research to measure the efficacy of the commercials, so nobody knows what works. A pilot study I commissioned suggests four positive factors: 1 Identify your brand early in the commercial. 2 Identify it often. 3 Promise the listener a benefit early in the commercial. 4 Repeat it often. Ninety commercials out of a hundred do none of these things. In my opinion – and it is nothing more than that – the first thing your radio commercial has to do is to get people to listen. Surprise them. Arouse their curiosity. Wake them up. Once they are awake, talk to them as one human being to another. Involve them. Charm them. Make them laugh. Here is the script of a radio commercial in a series which increased the sale of Red, White and Blue Beer by 60 per cent: This beer commercial, written by my partner Hal Riney, is the best example I know of the use of emotion in advertising.