In all the promos and commercials people have sent me over the years for a critique, it’s THE standout flaw. I sincerely believe it’s the one thing you can do that will have the biggest impact on your production career. Having said that, here is the next installment.
Interview: Jesse Simon, Rogers Radio Group, Calgary, AB, Canada
by Jerry Vigil
This month’s R.A.P. Interview stops in Calgary, for a first-time visit with Jesse Simon, Imaging Producer for the cluster of Rogers stations there. Jesse entered two promos in the recent Radio And Production Awards which tied each other for the first place trophy win in the Medium Market Promos category, a rare feat indeed. If you’ve heard the promos, you know why. They both easily deserve the top spot. Jesse tells us about the promos, where the concepts came from and how they were produced. Jesse is also a musician and music producer who puts his skills in this area to good use in radio production. We pick his brain on this and many other topics well worth your read. Hear the winning promos once more on the R.A.P. CD this month, along with some additional material from Jesse’s mixdown folder. Enjoy!
Test Drive: Forty Plugs from P&M
by Steve Cunningham
After a few issues wherein we’ve dealt with various forms of Internet esoterica, this month we’ll get back to the basics of assembling a serviceable audio editing station. Our specific goal this month is to investigate inexpensive plug-ins with a minimum of coloration or “character”. In other words, cheap plugs that sound good. It turns out I may have found some.
Feature: Clients and Sales are the worst! Aren’t they?
by Sheldon Hovde
Clients suck. They’re the worst. They’ve taken countless brilliant (subjective term) ideas of mine and turned them into complete shit. I used to think that I could train them. Reason with them. Teach them to recognize the kind of radio ad that would help their business leaps and bounds above the drivel they torture our listeners with… but I must have failed. I must have not tried hard enough. I went into the “client vs. me” boxing ring full of confidence only to come out bloodied and beat. But why?
Radio Hed: For Select Advertisers - Be Blunt in Your Commercials
by Jeffrey Hedquist
The use of this technique can be a little tricky. It’s only for those clients who offer the very best choice of services and products. By “best choice” I mean the best value and some massive advantage. If you use it for an advertiser that can’t deliver on the bold promise, then it will backfire and lower your client’s and your credibility. If you could sit a prospective customer down and show them side-by-side the benefits your client delivers compared with those all their competitors deliver, would the prospect choose your client every time? If so, that client would be a good candidate for this technique.
The Monday Morning Memo: How Soon Will My Ads Start Working?
by Roy H. Williams
These are the 5 questions you must answer before you can know how soon your ads will start working: Q. 1: What percentage of the noise made in your category – in all the different media combined - is being made by you? This is your Share of Voice. Q. 2: What percentage of the population will actively be in the market for your product or service this week? This is your Product Purchase Cycle. Food has a very short Product Purchase Cycle. The shorter the Product Purchase Cycle, the quicker your ad campaign will reach maximum ROI.