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179Chapter 12: Broadcasting Ads on Radio and TV

ߜ Sound: Have the same announcer serve as the voice in all your ads.

ߜ Style: Establish a broadcast ad style — for example, an ongoing dialogue
between the same two people, or ads that always advance a certain kind
of message.

ߜ Music: If you use music or sound effects, use the same notable back-
ground in all your ads.

ߜ Jingles: Jingles are musical slogans that play in broadcast ads. Some
people love them, some hate them, and sooner or later almost everyone
tires of them. Before investing in a jingle, first be sure you will air
enough broadcast ads to achieve an association between the jingle and
your name. Second, the jingle must be appropriate to your brand image.
Any station or studio can direct you to jingle producers.

Writing your ad

Don’t write your own ad. Instead, write your ad strategy and objective and
then bring in professional help to develop your concept and write your
script. Follow these tips:

ߜ Be strategic. Start by setting your ad strategy (see Chapter 8).

ߜ Know your objective. Write a creative brief (again, see Chapter 8) sum-
marizing whom you want the ad to talk to, what you want it to accom-
plish, and what market action you want it to inspire.

ߜ Develop your ad concept. Your concept should be capable of grabbing
and holding audience attention without stealing the spotlight or distract-
ing attention away from your ad message (see Chapter 8). This is where
professional writers really earn their fees.

ߜ Grab audience attention. You have three seconds before your audience
is gone — out to the refrigerator or over to another station.

ߜ Tell a story. In a 30-second ad, you have about 20 seconds to inform,
educate, entice, and entertain — and even less if you cede time to a
jingle or other sound effects. The other seconds get divided between an
attention-getting opening and your ad identification and call to action.
Be sure to do the following in your ad:

• Feature your name (or product name) at least three times.

• Feature your call to action at least once, preferably twice.

• If you include an address, provide an easy locator (for example,
Just across from the train station).