Remember the announcer on the Wendy's ads when Dave Thomas was the on-camera talent? Joseph Sirola is sounding as rich and warm as ever for BoarsHead. Why has it been so long since Joseph Sirola has been on a major national campaign? Sure wish I would hear him show up on The History Channel or PBS, at least on promos...
www.brucehorlick.com and www.radiostorybooks.com
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Negative Comments are Positive, Profitable & More Productive.
Here is one for all the voices like me who actually prefer the sound of, "We can't stand your voice, your 'takes', and we will not hire you." As opposed to "Well, we feel your voice and 'takes' are just fine and we are going to keep you 'on-file'." I've learned the latter comment is just too uncertain to spend resources on. Yeah, every once in while a producer who said "fine" turns into a client, but overall my net profits would have been higher had I never directed resources toward a producer who was less than thrilled... Frankly, I would rather find out what type of voice would really float that producer's boat, so I can direct her/him to a voice who will be ideal. But I suppose too many voices get hurt when producers give negative feedback, and the producers just can't discern when it's truly okay to be honest. Damn my ego riden cohorts or damn those spineless producers??? I just don't know, though I suspect it's a combination... Yet I know everyone wins when producers give me honest feedback. I use negative feedback as an opportunity to direct that refreshing and bold producer to the perfect voice. How do I win? Sometimes, the grateful voice, who ultimately gets the gig, will try to reciprocate. Plus, the producer who was kind enough (yes, kind enough) to risk being candid gets exactly what she/he wants, and I get far more satisfaction from that professional courtesy than by taking a check for a "fine" V.O. Ahhhh, so much more productive for everyone.
Actually one of the most productive encounters of my career came from a radio program director. I am not one of the voices who is a career radio guy. My background and my main bread and butter today is in the ad agency business. Yet as a hobby many years ago, I worked fill-in and part time hosting requests and dedications in a soft rock radio format. In what's known as an "air check session," the program director, Bob Burch, tore up my on-air performance. Every time he stopped the tape he had something negative to say about my work. The two minute air check tape took him 20 minutes to pick apart... At the end of the session, I asked Bob if he wanted my resignation. He said, "What? I probably just fixed your on-air affectations. Do you think I would have wasted my time critiquing your work if I didn't think you were worthy?" Because Bob had the guts to be bold and to not sugar coat his comments, sensing I wanted to be better, he sent me through the best growing gush of my career. Those 20 minutes whipped my on-air performance into shape. Six months later, Bob was letting me substitute on PM drive. I applied his advice to my commercial and industrial voice-over demos as well, and I started getting V.O. gigs. That was almost 20 years ago, and I crave another growing gush like the gush for which Bob Burch was responsible. If there were more Bob Burches, we would all make more money or at least know where to redirect our energy.
www.brucehorlick.com and www.radiostorybooks.com
Actually one of the most productive encounters of my career came from a radio program director. I am not one of the voices who is a career radio guy. My background and my main bread and butter today is in the ad agency business. Yet as a hobby many years ago, I worked fill-in and part time hosting requests and dedications in a soft rock radio format. In what's known as an "air check session," the program director, Bob Burch, tore up my on-air performance. Every time he stopped the tape he had something negative to say about my work. The two minute air check tape took him 20 minutes to pick apart... At the end of the session, I asked Bob if he wanted my resignation. He said, "What? I probably just fixed your on-air affectations. Do you think I would have wasted my time critiquing your work if I didn't think you were worthy?" Because Bob had the guts to be bold and to not sugar coat his comments, sensing I wanted to be better, he sent me through the best growing gush of my career. Those 20 minutes whipped my on-air performance into shape. Six months later, Bob was letting me substitute on PM drive. I applied his advice to my commercial and industrial voice-over demos as well, and I started getting V.O. gigs. That was almost 20 years ago, and I crave another growing gush like the gush for which Bob Burch was responsible. If there were more Bob Burches, we would all make more money or at least know where to redirect our energy.
www.brucehorlick.com and www.radiostorybooks.com
Monday, September 7, 2009
I Don't Understand Network Promo VoiceCasting
Do many of today's promo voices all sound the same?
If I turn my head and fail to hear the network letters, I can't tell which network is which. Yeah, the voices often sound fine (some are terrible), but I just can't tell many of the voices or their networks apart. Why do networks targeting 35 plus viewers use promo voices that sound 20? Why do networks targeting 18-34 use promo voices that sound like seniors? What don't I understand? I understood when Casey Kasum/Danny Dark were the network exclusive voices of NBC, Ernie Anderson/Bill Rice for ABC, and when Joe Cipriano was exclusive on FOX. Each network had a true sound...
Okay, perhaps an argument can be made for program specific voices, as opposed to network specific voices, but why must sooooooo many promo voices be directed to the same guttural dramatic whisper? I look forward to a break-out promo voice. My favorite network promo voice was probably Danny Dark due to his range, as he could hit the mark on so many types of shows effortlessly. Robert R. Lynn from St. Louis who was the voice of Channel 11 was fantastic too in the 80s and early 90s; it's ashame a national audience never got to catch his work (ISDN wasn't quite in vogue). BTW, I love the wacky guy NBC uses from time to time, the guy who had a big campaign for White Castle about ten years ago... Don't know why he is not consistently on some fitting network. If he is, I haven't heard him. Anybody know his name?
On a personal note, I would love to use the mood I used on my Audio Book Demo Section under Humorist on network promos. I think that flavor would be a break from conventional promo wisdom...
I know, I know. "Bruce, we have focus groups who dictate the sound we use." Don't forget focus groups panned Seinfeld. Don't forget Don Hewitt programmed 60 minutes from his gut. Frankly, half the time when I place media buys based on empirical data, the advertiser fails to get results, and often THEN that advertiser will defer to "my gut" on how to allocate broadcast ad dollars... "My gut" generally trumps the data.
www.brucehorlick.com and www.radiostorybooks.com
If I turn my head and fail to hear the network letters, I can't tell which network is which. Yeah, the voices often sound fine (some are terrible), but I just can't tell many of the voices or their networks apart. Why do networks targeting 35 plus viewers use promo voices that sound 20? Why do networks targeting 18-34 use promo voices that sound like seniors? What don't I understand? I understood when Casey Kasum/Danny Dark were the network exclusive voices of NBC, Ernie Anderson/Bill Rice for ABC, and when Joe Cipriano was exclusive on FOX. Each network had a true sound...
Okay, perhaps an argument can be made for program specific voices, as opposed to network specific voices, but why must sooooooo many promo voices be directed to the same guttural dramatic whisper? I look forward to a break-out promo voice. My favorite network promo voice was probably Danny Dark due to his range, as he could hit the mark on so many types of shows effortlessly. Robert R. Lynn from St. Louis who was the voice of Channel 11 was fantastic too in the 80s and early 90s; it's ashame a national audience never got to catch his work (ISDN wasn't quite in vogue). BTW, I love the wacky guy NBC uses from time to time, the guy who had a big campaign for White Castle about ten years ago... Don't know why he is not consistently on some fitting network. If he is, I haven't heard him. Anybody know his name?
On a personal note, I would love to use the mood I used on my Audio Book Demo Section under Humorist on network promos. I think that flavor would be a break from conventional promo wisdom...
I know, I know. "Bruce, we have focus groups who dictate the sound we use." Don't forget focus groups panned Seinfeld. Don't forget Don Hewitt programmed 60 minutes from his gut. Frankly, half the time when I place media buys based on empirical data, the advertiser fails to get results, and often THEN that advertiser will defer to "my gut" on how to allocate broadcast ad dollars... "My gut" generally trumps the data.
www.brucehorlick.com and www.radiostorybooks.com
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