Author Archives: Rod Schwartz

About Rod Schwartz

Rod Schwartz backed into a lifelong career in radio advertising in 1973 in Springfield, Illinois. He joined the Pullman (Wash.) Radio Group in 1979, where he worked until his retirement at the end of 2022. From 1991 to March 2024, Rod and his family operated Grace Broadcast Sales, providing short-form syndicated radio features to radio and TV stations across the U.S. and Canada. Rod currently operates an independent advertising, marketing, and media consultancy for radio stations, independent business owners and busy professionals, and he continues providing syndicated audio features to radio and TV station clients. More information is available at RodSchwartz.com. An avid photographer, Rod shares some of his favorite images at PalousePics.com and on his Viewbug gallery. See Links for details.

Rodney Dangerfield, Bank of Pullman, and Me

Posted on October 15, 2019 by Rod Schwartz

Celebrities are paid handsomely for endorsing products and services; the bigger the celebrity, the heftier the fee. Whether a celebrity endorsement is worth the sizable extra investment is debatable. It’s one thing to have a spokesman who is intimately, if … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Business, Casting Talent, Client-voiced commercials, Jingles, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Slogans and taglines | Tagged Advertising, Bank, celebrity, Commercial, endorsement, Pullman, Radio, Rodney Dangerfield, Washington | 1 Comment

Seeing With Your Ears

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

His canvas was our minds. His paintbrush, words. And the pictures he painted so vividly made us see. They made us think. And they made us buy – whatever he was selling. Paul Harvey was the master of spoken-word communication. His choice … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Business, Communication, Copy, Copywriting, Paul Harvey, Positioning, Problem-solving, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales, Sales & Marketing, Storytelling, Voice Acting, Voiceover | Leave a comment

“How Often Should My Message Be Repeated?”

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Wanamaker’s famous quote on advertising has been widely disseminated. For some, it has inspired bold risk-taking and marketing breakthroughs; “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Business, Communication, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales, Sales & Marketing | 1 Comment

Conversations in Advertising: Are You a Participant or an Eavesdropper?

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

By Photos by Bertilvidet, European People’s Party, Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives. Collage/graphic by Didia [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons Whether you’re a business trying to engage consumers or a political candidate wooing voters, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Client-voiced commercials, Communication, Copy, Copywriting, political advertising, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales & Marketing, Storytelling | Tagged Advertising, campaign, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, eavesdropper, engagement, fourth wall, Lisa Brown, listener, participant, political advertising, Radio, Storytelling, television, viewer | Leave a comment

Message Matters More than Money

Posted on June 24, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

A sometimes controversial, unabashedly conservative first-term state senator is consistently vilified by the press throughout his first term in office. In the next election cycle, he faces a challenger from within his own party. The challenger is a popular local … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Client-voiced commercials, Communication, Copywriting, Newspaper, political advertising, Positioning, Print, Professional Services Advertising, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Storytelling | Leave a comment

Advertising Lessons from 1923 and 1927

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

He is “…hopelessly out of date, and amazingly current. He was the outstanding copywriter and strategist of his time; he made $100,000 a year and more writing advertising when that kind of money was important even to the U.S. Treasury.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Business, Communication, Consistency, Consultants, Consumer behavior, Copy, Copywriting, Demonstration (demo) tapes, Madison Avenue, Magazine, Newspaper, Ogilvy, Positioning, Print, Problem-solving, Sales, Sales & Marketing, Slogans and taglines, Storytelling | Tagged Claude, Hopkins, lessons, preemptive advertising, Scientific Advertising | Leave a comment

Listening to These Commercials Can Make You a Better Writer

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

The finalists in the 2018 Radio Mercury Awards have been announced. The 100 or so commercials that made the cut represent some of the best work being done in radio advertising today. From this group, a dozen or two will … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Awards, Branding, Business, Copy, Copywriting, Jingles, Madison Avenue, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Slogans and taglines, Storytelling | Tagged agency, creative, Radio Mercury Awards | Leave a comment

How to Amplify Your Word-of-Mouth (Guaranteed)

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

You prize good word-of-mouth don’t you? We all do. Word-of-mouth may not create business, but it helps create a preference for your business or brand in the heart of the hearer. Good radio advertising can have the same effect, only multiplied and amplified. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Business, Client-voiced commercials, Communication, Consistency, Copy, Copywriting, Internet, Magazine, Newspaper, Pay-per-click, Positioning, Print, Productivity, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Sales, Sales & Marketing, Slogans and taglines, Storytelling, Voice Acting | Tagged print, Radio, results, ROI, speech, word-of-mouth, word-of-mouth advertising | 2 Comments

The Speech Therapist In Your Pocket

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

You and I take the sounds of our words for granted. We don’t even give them a second thought. Having learned our alphabet as kids (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, possibly our earliest exposure to the power of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged app, children, defect, foreign, Gemiini Educational Systems, impediment, international, Keri Jones, language, pathology, Pullman Regional Hospital, speech, therapy | Leave a comment

Putting Your Phone Number in a Radio Ad is a Bad Idea. Here’s Why.

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Rod Schwartz

You’re not one of those advertisers who puts their telephone number into their radio ads, are you? Good. Didn’t think so. Because you know better. You chuckle at the mental image of somebody pulling over as they’re driving down the … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising (General), Branding, Business, Copy, Copywriting, Jingles, Professional Services Advertising, Proofreading, Radio Advertising, Radio Commercials, Radio Copywriting, Radio Production, Slogans and taglines, Storytelling, Uncategorized | Tagged 1-800-FLOWERS, ad, Advertising, Commercial, Dissmore's, Geico, Home Depot, Howard Hughes, jingle, Ken Paulson, McDonald's, phone, phone number, Sam Dial, telephone, WalMart, Yellow Pages | Leave a comment