Tony Hertz presents the 7 Secrets of Creative Radio as guest speaker at AdFest 2013

Tony Hertz’s passion beyond reason for radio has spanned 40 years, three continents and careers as copywriter, radio spy international agency CD and boss of two highly awarded radio specialist companies in London. And he’s still the only person with both Yellow and Black D&AD Pencils for Radio. Here is a short interview with the ADFESTBuzz team after his presentation yesterday at Adfest in Thailand:

You describe yourself as having a ‘passion-beyond-reason’ for radio. Why are you so passionate about the medium?

There’s a combination of reasons, the most basic of which is that from as far back as I remember, I’ve been an “ear” person, sensitive to and fascinated by sound of all kinds.

In terms of work, again starting with my first agency job in the U.S., I was The-Kid-Who-Liked-Radio. They kept giving me radio briefs and I ate them up and became pretty good at it. 

Radio gives me more creative control than any other medium. I’ve done lots of TV and print and I really enjoy the collaboration with art and film, directors, editors, photographers, VFX guys etc., but I find radio more selfishly satisfying simply because there are fewer people between what’s in my head and what ends up as a sound file.

Why do you think creatives tend to stay in their comfort zone when creating for radio?

Why does anyone stay in their comfort zone? Obviously because it’s comfortable, i.e., safe, not scary.  In today’s advertising world the Visual Comfort Zone is enormous and creatives can do remarkable things without leaving it! But when it comes to Radio, the CZ is a lot smaller and as a result the work is less adventurous. The objective of my workshops is to show creatives how to enlarge their Radio Comfort Zone.

When did you realize there were 7 secrets to creating great radio? Was there a light bulb moment?

Firstly, 7 is a good number for secrets and habits; it worked pretty well for Steven Covey! Secondly, 6 of them aren’t really secrets and lastly, my light bulb moment took around 35 years! 

You were the first ever Jury President of Radio at ADFEST. What year was that?  What were your impressions of ADFEST back then?

ADFEST introduced the Radio Lotus in 2007 and I was honoured to be the Jury President. It was my first visit to the festival and I was impressed with every aspect. The quality of the work in all media was impressive and the openness and hospitality were amazing!  I’m really thrilled to be back.

You’re still the only person to win Yellow & Black Radio Pencils at D&AD. What makes you such a natural when it comes to radio?                                 

I guess, as I wrote earlier, that it started with my being an “ear” person. But more significant is simply that, over the years, my radio muscle has been very well exercised. I’ve always actively looked for opportunities to do radio and also to push myself to push the creative radio envelope.

Both Pencils were won by campaigns produced as serious responses to real briefs. At the risk of being contentious and/or precious in an awards-oriented culture I can honestly say that I’ve never actually written a radio ad with the aim of winning an award.

What inspired your move to Manila? What do you love about living there?

My first trip to Manila (to produce a radio campaign!) was in 1983, I met my wife-to-be in a recording studio (definite light bulb moment) and we’ve been coming fairly regularly ever since. We’ve built a house a few kilometres south of Manila where the air is fresh and cooler and the views pretty spectacular.

Lots to love here: people, fun, music, lifestyle, and the opportunity to help creatives with a genuine hunger for knowledge.

You list ‘radio spy’ as one of your careers. Please explain?

When I was 19, I worked for about 6 months for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in Washington.  They needed to know whether radio stations were violating their Code which specified how many minutes of advertising could run and certain products and services that weren’t allowed to be advertised (This was the 1960s).

So my job was to fly to places like Dallas, rent a car and drive off into the boondocks of Texas – Odessa, Big Spring, and Abilene – hole up in a motel for a few days in each place with 2 big old tape recorders and make clandestine recordings of local radio stations.  I got to see a lot of the USA, but the job itself was boring and I really sucked at the admin part, i.e. logging all the spots.   I didn’t last long and went back to being a copywriter!