Radio Advertisements

Purpose:
- To promote products, upcoming events, etc
- Reach a large audience
- Gain listeners for radio stations
- Make money for radio stations (commercial stations rely on funding, so they will use lots of advertisements)

Features:
- Jingles
- Engaging voices
- Pathos (provokes emotions)
- 15-60 seconds long
- Instrumental background music
- Persuasive language
- Voice-overs
- Facts and statistics
- Sound effects (creating imagery for the listener)
- Celebrity association (actual voices, mocking voices)
- Contact details
- Terms and conditions

Why are accents effective in radio ads?
Hearing is a more powerful emotional sense than sight, and more effective for memory recall. Accented voices are powerful tools.

A research study by the PH Media Group showed a 27% increase in companies choosing to use accented voices in their ads.

Yorkshire accent: trustworthy, honest and trustworthy

Newcastle upon Tyne accent: warmth, genuineness, friendliness and understanding

Codes and conventions:
- Catchy jingle- memorable song for the audience to remember to link with the advertised product or programme, e.g. Go Compare

- Catchy slogan/ quote- a slogan or quote from the ad that will help remind the audience what it's about, e.g. "compare  the meerkat"

- Persuasive language- attracts the audience whilst also persuading them to buy the product, watch the programme, etc. The tone of voice used in the ad however will change to match the content of the ad, for example a more serious tone will be used in an ad about quitting smoking or cancer charity adverts.

Tips on making a radio ad:
- Make a log line (turn the brief into one sentence)
- Make it a clear message
- Write down several ideas
- Focus on aspects e.g. half price, new products, etc.
- Make it fast and cheap
- Check your script by reading it out loud to both yourself and others (act it out)
- Be critical
- Good, understandable dialogue
- Different voices/tones for the main ad and the terms and conditions

Examples of radio advertisements:
-RAF Spotify ad:

The first example of a radio advert that I have chosen is an RAF ad, promoting some of the various jobs available in the army. The purpose of the advert is to convince people to join the RAF.
The first feature of this ad is it's slogan, "be part of the story". To the audience, it seems like the advert is saying that if they join, they will become part of the narrative of a book. It also has the other appeal of that you could be the 'hero' of the story.
It is 25 seconds long, well inside the standard length of a radio ad. The information presented in the ad is in small and suitable chunks, separated by breaks of sound that creates imagery for the listener.
The voice is clear and understandable, allowing the listener to be able to hear every word. The voice is also male, which although the ad is intended for both genders, will appeal to men as they are more likely to join the army than women.
As it transitions from job to job, different sound effects are used in the background to create the atmosphere of where the work takes place for the listener to experience which could be appealing to those who may be interested to a job in that category. It also makes the audience visualise where they would go if they went into this career.
A good feature from this advert is that it keeps a clear message throughout for the audience to join the RAF.
This advert only uses two of the codes and conventions (catchy slogan and persuasive language) as it doesn't include a catchy jingle. This leaves the ad with a risk of not being remembered as well as others.

YouTube. (2012). [Online]. RAF Spotify Commercial. Available at https://youtu.be/gRScPQzgxqg  [Accessed 19th Jan 2017]


-Nandos Spotify ad:

The second advert that I've chosen is from Nandos, which has a purpose of grabbing the audience's attention to promote the company and gain more customers.
The man who voices this ad has a Spanish accent, which is effective as Nandos is Spanish influenced.
It's 38 seconds long, and although it is in the average time length of a radio advert, it's still quite long and seemingly repetitive in it's content. This means that if this ad was played rarely it would be effective, however if it was heard multiple times a day it would turn from amusing to annoying pretty quickly, pushing away the audience instead of pulling them in.
The slogan used in this ad is "that's the spirit of Nandos". This makes the company seem friendly and even familial from the advert content.

YouTube. (2009). Nandos Uk Advert - Spotify. [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odyuao_-UJg&list=PL9ZAH7g2F0UVQmdLMf4syFk2nsWraJUiD&index=7 [Accessed 19th Jan 2017]


- Auto Trader ad:

The third advertisement that I have chosen to use is an ad by Auto Trader, a company that specialises in selling new and second hand cars.
The ad invokes pathos (emotional appeal) as it sounds like she's breaking up with her significant other, which plenty of people in the intended target audience could have done before.
A feature of the advert is the placement of it's background music. Whilst the woman is talking about selling her car, it's quiet. But when the man begins to talk about the company, the music comes in.
Looking at the codes and conventions, the advert doesn't come across as very effective. This is because the advert isn't very memorable as it doesn't contain neither a catchy slogan or a catchy jingle, however it does use persuasive language in the form of logos by using facts ("we've been helping Britain buy and sell cars for 35 years") and statistics ("three times more potential buyers than any other site") in the advert.

YouTube. (2013). I'm selling you on Auto Trader - radio ad - female [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnMlQzR6my4&list=PL9ZAH7g2F0UVQmdLMf4syFk2nsWraJUiD&index=19 [Accessed 19th Jan 2017]