Better Advertising – Page 4

Don’t U Make These Mistake’s

September 9, 2016 Rod Schwartz

One of the advantages of working in radio is that the stuff we write is heard, not seen. If there are misspellings or punctuation errors in the script, you won’t notice them. But when our counterparts at Old Smudgy fail to catch similar errors in their articles and ads, they become fair game for self-appointed grammar […]

Does Your Commercial Pass the Five-Second Test?

August 26, 2016 Rod Schwartz

One of the best radio copywriters and producers in the business, Jeffrey Hedquist, recently shared his thoughts on how an ad writer or advertiser can gauge potential response to a commercial – preferably before it’s sent forth onto the airwaves. He writes: Here’s a simple, but possibly painful test to perform […]

Targeting the “Right” Customer and Other Fallacies

August 22, 2016 Rod Schwartz

You don’t have hundreds of millions of dollars to test the effectiveness of your advertising. But Procter and Gamble does. And they’ve spent many millions of dollars carefully testing their advertising to arrive at this conclusion: Procter & Gamble Co., the biggest advertising spender in the world, will move away from […]

Don’t Use That Song in Your Commercial!

August 18, 2016 Rod Schwartz

I was recently asked for a favor: to provide a short voice-over for a video intended for presentation at an upcoming trade show, in exchange for dinner and wine for four at a swanky restaurant, worth around $200-250. We live in a small town and the business owner was under a […]

Political Advertising: Radio Wins the Vote

August 5, 2016 Rod Schwartz

This is the story of how one political candidate harnessed the power of radio advertising to win a competitive election. Following the death of Washington State Representative Steve Hailey, a former state legislator, Don Cox, was appointed to fill his seat. Cox chose not to run for the open seat […]

Speaking of “Word-of-Mouth…”

July 31, 2016 Rod Schwartz

“Word-of-mouth” is not advertising. It’s a personal recommendation. It starts with someone being deeply impressed by a product or service, so much so that when an opportunity arises, he or she tells another person about it. With this in mind, may I offer you a few recommendations of my own? For gentlemen who shave regularly, […]

Made in America. Kinda sorta.

July 1, 2016 Rod Schwartz

In an article from The Detroit Bureau (“The Voice of the Automotive World” – although Crain’s Automotive News might take exception) the headline a couple days ago read: The most ‘American’ car on the road? Toyota Camry. For the second year in a row the Toyota Camry is the “most American” […]

The Ten Most Common Mistakes in Marketing

June 27, 2016 Rod Schwartz

Many years ago the Wizard of Ads®, sometimes known as Roy H. Williams, published a best-selling business book in which he discussed the Twelve Most Common Mistakes in Advertising. His insights were praised by advertisers and advertising professionals alike. Eventually they were distilled into a widely circulated 45-minute video presentation, […]

Please Text and Drive

May 17, 2016 Rod Schwartz

That got your attention, didn’t it? But why did it grab you? Because it’s short and to-the-point. Because it’s the opposite of what you expect. Because it shocked you, if only a little. And that, of course, is the whole point. Until you come to the realization that its intended message […]

The Power of Words

May 11, 2016 Rod Schwartz

“Choose your next witticism carefully, Mr. Bond. It may be your last.” – Auric Goldfinger to James Bond, who is about to be cut in half by a laser beam. Bond: Well, you’re forgetting one thing. If I fail to report, 008 replaces me. Goldfinger: I trust he will […]