The core ingredients of effective, engaging, award-winning, breakthrough radio creative are an intense focus on storytelling, stimulating imagination, creating theater of the mind, passion for words, silence and language, simplicity, originality and outstanding production quality.
Write like you talk and read your dialogue out loud.
Write what you think is good, then keep going. Your first ideas in radio are never good.
Edit mercilessly. Cut lines and words, even though you hate to do it. You need to give the idea room to come to life.
Leave empty spaces. Silence can be more engaging than yelling when everything else is screaming for attention.
Figure out what you want from talent before you get in the studio and be ready to articulate it. Don't hold back. This is your creation.
Put in the time and don’t settle for the first thing that comes to mind.
You have to know who you're talking to and understand them as real people. Find the human element.
Read your ads aloud to yourself as you write them. Hearing your spot read aloud helps you get out of your own head.
Study great radio and why it's great before you begin to write your ads. Be straightforward, concise and focused.
Know the feeling you want people left with after your radio spot. And make sure the music, SFX, talent and everything is there to pay that off.
Don’t use somebody who sounds like a traditional, deep-overpronounced-professional voice over unless you’re using that to make a self-aware point. Have more fun.
Make every word count. Don't have ten seconds of entertainment followed by straight facts. Make the boilerplate copy sing too.
Know exactly what you want to say. If the brief isn't precise, it's not helping. You don't know what you don't know.
Step back and really be objective about the work. Is it great or just good? Be honest with yourself.
Read - the more you read the more you can write by exploring different points of view, vocabulary and inspiration.
Cast your brains out and really look for the voice you haven't heard before.
Be straightforward, concise and focused.
Don't be afraid of a really well-written spot. It doesn't always have to rely on audio trickery or heavy sound effects.
Write with a partner because two brains are better than one to get to the great idea.
Bounce things off other people and ask them, Is it funny? Did I miss anything? Is it something worth pursuing?
Remember the tennis ball metaphor. If I throw six tennis balls at you, you won't catch any. If I throw one tennis ball, you will. Same thing applies to radio advertising - if it's 60 seconds packed with copy points, people won’t listen or remember. They WILL remember one thing told really well.
Walk away from your script before you decide if it's good and even better, read it to someone who doesn't know the assignment so they can tell you what is missing.
All creative is not created equally, click to read as award-winning radio creative experts discuss what it takes to create great radio ads.
Marketers that effectively and successfully use radio across all audio platforms immerse the listener with the true essence of the brand and include the consumer within its story. Check out 30 years of Radio Mercury Award winning campaigns and read about brands that have innovated their story telling with audio to remain timelessly relevant among their target audiences.
In today’s audio-centric, voice activated world, it is more important than ever to breakthrough with powerful and engaging radio creative. In this piece, you will find creative best practices and tips born out of both empirical evidence and insights to guide the creation of engaging and effective radio creative.
This on-demand webinar, hosted by RAB for ANA members features best practices for creating radio creative including the importance of production, effects and other tools to help the messaging break through and engage.
The ultimate destination for audio creative inspiration. The Radio Mercury Awards website provides an audio library filled with 30+ years of award-winning radio creative, creative insights and research.
Contact Tammy Greenberg, SVP, RAB Business Development
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