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I’ve been in the broadcast advertising and multi-track production biz for about 26 years and have learned a few things along the way. What I’m about to describe is a technique I learned years ago that may be of help in your radio advertising.
I started doing haunted attraction advertising and productions in 1994 and through the years have had the opportunity to work with some great folks in this community and my thanks to all!
THE BEST STYLE RADIO FOR HAUNTS (In my humble opinion of course.)
I learned something very interesting about twenty four years ago, that I discovered through experimentation, with a chain of formal wear stores.
I have used this technique successfully in ads for other businesses, including haunted attractions. (Bear with me on this, because it really can help you reach and sell your intended audience on radio and do so with a lot less
airtime!)
Getting back to the formal wear experiment...
The two big pushes for formal wear are of course, proms and weddings. If you think about it, these are two of the most emotionally charged times in a guy’s life and I figured this is a very unique aspect of the formal wear business. Your not just selling or renting tuxedos, you’re selling an emotionally-associated-product, that will play a key role, in an emotionally-charged-experience!
Few businesses have this very Unique Selling Proposition and a HAUNTED ATTRACTION is for sure, one of them! You’re selling an emotion and it’s called... FEAR!
The first, emotion-tapping-ad I tried for selling formal wear was for weddings.
I’ll never forget what the owner said when he heard it, “Shit Bob, you’re only mentioning our name ONCE at the very end of the 60 second ad!!!” “Can’t ya get our name in there a few more times???”
It took about a half hour to explain the method to my madness but I basically said, “I want to get into grooms’ heads and let them IMAGINE the scene for themselves and they will, because their emotions are heightened at the moment.”
I went on to say that if you can get someone to IMAGINE something in their minds,
they’re doing the creating and because of that, they’ll never forget the scene NOR your name! (Haunters: Think about something you’ve created from scratch. I’ll bet you can tell me every single element of it, in minute detail and even if you did it over ten years ago! It’s just the way it is.)
Once I finally talked the client into it, we gave it a good run on radio. (I eventually did a 30 second television version of the ad for a client in another state but it just didn’t have the same punch.) The reason being, is that TV is showing you the scene, whereas with radio, you have to create the scene in your mind. What you create will be yours alone. That’s the beauty of radio and how it actually began, as Theater of the Mind. I recall my grandfather describing many a scene from The Shadow or Amos & Andy etc. and yes, in very, minute detail!
That first ad of this type created, had all of 40 or 50 words in it, compared to normal 60’s that USUALLY range from 95-120. (Less is definitely more in these type ads) Anyway, rather than me TELLING grooms to come to this joint because they have the best tuxedo names, the lowest prices and yadda yadda yadda…I presented a touching scenario that tapped an element of their pre-wedding emotions.
I’ll describe the ad here to show you the technique, for purposes of better understanding the Theater of the Mind approach in radio advertising. It does work incredibly well with businesses having an emotion attached in some
fashion. Again, a haunt is a natural for same!
TITLE: Alone in the Gym
OPEN with soft, sparse, story-telling music.
SFX: METAL GYM DOOR opens
Bill (Out loud as voice trails with a Gym’s ambient reverb)
JOHN?...........ARE YA HERE YET?
Bill (To himself, no reverb)
WHAT’S A GUY WANT ME TO COME OUT TO A GYM AT 2 O’CLOCK
IN THE MORNING FOR?
Bill (Out loud again and as we hear his FOOTSTEPS on the Gymnasium Floor, music continues)
JOHNNY?
Bill (To himself softer, no reverb)
WELL…..HE DIDN’T SOUND THAT GOOD ON THE PHONE………Footsteps Continue………OH…..Footsteps Stop……THERE’S A LIGHT ON IN THE LOCKER ROOM……(Music up for 3-4 seconds)…..footsteps fade left to right……
Bill (Out loud, SOFTER but reverb reduced for smaller area)
JOHNNY…….YOU IN HERE?...........Pause…………..WHAT’S THIS? A SUIT BAG?
THERE’S A NOTE ON IT…….SFX: Paper Crinkling……WHAT IS THIS?...................Paper Crinkling more……..
Bill (Reading Note)
DEAR BILL…….ANY GUY WHO’S NICE ENOUGH OR NUTS ENOUGH TO COME
OUT……..IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT…..TO HELP A FRIEND…….IS THE
KIND OF FRIEND I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE……..AS MY…………………….BEST MAN……..
……………………………….HERE’S YOUR TUXEDO......Music Swells Up briefly and down….
Bill (Out loud yell with tincture of humor in voice)
JOHNNNNNNNNY…………YOUR NUTS JOHNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYY….Laughing
Announcer
SARNO & SON FORMAL WEAR
YOU MAKE THE WEDDING, WE’LL MAKE YA LOOK GOOD
So as you can see in this ad, I didn’t say a damn thing about tuxedos, prices or anything about the stores. MOST IMPORTANTLY…….I didn’t TELL grooms something like, we know how ya feel or what you’re thinking. TELLING someone about an emotion ISN’T the same as letting them FEEL it for themselves.
It’s like Haunted Attraction ads I’ve heard that say, “YOU’RE GOING TO
BE REALLY SCARED!” Yeah, yeah, yeah…..means NOTHING to the “listener.” AH….but if you get them to IMAGINE being in a very scary scene or FEELING rather creeped-out……BAMM……ya got ‘em, just like I got the grooms by letting them actually FEEL the emotion.
The results of that gym ad were as follows: Rental Sales skyrocketed 55-67% over the previous year, at all 7 locations and the owners reported that the grooms to be (and/or their fiancées) mentioned the radio ad repeatedly. The owner told me that one lady called and said she cried every time it came on.
Here’s something interesting. I happened to speak to the owner’s daughter a month ago and she said, “Bob, remember that gym ad you did 20 some years ago?” “Well, you won’t believe this but we still have people mentioning that ad to us!” “They’re now mothers or father’s of the grooms!”
I hope I haven’t bored you with this but I wanted you to see that RADIO can be EXTREMELY effective for businesses that sell some form of an emotionally charged product or service. (ie Haunted Attractions!)
So if you’re going to use radio in your marketing, don’t forget the inherent and powerful Theater of the Mind potential of the medium!
Try to create a scene in the beginning of the ad that manifests an element of fear.
DON’T TELL someone they’re going to be scared….give ‘em a taste of it and let them really FEEL that emotion. The scene doesn’t even have to be one from your haunt, just a slice of darkness that most folks have experienced or with which they can readily identify.
Give ‘em a few goose bumps up front to lure them in and ……whammm……THEN mention your name. It will literally be PLANTED in their imaginations' and in essence their subconscious minds. You can then switch to a sell of the haunt’s strong points.
Keep your words short and make, each, one, count, in description. You can use sound effects, screams or music stings, INSTEAD of words too.
The biggest mistake I see in radio advertising is that a lot of people do nothing more than, talking print ads. Sure, that type of ad will still work if you’ve got a huge budget. But if you don’t, save all the fine points for your web site or print marketing. Take advantage of that unique aspect of the medium and let people IMAGINE and FEEL just how scary this haunt of yours really is!
If you get people to FEEL the emotion of fear, creepiness or the bizarre, your ad will be ten times more effective than a laundry list of all your show’s marvelous attributes. If you intrigue them enough with a few goose bumps or mind twists, they’ll go to your site to learn more or simply go to your haunt to experience more.
Less is more in the Theater of the Mind game and doing this sort of ad is indeed
scary, especially when budgets are tight. But heck, it takes a lot more than that to scare you! Right?
Well, that’s kinda it in a nutshell. I hope it helps. Best of luck in 2008!
Bob Harper
www.hearbob.com
I started doing haunted attraction advertising and productions in 1994 and through the years have had the opportunity to work with some great folks in this community and my thanks to all!
THE BEST STYLE RADIO FOR HAUNTS (In my humble opinion of course.)
I learned something very interesting about twenty four years ago, that I discovered through experimentation, with a chain of formal wear stores.
I have used this technique successfully in ads for other businesses, including haunted attractions. (Bear with me on this, because it really can help you reach and sell your intended audience on radio and do so with a lot less
airtime!)
Getting back to the formal wear experiment...
The two big pushes for formal wear are of course, proms and weddings. If you think about it, these are two of the most emotionally charged times in a guy’s life and I figured this is a very unique aspect of the formal wear business. Your not just selling or renting tuxedos, you’re selling an emotionally-associated-product, that will play a key role, in an emotionally-charged-experience!
Few businesses have this very Unique Selling Proposition and a HAUNTED ATTRACTION is for sure, one of them! You’re selling an emotion and it’s called... FEAR!
The first, emotion-tapping-ad I tried for selling formal wear was for weddings.
I’ll never forget what the owner said when he heard it, “Shit Bob, you’re only mentioning our name ONCE at the very end of the 60 second ad!!!” “Can’t ya get our name in there a few more times???”
It took about a half hour to explain the method to my madness but I basically said, “I want to get into grooms’ heads and let them IMAGINE the scene for themselves and they will, because their emotions are heightened at the moment.”
I went on to say that if you can get someone to IMAGINE something in their minds,
they’re doing the creating and because of that, they’ll never forget the scene NOR your name! (Haunters: Think about something you’ve created from scratch. I’ll bet you can tell me every single element of it, in minute detail and even if you did it over ten years ago! It’s just the way it is.)
Once I finally talked the client into it, we gave it a good run on radio. (I eventually did a 30 second television version of the ad for a client in another state but it just didn’t have the same punch.) The reason being, is that TV is showing you the scene, whereas with radio, you have to create the scene in your mind. What you create will be yours alone. That’s the beauty of radio and how it actually began, as Theater of the Mind. I recall my grandfather describing many a scene from The Shadow or Amos & Andy etc. and yes, in very, minute detail!
That first ad of this type created, had all of 40 or 50 words in it, compared to normal 60’s that USUALLY range from 95-120. (Less is definitely more in these type ads) Anyway, rather than me TELLING grooms to come to this joint because they have the best tuxedo names, the lowest prices and yadda yadda yadda…I presented a touching scenario that tapped an element of their pre-wedding emotions.
I’ll describe the ad here to show you the technique, for purposes of better understanding the Theater of the Mind approach in radio advertising. It does work incredibly well with businesses having an emotion attached in some
fashion. Again, a haunt is a natural for same!
TITLE: Alone in the Gym
OPEN with soft, sparse, story-telling music.
SFX: METAL GYM DOOR opens
Bill (Out loud as voice trails with a Gym’s ambient reverb)
JOHN?...........ARE YA HERE YET?
Bill (To himself, no reverb)
WHAT’S A GUY WANT ME TO COME OUT TO A GYM AT 2 O’CLOCK
IN THE MORNING FOR?
Bill (Out loud again and as we hear his FOOTSTEPS on the Gymnasium Floor, music continues)
JOHNNY?
Bill (To himself softer, no reverb)
WELL…..HE DIDN’T SOUND THAT GOOD ON THE PHONE………Footsteps Continue………OH…..Footsteps Stop……THERE’S A LIGHT ON IN THE LOCKER ROOM……(Music up for 3-4 seconds)…..footsteps fade left to right……
Bill (Out loud, SOFTER but reverb reduced for smaller area)
JOHNNY…….YOU IN HERE?...........Pause…………..WHAT’S THIS? A SUIT BAG?
THERE’S A NOTE ON IT…….SFX: Paper Crinkling……WHAT IS THIS?...................Paper Crinkling more……..
Bill (Reading Note)
DEAR BILL…….ANY GUY WHO’S NICE ENOUGH OR NUTS ENOUGH TO COME
OUT……..IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT…..TO HELP A FRIEND…….IS THE
KIND OF FRIEND I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE……..AS MY…………………….BEST MAN……..
……………………………….HERE’S YOUR TUXEDO......Music Swells Up briefly and down….
Bill (Out loud yell with tincture of humor in voice)
JOHNNNNNNNNY…………YOUR NUTS JOHNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYY….Laughing
Announcer
SARNO & SON FORMAL WEAR
YOU MAKE THE WEDDING, WE’LL MAKE YA LOOK GOOD
So as you can see in this ad, I didn’t say a damn thing about tuxedos, prices or anything about the stores. MOST IMPORTANTLY…….I didn’t TELL grooms something like, we know how ya feel or what you’re thinking. TELLING someone about an emotion ISN’T the same as letting them FEEL it for themselves.
It’s like Haunted Attraction ads I’ve heard that say, “YOU’RE GOING TO
BE REALLY SCARED!” Yeah, yeah, yeah…..means NOTHING to the “listener.” AH….but if you get them to IMAGINE being in a very scary scene or FEELING rather creeped-out……BAMM……ya got ‘em, just like I got the grooms by letting them actually FEEL the emotion.
The results of that gym ad were as follows: Rental Sales skyrocketed 55-67% over the previous year, at all 7 locations and the owners reported that the grooms to be (and/or their fiancées) mentioned the radio ad repeatedly. The owner told me that one lady called and said she cried every time it came on.
Here’s something interesting. I happened to speak to the owner’s daughter a month ago and she said, “Bob, remember that gym ad you did 20 some years ago?” “Well, you won’t believe this but we still have people mentioning that ad to us!” “They’re now mothers or father’s of the grooms!”
I hope I haven’t bored you with this but I wanted you to see that RADIO can be EXTREMELY effective for businesses that sell some form of an emotionally charged product or service. (ie Haunted Attractions!)
So if you’re going to use radio in your marketing, don’t forget the inherent and powerful Theater of the Mind potential of the medium!
Try to create a scene in the beginning of the ad that manifests an element of fear.
DON’T TELL someone they’re going to be scared….give ‘em a taste of it and let them really FEEL that emotion. The scene doesn’t even have to be one from your haunt, just a slice of darkness that most folks have experienced or with which they can readily identify.
Give ‘em a few goose bumps up front to lure them in and ……whammm……THEN mention your name. It will literally be PLANTED in their imaginations' and in essence their subconscious minds. You can then switch to a sell of the haunt’s strong points.
Keep your words short and make, each, one, count, in description. You can use sound effects, screams or music stings, INSTEAD of words too.
The biggest mistake I see in radio advertising is that a lot of people do nothing more than, talking print ads. Sure, that type of ad will still work if you’ve got a huge budget. But if you don’t, save all the fine points for your web site or print marketing. Take advantage of that unique aspect of the medium and let people IMAGINE and FEEL just how scary this haunt of yours really is!
If you get people to FEEL the emotion of fear, creepiness or the bizarre, your ad will be ten times more effective than a laundry list of all your show’s marvelous attributes. If you intrigue them enough with a few goose bumps or mind twists, they’ll go to your site to learn more or simply go to your haunt to experience more.
Less is more in the Theater of the Mind game and doing this sort of ad is indeed
scary, especially when budgets are tight. But heck, it takes a lot more than that to scare you! Right?
Well, that’s kinda it in a nutshell. I hope it helps. Best of luck in 2008!
Bob Harper
www.hearbob.com
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