by Flip Michaels
4:15 p.m., Thursday: An Account Executive walks in... with a smile (clue #1). He has found a pizza chain that's interested in radio. "Can you give me something creative (clue #2) for a 9:30 - tomorrow?" Yeah, why not. You're a team player. "Sure, whattya got on 'em?" Suddenly, all in one swift move, the Account Executive shakes his pockets (clue #3), finds the business card from scribble-I-had-no-paper-hell, hands it to you, and walks away (SFX: DOOR SLAM).
9:30 a.m., Friday: The AE gets the pizza chain to sign a three week deal, five spots per week. Your spot only has one minor change (clue #4) aaannnd...it starts Monday morning.
Three Weeks Later: After all your hard work -- sixteen changes, five rotation schedules, eight make-goods, nineteen carts, one last minute co-op announcement, ten rotating tags, etc. -- the AE informs you that his client is unhappy due to no apparent response (clue #5).
This is when every successful, profitable aspect of radio is dumped in your hands, when you are the one with the days of work at stake, when you make it or break it. What do you do, what do you say?
Tell them, "It's all about FREQUENCY." Then hand them a copy of this:
fre-quen-cy/ fre-kwan-se/ noun, pl-cies 1: the secret to a successful and profitable advertising campaign.
The first time someone listens to an advertisement, they do not hear it.
The second time they do not notice it.
The third time they are conscious of its existence.
The fourth time they faintly remember having heard it before.
The fifth time they listen to it.
The sixth time they turn their nose up at it.
The seventh time they listen to it thoroughly and say, "Oh, brother!"
The eighth time they say, "Here's that confounded thing again!"
The ninth time they wonder if it amounts to anything.
The tenth time they ask a neighbor about it.
The eleventh time they wonder how the advertisement makes its pay.
The twelfth time they think perhaps it may be worth something.
The thirteenth time they think it might be a good thing.
The fourteenth time they remember how long they've wanted such a thing.
The fifteenth time they're tantalized because they cannot afford to buy it.
The sixteenth time they think they'll buy it someday.
The seventeenth time they make a memorandum of it.
The eighteenth time they swear at their poverty.
The nineteenth time they count their money carefully.
The twentieth time they hear it, they buy it.
Author unknown.
Your creative copy and elaborate production are both tools to a campaign's success, but there's one tool that only the client can possess...frequency. Without it, the copy and production are forced to perform at an even higher, more likely disappointing response rate. Why take all the abuse? You've done your part. Let your Account Executives work with the clients in doing their part. Photocopy the FREQUENCY piece and pass it on. It's your Cheat Sheet, so share your answers!
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