A new Sony TV ad is about to break with lots of foam floating around Miami. Which, apart from reminding me of some night club visits that I’d rather forget, is beautifully shot and has a really ‘nice’ feel about it.
Now, you may have thought Cadbury’s ‘Trucks’ was more ‘Grease 2′ than ‘Godfather 2′ in terms of sequels, but how can the current trends in TV be reflected (i.e. effectively ripped-off) on radio? It would be a brave man to try and make a radio commercial entirely of cake, but my recommendations would be: -
• Pacing. All the TV examples that I’ve mentioned are slooow. This may be a clever tactic to combat PVR proliferation, but in radio terms ‘slow-ness’ makes your commercial stand out amongst the wall-to-wall shouty-voice dross, and it means clear communication. If your script contains dialogue, time allowed for pauses and reactions will really help with the believability and comedy (if there is any). Try and push for the longest slot you can get, and if you only have 30” don’t put more than 90 words in it and leave a decent amount of time for sound effects.
• Music. All the TV examples use music to up the cool factor. Pop music can be expensive for radio, so go for composed. There are loads of young composers spewing out of music tech courses who would jump at the chance to write for you. Also studio engineers are often closet composers. They might have a track in their drawers that’s right for you. Ask.
• Brand Vs Offer/Promotional. The cooler TV spots never scream offers, indeed sometimes it’s hard to tell what the product is, but if you think radio is just for price / sales promotion because its quick to turn around, that’s a misconception. It’s an undoubted strength, but Brand ads can work just as well as on radio. A cool piece of content is something people will want to talk about and share, no matter what the format.
Cheers! - Mike