MANILA – October 21, 2013 – "Presenting is theater, you need to treat it as such," said radio specialist Tony Hertz at the adobo Main Course held at the Mind Museum auditorium last October 16.
Attended by ad industry creatives, sound designers, and marketers, the Main Course featured two sessions, including the interactive "How to Present Radio so Clients Won’t Kill It," in which participants volunteered or were handpicked by Hertz to present radio scripts to the speaker himself.
Aside from reading the scripts provided by Hertz, they had to lead their presentation with a preamble, in which they talk about the script and tell the client–in this case, Hertz–why it works for the brand.
During the session, Hertz stressed the importance of telling the story of the script, as opposed to plainly explaining it. More to the point, he told participants that they need to unleash their inner drama kings and queens, and treat their client presentation as a performance.
"You need to perform…you cannot be cool and sell a radio commercial, you’ve got to get into it," Hertz said. This way, clients can see the commitment to the work.
"When a client goes to a presentation, he’s not just buying your work, he’s buying you, he’s buying your commitment to the work," Hertz said.
Hertz also shared different ways of presenting radio scripts, from visuals to radio mood boards. He also said it helps to use characters, as opposed to just "Male Voice Over" or "Female Voice Over," and to describe what sounds will be heard as opposed to just saying "SFX" (Sound Effects).
Brand Sound
At the adobo Main Course, Hertz also talked about the importance of brand sound during the morning session, "Make More Waves – the neglected element of Brand Communication."
During the session, Hertz pointed out the different ways that brands can use sound to reach out to consumers. Apart from radio advertising, he also said they could include sound in their websites, or create pleasant soundscapes in the workplace and in public spaces.
Hertz demonstrated this by playing recordings of the cacophonous soundscapes of two popular malls in Metro Manila, and explaining how it affects people’s decision-making when they’re buying.
He then played a piece of generative music combined with bird and water sounds, developed by a London sound agency for Glasgow airport. According to Hertz, on the days they played the music, sales at the airport went up by 10 percent.
"It’s not for me to say that this is the right piece of music or the wrong piece of music. What I am here to say is you need to think about it," Hertz said.
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