[BC] Commercial creativity....

[Thomas G. Osenkowsky]

I worked at stations that had fulltime copywriters. One station had two! Not
anymore. The Subject Line should actually be "Lack of Commercial
Creativity". It comes down to cost. It is easier to state the facts and
repeat over and over than it is to pay someone(s) to dwell on a product and
craft a creative spot for it. That was the idea behind NBC putting Leno on
five nights a week. Low production costs.
Some ads, like Flo the Progressive Girl are creative and attract your
attention in a good way. Others, like the Crazy Eddie ads that ran in the
NYC area just beat you over the head.
This relates to engineering as well. In the days when stations had fulltime
engineers they often invented devices that served custom purposes. Now we
just buy what we need. Broadcast Tools, Henry Engineering, JK Audio, RDL and
others fill the gap for many of these needs.
There aren't many like Lady Gaga, one with their own sense of style,
creativity and individuality anymore. This applies universally.

Tom Osenkowsky, CPBE

>Today the norm is to run the same 30-second spot six times an hour
>to browbeat the audience into action.  Mostly because we have let the
>ad agencies dictate schedules for maximum "exposures".