First of all, let me say I love broadcast advertising. I am especially fond of radio, because I can tap directly into the imagination of the listener. If I want to hold a world premiere with a cast of thousands on someone’s lawn, I can. With no need for "extras" or special effects.
But really? Yelling, screaming, cranking up the volume? It’s not just annoying. It doesn’t really work that well, and it could work against you.
Anyone who has ever had children is already aware of this. Yelling doesn’t mean they hear you. In fact, with children of all ages, yelling seems to reduce their ability to hear exponentially. The louder you yell, the less they hear. Apparently, however, there are an overwhelming number of broadcast advertisers who either never had children, or are inexplicably unaware of this fact.
When programs pause to go into commercial, the volume seems to leap into the stratosphere. How many times have you been caught unaware when a commercial blared out, and you lunged for the remote to seek relief? We have all, at one time or another, said, “Thank God for the MUTE button,” but still the practice goes on. Is it possible, that someone has kept the existence of this sanity-saving button a secret from these advertisers? And if not why do they keep doing it?
I think there are two answers. Technology and desperation. While there are standards and practices in place prohibiting precipitous bumps in volume, recording engineers long ago figured out how to get around them. They just “equalize” the volume across all every available frequency, so that without violating any guidelines they can create a “wall of sound” without raising the volume. And as we all know, if you can do something, you do it.
The second component is desperation. “I want to sell this now. Right now. Right this twisty-legged second, and nobody’s gonna stop me.” The reason desperation works, is that motivated buyers sense the desperation like sharks sense blood in the water, and they pounce. It works so well, that some advertisers feign desperation, Crazy Gideon comes to mind.
But desperation only goes so far. Screaming ads rarely scream “quality.” And if your customers are not in the market to buy, or short of cash, or a bit desperate themselves, they don’t need to hear that. And they don’t have to.They turn it off and take a deep breath. Just like you do. The ads you like, listen to, or even look forward to, bear the product names that get under your skin and lie in wait until you are ready to buy. Those are the names that rise to the top of your mind or the tip of your tongue whenever you need them. No screaming necessary.
Now consumers have even more weapons in their arsenal to fight screaming (the infamous “mute” button, the DVR “skip” and “fast forward” buttons, and on-line viewing), so screamers not only don’t have to be heard, they don’t have to be seen.
Of course, if all you want to be is unseen and unheard, you can save a bundle on advertising!
Love, Tony
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