Hi all,

I am hoping the collective knowledge of the folks on this board could help with some questions I have around radio ad's...

1) Can anybody provide a ballpark estimate for production of a 30 second radio ad? Nothing too fancy just somebody with a great vioce!!!

2) Although I am in the process of getting rate cards from several local radio stations I wanted to find out if these are generally negotiable? Obviously that depends on a lot of things, but I am new to buying advertising so I am unsure just how negotiable these things are.....(imagine buying your first car without knowing how far to haggle!!!)

This is part of an ad campaign to basically saturate my local area (radio, flyers, newspapers, direct mail)....

Thanks in advance,

Hello Simon:

You may want to contact Ken Dardis at Audio Graphics
kdardis@audiographics.com

I have done radio ads for many different things over the years from small a few spots per day to hitting 6 cities in a major buy. I either had someone I know do the ads (for example I worked on a Gov campaign and the candidate did the ad) or the radio station had someone do the voice work. (in other words I never paid) And they can lower rates some I have got lower rates because it was a first time test buy and because it was a larger buy.

My cousin is a former radio talk show host and still does consulting for a few radio stations, and he has a few commercials I think on his site www.dougedge.com

Don't hire voice talent, let the station provide. That is unless the talent is a critical element of the creative, i.e. voice intonation or impresionation etc. Don't buy from the rate card, negotiate, negotiate,negotiate. If you know you're going to advertise over time, buy the time now and get the long term discount. Ask for spins too. Check the radio stations out by the amount of the possible listening audience they command. You want to get the most people who are likely internet savvy as possible.

Consider hiring a local marketing/advertising consultant who can assist you in getting the most for your money. We do this regularly although not in your area. We work on retainer and rebate back any and all commissions and markups against the retainer. You should be able to find someone in Charoltee to the do the same.

Hope this helps.

Folks,

Thanks for the comments they are very much appreciated.

Kent - stupid question but what is the floor (ie minimum ad commitment) that people in your line of work deal with? At this point I have a small budget but could certainly benefit from some local experience....

Thanks,

actually, after doing a few radio ads, I would consider voice talent. The radio voices that everyone gets tend to be tuned out by listeners. A new "catchy" voice might have a better chance of being heard. I'm not saying to do it, just consider it, along with the cost of doing it.

I've started people out as low as a retainer as $100 per month. This equates to a commissionable or mark up of 15% on $666.66 per month budget. You need some one who charges around $25 per hour (half my rate) as well. This way you don't get eaten up in extra hourlies, or make a deal for a flat rate up to "x" amount of hours per month.

Thanks for the info. Can I confirm I understand this correctly?

I understand the retainer part(!) but are you saying that through your skills/contacts you typically negotiate 15% discounts off rate cards and you rebate that to the client upto the retainer value? And the $666 is the amount I need to spend to effectively get these services for "free"?

I'm sorry if these are obvious questions, I'm new to the advertising game!!!

BTW - if abybody can recommend a good book on PRACTICAL advertising skills I would be most grateful

The media, TV, Radio, Billboards, etc. commission advertising agencies 15%. Agencies also mark up printing or other things at least 15% above cost (our gross margin). So we negotiate the very best price and their either get a commission from the media on that price, or add a 15% mark up, which is then discounted by the retainer.