By Jeffrey Hedquist
Much of the radio advertising we experience today doesn’t engage any part of our brain, nervous system, heart, lungs or other internal organs.
There’s no story, no conflict, no reality, no interest, no connection, no results. I call it no-brain radio, which is a shame since there are brains waiting to be engaged.
We’re all familiar with the Left Brain: logical, sequential, rational, analytical, objective; looks at parts.
And Right Brain: intuitive, holistic, synthesizing, subjective, looks at the whole.
But it’s the Middle Brain – the seat of emotions and feelings, and the Old Brain – home of the decision-making process where we as advertising experts can work our magic.
This is of course, a gross over-simplification, but it can help us in our quest for results.
Research and experience shows we make most purchase decisions emotionally. Doesn’t it make sense then to use emotion in our commercials?
Emotion is the seduction. It captures our heart and affects the old brain. Then often, just before (sometimes after) we give up our charge information or plunk down the cash, we search for logical reasons to justify the purchase to ourselves or to someone else.
I remember as a young teen telling my parents how the used Webcor tape recorder I saw in the music store window was going to help me in my German class. “See, I’ll get these language tapes, then I’ll listen and practice with them using the recorder…” Yeah right. I wanted that old reel-to-reel so badly I would have said anything. And did. I got it. The rest is history. But I digress… a little.
A whole brain radio ad works by drawing us in with emotion, often reinforcing the feelings we already have, and then gives us some logic to rationalize our decision.
People aren’t just buying products and services; they’re buying the emotional attachments associated with those products or services. Throw in a little reason and they’ll feel better.
Since the Old Brain has a short attention span, the beginning of your commercial – the audio headline and the last thing heard – usually the call to action are the most important parts of your message.
Whole Brain Radio will enable you to reach the hearts and minds of your target audience to insure the success of your campaign.
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