By Jeffrey Hedquist
Every time you create a spot, think about making it into a campaign, a theme that will tie all the client’s commercials together and give them an identity in the minds of the audience.
Don’t go beyond the concept stage of the first spot before you ask yourself, “How would I develop this into a campaign?” Then write down as many concepts for other spots in the campaign as you can think of. If the first spot isn’t adaptable to a campaign, you may have to change it.
Even if your client is only expecting, budgeted for, or prepared to air one commercial, always have a campaign ready. It gives you more to come back to the client with, reminds them that they have something to continue to use on the radio, and not to just run a one shot trial. It also gives you someplace to go if the client turns down the first spot.
If you’ve created a single spot and haven’t developed a campaign, then you may be hard-pressed to come up with others to fit with the first, and you might have to abandon the original concept for another one, giving the advertiser an inconsistent sound on the air. You want to use radio’s power to give your advertiser a brand, an image, a niche in the listener’s mind. Give your spots diversity within the unity of a campaign.
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