) longer for radio copy. It i in t\ where a writer thinkhis reputation and future are to be made. Naturally that is where his primary interest will lie. It is understandable that he will therefore pax much less attention to radio." Is the writer making a mistake in believing that radio commercial of standout appeal won't help build hicareer? The fad that admen cited outstanding pieces of radio cop) as ha received widespread notice recentl) indicates writers can *till win plaudits for radio copy. But the profile that writers have overlooked their opportunities in radio in their drive to build a t\ reputation. \nd agencx executives in man) cases have failed to channel enthusiasm of writers in the direction of radio. The fact i-. and no wishful thinking will eliminate it. that man) highlj placed executives are themselves convinced that radio copywriting no I er can claim to demand am special skills. Witness this strong statement by the tv-radio commercial directo one of the oldest and largest of the top 10 agencies: "The fact is that t\ i a primary medium, while radio i a collateral medium. \nx good account writer can write radio cop) as well as a so-called 'radio writer. From a functional viewpoint, the radio copywriter a such ha disappeared." The opposing ri«'ic: \,,t all agencx executives went along with such vii \ number xalianllx defended their agenc) efforts in connection with radio copy. Some denied that their copywriters discounted radio in anx wax. < Ithers insisted that their agen< ies gave the same degree ol attention as former 32 SPONSOR