Rick Ruben, Rory Sutherland and must-listen ads.
It’s ironically amusing that I pay for Spotify and still get ads on the podcasts I listen to.
Albeit, I can skip ahead and avoid them; getting them slightly defeats the purpose of paying, no?
On the drive home the other day, I was listening to Rick Rubin’s new podcast, featuring guest Rory Sutherland.
With what feels like every podcast on earth having ads, I found myself not reaching for the skip-ahead-15-seconds button.
And even sort of wanting the product.
The ad began with asking a series of simple questions:
Have you ever felt dehydrated or had a long day in the sun?
Do you want to maximize your endurance and feel your best?
These are meant to qualify the listener, drawing them in, forcing them to admit ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to no-brainer questions.
If done properly, these series of questions allow the listener to stack yeses in their mind, drawing them closer into the soon-to-be solution.
The ad follows these questions with imagery on an optimal state of being, then concluded with the product.
This ad follows the popular PAS framework.
Problem, Agitate and Solution.
However, there’s two huge caveats to this ad that made me want to listen to in its entirety and aren’t attributed to this framework.
First, it wasn’t read by Rick Rubin.
How is this a good thing?
From the podcasts I’ve listened to, every ad is done by the host.
Whether they try to liven it up with music or humor, our subconscious, to a degree, calls bullshit because we know they’re getting paid to promote the ad.
The second thing:
It was done in an early-50s, Mid-Atlantic accent to the tune of radio static and a lighthearted jingle.
Which is the complete opposite of ads that run today.
Rather than being speed-read, it’s read slowly.
Rather than having crystal-clear clarity, it’s filled with static.
Rather than the host voicing the ad, it’s voiced by an actor.
Whoever ideated and executed this ad, did the opposite of what current podcasts do.
I guess it’s as simple as that.
— George
