Welcome to the February 2012 R.A.P. CD! We get started with this
month’s Editor’s Choice Award winner, a well done holiday commercial
from Jay Helmus, Michael Popil and Mike Sherlock at Rogers Radio
Vancouver. Get my comments on winners and more info on the RAPforum at
www.rapmag.com.
Track two is a commercial sampler from our interview subject, Rod
Schwartz. There are six spots in the collection, and Rod sent some very
interesting notes on each spot as follows:
Spot 1) This first example is one of a dozen spots
voiced by the owner of Imported Car Service. His approach is to provide
motorists with helpful information...low-key, friendly, engaging.
Spot 2) Don Frei is the co-owner of Howard
Hughes Appliance, Television, and Sleep Shop in Moscow, ID. He does most
of the ads for his store; his business partner, Kevin Peterson, also
voices some of their ads. Ten years ago they made the bold decision to
leave their weekly price-and-item promotion-based print-heavy campaign
and embark on a radio-heavy branding campaign. It doubled their
business. Today, over 90% of their ad budget is in radio. They're on the
air every day, every week, all year long, on most, if not all stations
in the market. This spot, one of a series of five or six "special" ads
we produced in the spring of 2010, for a one-day campaign. As you'll
hear, even appliance dealers have a sense of humor.
Spot 3) This was the first in a series of
commercials I did for a local music store. I recorded the voice (one of
the store's musician-employees) in an upstairs practice room on a
portable Sony Walkman minidisc recorder and produced the commercial in
my home studio. It was first aired in 2003 and is still on the air in
rotation with the others, still getting results for the advertiser.
(Being in a college town -- 2 major universities 7 miles apart -- the
population turns over with sufficient frequency to allow this and other
ad campaigns to enjoy a longer shelf life.)
Spot 4) This is one of many ads I've produced
over the years using the voices of college students who work at the
Washington State University Creamery's retail store, Ferdinand's Ice
Cream Shoppe. Part of the management's motivation has been, of course,
to sell ice cream; but also high on their priority list has been to
encourage student involvement in their advertising.
Spot 5) The voices in the first part of this
commercial belong to a couple of young female voice talents, supplied by
Randy Lawson of Randy Lawson Productions, who emailed the separate voice
tracks to me; the lady speaking at the end is the executive director of
WISH Medical, recorded in her office.
Spot 6) Washington State University attracts a
significant number of international students, undergraduates and grad
students -- some with families here. Obviously, at some point they're
likely to require medical care. Pullman Family Medicine wanted to use
their radio ads to attract and welcome these international students, so
I came up with this approach featuring a bunch of real students and an
employee of PFM.
Production 212 audio from Dave Foxx is on track 3. We get more
commercials on tracks 4 through 11. Promos are on tracks 12 – 19. Jon
Carter sends us some imaging on track 20, and we wrap it up with a few
more gems from the archives on tracks 21 – 26.
On next month’s R.A.P. CD, we present the finalists of the 22nd
Annual Radio And Production Awards! But we still welcome your
submissions for our regular CDs. So if you crank out something you’re
proud of, send it in and we’ll keep it on file until the awards
presentations are done. Thanks!
1. « Pacific Eye Doctors/Can’t
Read Christmas, Jay Helmus, Michael J. Popil, Mike Sherlock, Rogers
Radio, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, jay.helmus@rci.rogers.com
2. Commercial Sampler, Rod Schwartz,
Grace Broadcast Sales/KHTR/KQQQ, Pullman, Washington,
rod@gracebroadcast.com
3. Production 212 Audio, Dave Foxx,
Z100, New York, NY, davefoxx@clearchannel.com
4. Conner’s Wine/Dinners, Matt
Wallace, CHWK-FM, Chilliwack, BC, Canada, matt@895thehawk.com
5. The Shops/Yoga, Deborah Hopkins,
KOOL/KFUN, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, Canada, deborah.hopkins@bellmedia.ca
6. Aquavor, Josh R., B96, Chicago,
Illinois, b96joshr@me.com
7. Harry’s Hi-Fi/Good Stuff, JJ
Elliott, Harvard Broadcasting, Regina, SK, Canada,
jjelliott@harvardbroadcasting.com
8. Future Travel/Price Drop
Protection, Robin J. Egerton, robin@borderrock.com
9. The Palace, Eddie Bye, Nova 919,
Adelaide, SA, Australia, ebye@dmgradio.com.au
10. Waterloo Arms/Football, Mike Vuckovich, KOOL/KFUN,
Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, Canada, mike.vuckovich@bellmedia.ca
11. Mr. Toppers/Success, Sean Bell, NYPD, New
Yorkshire, United Kingdom ,
sean@sounds-good.biz
12. 91.5 CKPR/Always Will Be, Scott Chasty, Dougall
Media, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, schasty@dougallmedia.com
13. Jack FM Presents Van Halen, Ron Tarrant, Roger’s
Broadcasting, Calgary, AB, Canada, pureproduction@live.ca
14. KLFM/Stormtrooper 6-1, Colin McGinness, UKRD
Group, Bristol, United Kingdom, colin.mcginness@ukrd.com
15. KOOL Apps, Doug Newman, KOOL-FM,
Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, Canada, doug.newman@bellmedia.ca
16. Katy Perry Valentine’s Day, Josh R., B96, Chicago,
Illinois, b96joshr@gmail.com
17. Metallica Anniversary, Gary McClenaghan, Harvard
Broadcasting, Regina, SK, Canada, garym@harvardbroadcasting.com
18. Worthy/Modern Technology, Adam Venton, UKRD Group,
Bristol, United Kingdom, adam.venton@ukrd.com
19. Real Tiny Mr. Offended, Rich Boerner, (formerly
with) KLSX, Los Angeles, California
20. Bright Site WEEB 990AM, Jon Carter,
jc@megahertzstudios.com
21. Anna Nicole Smith and Ozzy, CJ Goodearl, WJRR-FM,
Orlando, Florida, cjgoodearl@clearchannel.com
22. The Aristocrats – Censored, Alan Peterson, Radio
America Network, Washington, DC, apeterson@radioamerica.org
23. Ding Dong Flames are Gone, Dave Cruickshank,
106.1/99.7 The Goat, Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada, dave@borderrock.com
24. North Korean News, Rich Conway, WCCC/WBOQ,
Hartford, Connecticut, rconway@wccc.com
25. Cold Hearted Snakes on a Plane, Ryan Keith, Zimmer
Radio, Joplin, Missouri, ryank@zrgmail.com
26. John McCoin, Nick Tozzi, WCPN-FM, Cleveland, Ohio,
nicktozzi@hotmail.com
Support the RAP CD by sending a promo and/or a commercial recently
produced at your studios. Please include your e-mail address or phone
number for anyone interested in finding out details about the work such
as producer, voice talent, etc. Sweepers, bits, spoof spots, song
parodies, and most any other good piece of production are also welcome.
If you send sweepers, dub them back to back to create a montage about
sixty seconds long or less. All other items should be kept separate so
we can pull them off cleanly. Normalize your mp3 files, trim silence
from the front and back and email to jv@rapmag.com. Thank you!
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