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I hate parks.
Why? Because to truly appreciate them
you have to sit and soak them in.
Case in point. Hermann Park in
Houston. I spent hours there one day last year with my daughter
visiting the zoo, riding the train, soaking our feet in the
reflecting pool.
I hate that.
Why? Because I don’t have an hour or
seven to enjoy life right now. According to everything I’m hearing
lately, you, me, and our listeners don’t even have 60 seconds to
listen to a radio spot. Make it 30, or better yet, make it a 10.
So, do I really hate parks? No.
It’s a love/hate relationship. I hate that a park reminds me of how
I don’t take enough time to stop and enjoy life. However, I love
parks because they do force me to stop and pay attention to the
things that are really important - like my family.
Let me compare that to our business,
because lately it seems like prevailing wisdom in the PPM age is
that everything should be shortened and rushed through. The question
to ponder, though, is “do your listeners want you to really do
that?” Do they want you to rush through every little bit of audio,
or do they want you to help them relax, escape, and pay attention to
the important things in life? I ask because PPM data says rush. In
response to that we’ve shortened our sweepers to less than 10
seconds at KSBJ, but we still air mostly 60 second spots and our
AWTE is higher than ever. It doesn’t make sense.
Maybe there’s something else at
play. Maybe it’s the Blue Parakeet.
The Blue Parakeet is something I try
to build into everything between the songs. It’s a code word for a
spot that connects. One that combines a life experience with a
sales message in an interesting twist.
It comes from what happened at work a
couple of years ago. One day, I noticed a blue parakeet and three
brown sparrows on the ledge outside my studio window. Not
something you see everyday. I could tell this little bird didn’t
fit in. He looked scrawny, hungry, and was hanging around the
street birds hoping to find something to eat. The sparrows in
return were picking at him, pretty much saying “back off weirdo.”
So, I turned it into a spot for a
backpack drive. I had a talent recount that she had seen the Blue
Parakeet, and I had her relate it to a new kid at school who doesn’t
fit in because he doesn’t have the right stuff.
The bottom line was: Donate
backpacks and school supplies so that underprivileged kids will fit
in better, and do better in school.
That spot was a 60. It could’ve been
a 30, but the Blue Parakeet would have been reduced to the following
sentence: “Not having a backpack is like being a blue parakeet in a
flock of sparrows.” Then I would have been rushing to get the basic
information about KSBJ having a backpack drive.
That line would have stuck in the
mind of the listener, but it would not have been able to build up an
emotional connection with the target - to help a mom feel the hurt
of her child not fitting in.
Before I go any further, let me
express that I’m not saying you can’t be creative in a 30. I’ve
written plenty of 30’s that have Blue Parakeets in them, but their
sales message or call to action’s were very concise. Usually around
30 words of less - about 10 seconds.
Programmers need to know that the
shorter spots lend themselves to be very fast paced and mostly
information based. Like a yellow page ad. Good for when a listener
needs the product right then, but there’s usually not much emotional
stickiness to them.
However, if you want to give the
listeners that more emotional picture, and entertainingly connect
the benefits of your product to the listener’s needs, a 60 will work
better. Y’all get to hang out at the park.
So 60, 30, 15, or 10? What’s the
best? The best rule is to always make the message compelling, or
entertaining, or thought provoking, and definitely identifiable with
life experiences - and from there make it only as long as it needs
to be to connect, and THEN NOT A SECOND LONGER.
With that thought, go back to the
question I posed earlier: “Do your listeners want you to rush
through every little bit of audio?” Well if you’re going to sound
like a station full of yellow page ads and not say anything
compelling, then yes; but if you’re trying to connect to them
through a common life experience, then no.
What I’m saying is that life is fast
paced enough. Don’t think that everything has to be short and quick
to keep the listener’s attention. They will still pay attention
with well crafted messages that help them enjoy the park. Let them
see a blue parakeet mixed in with the sparrows and I guarantee that
it’s something they will remember and appreciate, and they won’t say
“back off weirdo.
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Sterling Tarrant is the Production Director at
KSBJ, Houston, and for 10 years he managed Broadcast Creative
Services, and worked on new program development at Focus on the
Family. With over 30 years of radio experience, specializing in
production management, he is a Certified Professional Commercial
Copywriter from the Radio Advertising Bureau, and he has previously
taught copywriting and production seminars at CMB. He is also part
of the Mentoring Department at KSBJ.
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