Radio commercial

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A radio commercial (often called an advert in the United Kingdom, or a spot to people in the business) is a form of advertising in which goods, services, organizations, ideas, etc. are promoted via the medium of radio. Many commercials are produced by an outside ad agency and, airtime is purchased from a station or network in exchange for sponsorship of its programming.

Radio commercials are frequently sold in either 30 second or 60 second increments. While a :60 radio commercial is twice as long as a :30 radio commercial, it is rarely sold at twice the price. While practices vary, most radio stations only charge 20-30% more for the longer spot.

While many commercials are professionally produced, radio is not out of reach for the small retail business owner. Most local radio stations have the ability to produce radio commercials in house using their own announcers. Often local radio stations will write and even produce the radio commercials for local retail advertisers at no additional cost when the merchant purchases a schedule of "spots" on the station.

Three key factors must be observed when using radio as an advertising medium. First, the station(s) should be chosen based upon their demographics matching the target customer. Second, the commercial needs to be compelling in order to create action. Third, the commercial must be repeated enough that the listeners will register the message. In radio, this repetition is called Frequecy.

The first radio commercial is credited to WEAF, New York on August 28, 1922 for the Queensboro real estate corporation. The ten-minute live commercial was voiced by H.M. Blackwell, a representative of Queensboro.