Tag Archives: voice-over

Instead of “We,” Use Your Brand Name

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by Michael T. Shishido

A lot of advertisers and ad agencies like to use the word “we” in their spots. “We are the premier widget company in hometown, USA.” “We carry all major brands.” “We promise to never break our promises.”

The business owner or person in charge of marketing or the copy writer at the agency will think they’re putting forth their best marketing effort. That’s all fine and good until you give that copy to the radio or TV station to produce, and someone other than the owner voices the commercial.

Here’s why I avoid using the word “we” in spots. Unless Mr. or Ms. Business Owner is going to voice their own commercial, said commercial will be voiced by a radio station DJ or someone at the station who can perform well in front of a microphone. And they are not you or your business. Radio DJs are doing their best to be themselves, carving out a personality on the radio. Some of that may or may not represent your brand as well as you’d like. Unless you’re paying them to personally endorse your product or service, you’d be better off saying “they” instead of “we.”

Another reason why you should not use “we” in your spots is the fact that the listener may not even know who “we” is. Take the opportunity to say the name of your company instead. Trust me: you cannot say the name of your business enough. It’s meaningful to you, but it’s not nearly as meaningful to your audience.

I’ve seen spots written by clients that start out saying “ABC widget company is the best widget company in the known world.” Then they go on to say “we do this, we do that” throughout the next 25 seconds. Then they’ll close with “ABC widget company. Call us at 555-555-555. Or visit online at ABC widgets dot com.” The middle of the commercial is completely devoid of the name of the company. People aren’t listening as closely as you’d like. They’re driving, eating, texting, checking their social media, feeding hungry kids, etc. You get the idea. They’re busy.

It’s better to say the name of your company instead of “we” and get your name out there throughout the 30 or 60 seconds of your commercial. I like to use the name every other time to avoid sounding too repetitious. “ABC Widgets is fantastic. They have the best widgets. ABC widgets makes their widgets to your specs. They don’t make ’em till you order them. Call ABC Widgets at #. Or find them on the web at…”

Leap frog your name like this, and it gets your name out there in an effective yet unobtrusive way.

Don’t use “we.” Get your brand name out there instead.

Use the Brand 2

Common Mistakes in Copywriting Part 2

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by Michael T. Shishido

Why do people insist on putting their children in their commercials? Yeah, it’s cute. Yeah, it’s different. But in the end, does it help your cause?

The first question you need to ask before you commit to putting the child voice on your commercial is, “What do we expect to achieve by putting the kid’s voice in our commercial?” I would also ask, “Is a child’s voice germane to your business?”

It might make sense to find a precocious child to voice your commercial if you run a family entertainment center similar to Chuck E. Cheese’s. Places like Chuck E. Cheese’s and Wet N Wild water park are natural businesses for a kid’s voice to appear. Kids are the primary clientele for these businesses.

But if you run a solar company or an air conditioning business or you’re a political candidate, you might want to think twice. Children aren’t natural components or facets of these entities. So it’s a bit of a stretch to think a child can pull off the marketing and convincing that an adult voice can.

If you do use a child in your marketing, make sure that child is outgoing enough to read the commercial copy with energy and enthusiasm. You don’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time coaxing a great performance out of kid who’s shy and demure. It’s a waste of everyone’s time. Find that ham who’s always acting up in front of people. And please do not force your own kids to be a part of the commercial just because you want them to. If your kids aren’t the natural, precocious, outgoing type, you’ll end up forcing them to do something they’re really not cut out for.

Kids in commercials aren’t always bad ideas. Sometimes they work. But for the most part, the kids you hear or see in commercials are in there because their parents dragged them into it and thought it would be cute. It’s not about the kids. It’s about the marketing objective you’re trying to achieve.

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Common Mistakes in Copywriting Part 1

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by Michael T. Shishido

Anyone can write a commercial for a business. But is that spot effective? I often see copy written by business owners or new marketing directors that’s full of mistakes and seemingly clever clichés that make the copy sound amateurish, cluttered, and ineffective. Avoid these mistakes for better copy.

WE

Believe it or not, I’ve seen lots of copy written by clients (or agencies!) that don’t mention the name of the business enough. One of the things I see often is the use of the word “we.” Sometimes it’s warranted. But unless the perspective is that important to the spot, dump “we” and go with another mention of the name of the business. You cannot mention the name enough.

THE CALL

Assuming your commercial is supposed to drive traffic and increase business, there are certain things you want your spot to have. Many writers forget to tell the listener exactly what to do. There’s no call to action. Your spot needs to tell the listener, in no uncertain terms, what you want them to do. Call, buy, visit. Tell your listener what you want them to do.

PACK ‘EM IN

Some businesses feel the need to list every product and/or service they offer in 30 or 60 seconds. There’s no way the listener is going to remember any of this. Choose one thing you do well or one thing you want to feature and focus on that one aspect of your business. Listen to the Kaiser Permanente commercials featuring actor Allison Janney as the main voice. Most, if not all, of these commercials focus on one aspect of Kaiser’s organization. They’ll go for 60 seconds and just talk about their nurses or the choice of doctors or how eating veggies is good for you. One subject is all you need. Pound that one subject for the length of your commercial.

These are just some of the more common mistakes copy writers make. Eliminate these mistakes, and your copy will be that much better than many spots you hear on the radio.

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Why You Need a Voice-Over Talent for your Message

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by Michael T. Shishido

One of the critical decisions advertisers have to make is the voice behind their commercials or presentations. Here’s why it’s an important decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

In local TV and radio, a lot of the commercial production is done quickly and on the fly at the station where the buy is made. No doubt these media professionals do their best, and quite often excellent commercials are the result.

But more often than not, especially at radio stations, there is little thought to whose voice is on the commercial. I can say that at my radio station group, where I serve as Production Director, we take great pride in pairing clients with the right voice. But it doesn’t always happen that way. Many times the voice that’s on a commercial is the guy or girl who happens to be available when the spot is being produced.

For a business owner, ad agency or marketing director who is making decisions on advertising, take the time to know what voices are available at a station. If you don’t have time for that, be clear in describing the type of voice you hear for your commercial. Male or female? Big voice or whispery? Strong delivery or soft sell? These are just some of the questions you need to answer.

One of the practices we employ is using the same voice for the same client over and over again. The first thing this does is give consistency to the overall marketing effort for a client over time. If there’s a budget, I would recommend a client record one version of their commercial and use that one voice across all media. This gives your message a consistency throughout the market.

You also want to use a voice talent in your commercial because often times, these are the best-trained individuals for commercials. Many have studied marketing, acting, drama and similar disciplines that all aid in creating a memorable commercial.

Resist the cute but ineffective child voice for your spot. For the most part, using an untrained child for a commercial is more about getting someone’s kid (usually the owner) in the commercial and less about getting the message across. Of course, if you can secure a widely known child star for your commercial and this child can deliver a message effectively, go for it. These kids are few and far between and might cost you big time.

A voice talent will bring a needed level of professionalism to your commercial. You’ll more than likely get someone who knows how to phrase copy, where to breathe in a spot, and what words need to be emphasized. An amateur voice-over person may not have this skill set and your commercial will show for it.

In the long run, your commercials should make a statement about your business. Having a voice talent to read your copy is always the best choice.

Reading, writing. No arithmetic.

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That’s what you can find here at Michael T Creative.

This is Michael T., radio guy, writer, reader, marketer. I can write your commercials. I can voice those commercials. Accounting? That’s all yours.

Tell me about your business or service and I can turn that info into an effective commercial. It’ll be creative, but not too funny. It’ll be informative, but not boring. The goal with any commercial is to help you reach your goals.

I also provide voice-over services. Whether it’s your copy or mine, all my years of commercial broadcast experience will go into voicing the very best commercial for you.