FALL, 1993

The spot was beautiful. It featured strong-testing A/C cuts and linked each to "real life" vignettes target listeners could relate to. The focus respondents, we're told, loved it. Only one problem: it didn't work!

Follow-up research determined why the campaign did not result in increased cume for K???, or increased ad recall. As it turns out, the target listeners really did love the station's spot as the focus groups predicted they would. But they didn't know which station the spot was for!

In retrospect, the commercial was "artful," but too subtle. The call letters only appeared, briefly, at the very end of the spot. Listeners loved it but didn't credit K???, which essentially wasted $300,000+.

There is a lot of advertising testing going on in radio. And there should be...a small investment in pretesting TV ads can make a buying TV pay off in a big way. Unfortunately, too much pretesting misses the point, just as the focus group pretest for K??? did.

The point: It isn't how much listeners like a potential TV spot that counts!!! It is what a spot communicates about the station, and whether it achieves the station's positioning objectives.

It is easy to find examples of spots consumers like, but that don't sell. Take Joe Isuzu. (Please!) This lying car salesman was funny...he even became part of pop culture. But he didn't sell Isuzu's!

Going back further (for us 35-44 types), remember those great Alka Seltzer spots -- "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" Great slogan, but it didn't sell Alka Seltzer and it, too, was eventually dropped.

Radio stations can be especially susceptible to fall into the cute-but-doesn't-work trap. A G.M. or P.D. might see a commercial in another market or on a syndicator's demo reel, fall in love with it, and buy it for his or her own station. All too often, the crucial questions about whether a commercial is effective or fits the station's positioning strategy are never fully considered.

We're not opposed to funny or cute TV spots for radio... sometimes, the best way to cut through media clutter is with humor. But humor for its own sake isn't the right way...humor for your station's sake is.

Lack of humor, or even lack of "likeability" isn't necessarily an issue at all! Ask people what their least liked commercial is, and you might find some of the most effective. One of the all-time hated TV spots was Wisk's "Ring Around the Collar" spot. Yet that commercial ran for years. Do you think that Proctor & Gamble ran it without knowing it was effective?

So, if humor and likeability isn't an issue for evaluating commercials, what is? Here is our "checklist" for evaluating potential TV commercials:

• IS IT MEMORABLE? While spots don't have to be likeable, they must be memorable. Ideally, there is something unique or "interesting" about a spot that catches radio listeners' eyes and ears and makes the spot stand out from the barrage of other commercials they see on TV.
  
  Of course, what must ultimately be memorable is your station's ID and dial position...that's the "minimum requirement" for memorability. Ideally, the message you are trying to communicate would also be remembered by your target listeners...
  
  
• DOES IT COMMUNICATE WHAT YOU WANT TO COMMUNICATE? It is amazing how many TV spots really say absolutely nothing about the stations that pay thousands of dollars to produce them. Who can afford that kind of waste today? A radio station's advertising, like every other aspect of its marketing efforts, must focus on achieving specific objectives. If a spot does not achieve any of those objectives, then it is ineffective. And, station management should not make decisions about advertising until those objectives are defined.
  
  Focus group and large group sessions are ideal for determining what TV spots communicate. In written questionnaires and group discussions, we ask listeners what each alternative spot says about the station. Not whether they "like" or "dislike" the spot, but what it says to them. Sometimes, the answer is "Nothing." Other times, what a spot says to listeners is far from what its creators intended, and far from the station's positioning objectives. Either way, that spot is one to avoid. Ideally, a spot will not only say what you want to, but that message will be part of your long-term strategic plan. There are undoubtedly many creative approaches to communicate your station's positioning; however you choose to do so, your advertising should NEVER STOP communicating your positioning.
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• IS IT BELIEVABLE? Too much advertising features unbelievable characters and unbelievable claims. Who can "buy into" these ads? Nobody! Ideally, advertising "strikes a chord" with consumers. It taps into a belief they already have and reinforces it or leads them to a new conclusion. Advertising that is simply unbelievable...that conflicts with consumers' mindset is easily and quickly rejected. That is how research can help, not only in testing commercials, but also developing them. Research reveals how listeners think and what they believe. So, if a station has an image of playing little music, a campaign claiming "the most music" will have little effect. A more credible approach would be to acknowledge (however subtly) the station's flaw and proclaim a change...for example, "More Music Than Ever Before."
  
  
• DOES IT FIT YOUR STATION? Closely allied with the concept of credibility is that of "fit." In terms of style and message, a winning campaign must be perceived to be appropriate for your station. Fit is easy to determine, especially when testing out-of-market syndicated spots. We ask respondents which station in their town would a particular commercial be most likely to be about, and what other stations it might be about. We also might ask them to rate commercials' appropriateness for different stations, on a scale from "Does Not Describe WXXX At All" to "Describes WXXX Perfectly." If a TV spot does not fit your station, it faces target listener rejection and should be rejected! Even if a spot fits your station, but fits one of your competitors better, it might be preferable to choose a different approach.
  
  
• DOES IT OFFEND YOUR TARGET LISTENERS? Earlier, I stated that it isn't especially important if listeners like your commercials. (It's nice, but not especially important.) But it is never wise to offend or insult the very people you are trying to attract! I'm reminded of a big budget spot for an A/C station that featured some very attractive female dancers and one "macho man." In the commercial, this man was "Mr. W???" and these women would "follow him anywhere." In fact, they did a major dance number for him right in the street! Aside from being entirely unbelievable and saying absolutely nothing about W??? (two strikes), the spot offended predominantly female A/C target listeners, who thought the spot portrayed the women as "bimbos" and was sexist. Strike Three! Alienating listeners might work for Howard Stern, but it doesn't for an A/C.

Summing up, pretesting is one of the most important investments you can make to insure that your advertising really works. But that is only true if your pretesting goes beyond the superficial to focus on what really matters when it comes to advertising effectiveness.

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