I came across this blog this week called Radio and the Creative Abyss written by John at JMS.  It struck a chord with me as he bemoans the lack of originality and creativity in radio commercials.  As it happens I rarely voice commercials for UK radio but I was a radio presenter for more than 20 years and know where John is coming from.  John reckons its all about money – or lack of it – and sales executives who want the client’s budget spent on airtime rather than Comm Prod.  The result? An endless succession of ads with only one voice on (each voice costs more) and because everything is carefully targetted and focus grouped you get just the “right” voice for the radio station’s target audience. So cue loads of ads with “fun, up for it, lively but friendly and approachable” women in their 30’s. (Don’t get me started on the fashion at the moment for everything to be done by female VOs).

Actually John in his blog bemoans the lack of creativity in radio ads – almost implying that there once was a Golden Age for radio ads.  With the benefit of many hours playing and hearing ads on the radio stations I worked on in the Midlands I tried to remember outstandingly creative ones.  Wracking my brains back many years I struggled to come up with much: There was a Ford campaign that at the time topically used Smashie and Nicey – I remember liking that but I think it was because it was about radio – and at the time we all knew presenters with that “Popadoodledoo-does a lot of work for Chariddy doesn’t like to talk about it poptastic” style.

Then there was the double glazing company that came up with a song – with their phone number prominently repeated throughout – and the “song” was re-made and remixed in loads of different musical genres: rock, pop, ballad, Sinatra style etc. Apparently some listeners to stations in the south west rang in to request CDs!

When I used to do Radio training I used to talk to our trainees about how radio was the “theatre of the mind” – not sure how often commercial radio fulfilled that – but in terms of ads I suppose some of the MOD recruitment ones have tried to create “believable” scenarios of troops apparently in combat situations.

But from my own experience as a voice artist I know what happens when you get lots of ads with single voiceovers who all sound similar. The client is desperate for their ad to “cut through” to have that extra something that connects with the listener.  In terms of radio ads I mostly do ones for stations in the UAE but I know from running ISDN sessions for other VO artists in my studio its the same for ads in the UK.  The words we get a lot from people directing sessions are “energy” and “excitement”.  As voiceovers we know these are code for “shouting loudly” or “shouting very loudly”.

When recording an ad for a Film Festival this week for a client in Abu Dahbi I was requested several times to deliver a take with lots more “excitement”. I duly obliged and racheted up my performance over several takes until I was backed up against my voice booth wall as I had to move away from the mic to shout ever louder without distorting.

Eventually the producer with the clients in the production studio said: “I think if Chris tries any more ‘excitement’ he’ll explode!”   And he was right – it took a whole afternoon for my throat to recover.

In the event I think the clients preferred a “laid back” read I’d already given the script earlier in the session. Ah well – at least they got something the client was happy with – but I’d have to agree with John at JMS if he said that it won’t be winning awards for creativity!