How To Write Podcast Ads That Sell - Part Two

By Stew Redwine · Editors: Bryan Barletta, Evo Terra

Last week we shared the first part of the article Oxford Road’s Creative Director, Stew Redwine wrote for, Sounds Profitable that put the Audiolytics™ framework into action by creating an ad for the weekly podcasting newsletter.

As a refresher, Audiolytics™ is Oxford Road’s proprietary system that ensures every piece of creative that we put into the market is structured to enrich the value of our client’s media schedules. The system audits ad copy based on the 9 main components, and 71 sub-components proven to influence human behavior, ensuring optimal response.

This week, Stew breaks down the first four main Audiolytics™ components; Setup, Value Prop, Positioning, and Demonstration.

Get out a notebook and a No. 2 pencil, click here to start the class. There will be a test next week.

SETUP

Capture attention AND tee up the Value Prop.

From John Caples’ AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) method to David Ogilvy’s insistence on the importance of the headline above all else, the first job of an ad is to get your attention. But the trick is, it has to get your attention in such a way that it keeps your attention. Any advertisement can use a shocking device (swearing, whoopie cushions, sirens, etc) to grab the audience’s attention. But to grab their attention in a way that is tied to the product is how you hold their attention and increase the impact of the message. After all, if the whole advertisement is designed to get the audience primed to take action, or at least to think of your product or service whenever the need arises, then it’s critical to have everything in the advertisement serve that end with clarity and potency. The headline, or opening line-in audio, deserves a tremendous amount of focus. You must convince them to listen to the next line, or else it is all for naught – this is something Roy H. Williams talks about again and again in his “Wizard of Ads” Trilogy.

VALUE PROP

What is it? What’s your promise?

“Promise, Large Promise, is the soul of an advertisement.” — Samuel Johnson (1759)

The “largeness” of the promise in your Value Proposition doesn’t come from aggressive, grandiose, or disingenuous claims. Just like it doesn’t come from underselling. It comes from the size of its impact in the audience’s mind. When you describe to the audience, in their language and from their point of view, why and when your Brand gives them an opportunity or solves a problem they feel deeply – 99% of your work is done. And many times a podcast host will uncover what it is in their expression of copy, because they are experiencing the product or service themselves and sharing in human speak, NOT ad speak. That’s the magic that happens when their audience believes and takes action. Mark Pollard talks about this a lot in his “Strategy is Your Words” and everything else he does. And Podcast hosts have a knack for getting to the “Human Problems/Human Truths” that can unlock any Brand’s Value Prop. In short, speaking like a person about what really motivates us, NOT like a Brand.

POSITIONING

Why is it better than the Status Quo or Competitors?

The audience must walk away with a material understanding of what you do, what you offer, and why it’s better. How much money or time will they save using your product? In what exact, measurable ways will their life improve if they exchange their earnings for your product—as opposed to the equitable product from one of your competitors? Daniel Pink covers several ways to do this in the “Persuasive Frames” episode of his Masterclass.

An EXTRA NOTE on Positioning

(because this comes up a lot)

But what if my company isn’t all that different from the competition?

Anyone who watched Mad Men, remembers Don Draper’s positioning pitch to Lucky Strike cigarettes in the pilot episode. After presenting the concept that Lucky Strike’s tobacco is toasted, the client replies, “but everybody else’s tobacco is toasted.” “No”, Don says, “everybody else’s tobacco is poisonous; Lucky Strike’s is toasted.” Any of the cigarette companies could have made this claim, but Lucky Strike was the only one who DID (at least in the fictional world of Man Men). Read the true story behind the Lucky Strike toasted campaign.

A real-world example comes from another classic vice: beer. Advertising pioneer Claude Hopkins positioned Schlitz beer by claiming their bottles were “washed with live steam.” Like the Lucky Strike example, ALL beer companies were washing their bottles with live steam at the time, but Schlitz was the only one talking about it. When marketers are having a hard time coming up with a way to differentiate their product or service from their competitors, make the “preemptive claim,” as Hopkins called it. A modern example of the preemptive claim is Jimmy John’s “Free Smells” signs in their restaurants. EVERY restaurant could claim this, but Jimmy John’s is the only one that does.

This drive to differentiate evolved into the Rosser Reeves “Unique Selling Proposition.” From Reeves in the 1960s to Trout and Ries in the 1970s, the idea of the preemptive claim was dropped completely in favor of something ONLY your brand can claim. This kind of positioning is perfectly illustrated by M&M’s “melts in your mouth, not in your hand” thanks to a patented sugar coating. However, in his 2008 book “How Brands Grow”, Byron Sharp proved that differentiation is meaningless and brands need to be distinct. Each of these intelligent people, Reeves & Sharp, had their own “truth” about how best to position a company that worked for them. Mark Ritson does a fantastic job of creating a “truth tent” large enough for everyone’s views on Positioning.

DEMONSTRATION

Simply put, here’s how it works.

No matter how well you accomplish the first three Key Components, you’ve wasted all of it if the audience can’t picture themselves using the thing. Yes, demonstration is that integral to your service or product’s success. The good news is that humans are built to watch closely, especially if they’re watching another human. Back in the 90s, a team of Italian neuroscientists made a groundbreaking discovery in the brains of Macaque monkeys. Motor cells inside their brains fired, the exact same way when one monkey conducted a behavior as when it watched another monkey do the same thing. Watching created the sensation of doing.

These cells, called “Mirror Neurons,” have unlocked major advancements in the study of how people relate to each other. They’ve helped clarify what exactly is happening in our brains when we experience media and imagery. Mirror neurons help explain the voyeuristic impulses that command the audience’s attention. When we watch another person experience something, our imaginations automatically simulate that experience for ourselves and we feel a miniature version of it.

But what do you do when there is ONLY audio? I could write an entire article on “The Theater of the Mind” using audio to influence the listener to visualize your product or service. Thankfully, Pandora already wrote it. The same old mirror neurons can go to work even if the person your listener is envisioning is in their own head. This is also discussed in Blindsight, The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains. You can also use unique attributes—sound effects, music, multiple voices, even silence—to demonstrate in an unexpected way. Hiscox Business Insurance uses an engaging audio sleight of hand to demonstrate the type of cyber threats they protect businesses from in this UK audio ad. It’s an ad about the threats of cyber crime that intercuts between a professional actress and an AI Copy, asking the listener if they can tell the difference between the two.