Radio Advertising Works

But the advertising campaign entitled "Radio Advertising Works", has resulted in much more than international prizes. Since the beginning of the campaign more than four years ago, the number of ads on Israel Radio's various stations has increased by 300%, while income from advertisements has climbed an impressive 450%. This is more remarkable when one realizes that this has been achieved in a period of economic slowdown in Israel.

Gidon Amichay, Creative Director of the leading Israel ad agency Shalmor, Avnon, Amichay / Young & Rubicam, who masterminded the campaign, explains that the aim was to emphasize the power of the voice, as well as other advantages of radio and the disadvantages of TV.

"We stressed that advertising on the radio is effective and inexpensive," says Amichay. "You just need a studio, a microphone and an announcer."

In contrast to TV ads, which often involve vast budgets and Hollywood-style logistics to produce, the TV campaign for radio advertising devised by Amichay comprised a stark black screen with simple messages in white text read by a narrator. In addition to the New York prize, the campaign won the Gold Medal at the Prague TV Ad Festival and two Silver Medals at the London TV Ad Festival in 1999.

"Our messages also touch on issues about TV that aggravate advertisers," stresses Amichay. "These include the tendency for viewers to "zap" channels during the ad breaks, or move away from the screen to perform household chores. We also stressed the unpredictability of ratings."

The ad campaign tried to counter the image of radio as old-fashioned, boring and unattractive. Even among ad agencies, radio is seen as the poor relation of the media industry. Thus the advantages of radio were highlighted ( in particular high audience figures. For example, during primetime morning and evening rush hours, when listeners are trapped in traffic jams, radio news and current affairs programs have enormous and consistently loyal ratings.

"Research shows that radio listeners concentrate much more on what they are listening to," adds Sarit Arison, advertising manager of United Broadcast Advertising, which produces the ads for Israel Radio. "In addition, radio can be more focused at regional or specialist groups, or at different language communities such as Israel's Russian-speaking immigrants and Arab minority."

Ultimately the "Radio Advertising Works" campaign proved that radio advertising is effective, and created a more positive, popular, dynamic and fashionable image of the radio in the minds of the public as well as advertising agencies worldwide. Paradoxically, the campaign also proved that it is possible to create effective TV advertising on a shoestring budget with just an announcer, studio and some simple text slides.