Is it just me, or does the quality of the creative in station produced ads sound worse than ever? Flicking around the dial, it seems that most stations’ ad breaks are dominated by commercials that do little more than have hyperactive voice overs shout through a list of products and prices. Either that, or they suggest you shop at a particular store simply because they have “a great product range and friendly service.”

It’s particularly annoying on music stations where the ad break coming up to the news goes on forever with ad after local ad all sounding as if  they’ve come out of the same boiler room inhabited by cookie cutter copy writers working to a quota rather than a through creative process. It not only inhibits the impact that clients’ ads deserve, it brings down the sound of the whole station.

Yet we know that station based creative teams are capable of winning Sirens with material that stacks up well against the best that the best advertising agencies can produce. So, why the disconnect between that level of creativity and what passes for most of the station produced commercials we hear every day?

Where lies the blame? The usual suspects include: Low budgets, cheap talent, short deadlines and sales people who don’t sell the need for good creative to the client. And clients who, even after they have it explained, still opt for a laundry list of information plus a phone number.

But apportioning blame is easy. Finding solutions is a lot, lot harder.

How would you fix it? Be creative.