You Can’t Bore People Into Buying

You Can’t Bore People Into Buying: How Creative Advertising Drives Real ROI

The only thing worse than being bored is being boring, right? 

So, why is so much advertising today just plain dull?  

In 2024, £42.6 billion was spent on advertising in the UK. £738m of that on radio advertising (Advertising Association (AA) and Warc.). That’s a lot of money for people to ignore your business, and statistically, they do.  

According to legendary creative director Dave Trott: 

• 4% of ads are remembered positively
• 7% are remembered negatively
• 89% aren’t remembered at all.

Why? Because, sorry to break the news, people don’t pay attention to adverts. They pay attention to what they find interesting.  And if your creative is brilliant, then what they find interesting might be your ad.  

The creative is the single most influential factor in your radio campaign. Studies from Radiocentre and Ebiquity show it contributes up to 49% of the ROI.  More than any other factor, like reach, brand or targeting.  

So here are the 3 things we put into our creative work to ensure your radio campaign gets results: 

The first job of any ad is to get noticed and remembered.  It’s not about how many people hear your ad, it’s about how many people heed it.  

Say ONE thing well. People are too busy or distracted to pay attention to a mundane list of things you do. In communication, Simplicity is good. Complexity is bad.  

Influence a behaviour or perception, FFS make the listener feel something. Tell them why they should care or how your thing is different and better from what already exists.  

It’s that simple. But it takes a lot of skill to do. 

Let's set up a bored meeting and get you the creative that you, your potential customers and our listeners deserve.