Direct Response Marketing

Radio Waves: The Ultimate Celebrity Endorsement

1 Dec, 2007 By: Buck Robinson Response

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For years, direct response TV marketers have known the value of incorporating celebrities into their productions in order to serve as both "channel stoppers" and to lend credibility to their offers. Granted, some of these stars have entered the infomercial arena at the tail end of their illustrious careers.

Buck Robinson

But others, like Suzanne Somers and Victoria Principal, have truly embraced the power — and economic potential — of DR marketing and have built business empires through the power of their endorsements. But there is another type of celebrity whose support for a product or service carries even more weight than an aging movie or TV star —the on-air radio personality.

"Come on!" you say, "Radio is a has-been medium! How can you compare some faceless voice behind a microphone to a celebrity who has (or at least had) his or her face plastered all around the world?! There is no way that a radio DJ could ever have the impact that a Hollywood star does in helping to sell my product!"

Well, in some categories, you may be right. Because most on-air radio personalities are best known for their voices and opinions and not their faces or physique, you might have a hard time selling cosmetics, beauty treatments or exercise equipment effectively via radio endorsement. However, when it comes to high-ticket products, intellectual properties, housewares and other categories that are not the usual purview of short-form DRTV, there is no one more effective in generating highly qualified leads than a trusted radio personality.

The reason for this is simple: while television or movie stars may play a part in your target audience's life once a week, or perhaps once every few months, radio personalities generally play a daily role in their listener's lives. And though that listener might have no idea what that personality looks like, they certainly have a far more intimate relationship with them because they know how they feel about a wide variety of subjects.

In short, radio personalities are not known for the characters that they play but for whom they really are as individuals. They are not iconic. They are friends, advisors, confidantes. In short, they are real. And as real celebrities, they have a level of intimacy and trust with their listeners no Hollywood actor could ever have with his or her fans.

So how does that help a DR marketer? In short, it immediately lends an unprecedented level of credibility to your product, even though the audience cannot see it, watch it being demonstrated or otherwise know what it is that they are responding to. They don't need that kind of validation, so long as they know that it has passed muster with the on-air host they know and trust.

I have seen campaigns grow four-or five-fold in response simply because of the addition of a radio personality's seal of approval. And that is even true versus canned spots that employ the voiced endorsements of Hollywood stars. Even though the audience knows that Hollywood star's name and hears his or her opinion about the product, that opinion does not carry anywhere near the same level of credibility — or generate anywhere near the same level of response — as the same kind of endorsement coming from the radio host.

If you are thinking about DR radio and want to immediately cut through the clutter to make your product instantly appealing to a well-targeted audience, there is nothing more effective than employing the voiced endorsement of an on-air radio personality. After all, wouldn't you be more likely to buy something after hearing about it from a trusted friend?

Buck Robinson is the president and CEO of Robinson Radio Inc., a radio-specific advertising agency that specializes in endorsement commercials featuring national and local radio personalities. A 20-year industry veteran, Robinson can be reached at (804) 726-6400 or via E-mail at
buck@robinsonradio.com.

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