Touting radio as an essential medium for all advertisers.

In a series of humorous — and at times, eye-wincing — print advertisements, the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) unveils its new campaign this week that promotes the medium as a highly effective and essential tool for today’s advertisers and their agencies.

The ads show the downside of not using everyday items such as tweezers, sunscreen and toothbrushes. One ad shows a writhing soccer player who has failed to wear an athletic supporter cup, while another features a near-toothless man who apparently shunned a toothbrush throughout his adult life. Using the tagline, “If it works, don’t ignore it,” the ads aim to depict the consequences of overlooking something that is proven to be effective, such as Radio.

The Radio industry has turned-up the volume on what it delivers in terms of its impressive reach and effectiveness. The ad campaign is one part of a multi-million dollar commitment from the industry for research that documents Radio’s effectiveness, and relationship, with consumers. Under the direction of the Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab (RAEL), and its Research Committee that includes advertisers and agencies, three empirical consumer studies have already been released. A fourth study is scheduled to be released the end of this year, with a number of studies on the horizon for 2007 and 2008.

“The studies from RAEL reveal the way Radio’s unique engagement properties influence consumers, the effect it has in a media mix and on Return On Investment,” noted Gary Fries, President and Chief Executive Officer, RAB. “The studies that will be released over the next couple of years will dive deeper into the consumer’s experience with Radio to further quantify its effectiveness.”

The campaign was created by the New York ad agency DeVito/Verdi, which last year produced a much-talked-about campaign for the National Association of Broadcasters that featured everyone from The Rolling Stones and Alicia Keys to Ludacris and Leann Womack.

The ads target marketers, media buyers and the creative community in a way that will drive home the message that radio is too important to ignore. Making the connection between what can happen when you fail to use something intended to produce results, the campaign’s message is unmistakable: Ignore radio at your own peril.

“People have been writing radio’s obituary for years, but the truth is: there is nothing else that compares with its ubiquity, effectiveness and ROI,” said Ellis Verdi, president of DeVito/Verdi. “What we’re also trying to communicate to the creative class is that radio enables you to be much freer to write funny, thoughtful or emotional spots – more so than with any other medium.”

The campaign will begin appearing in such marketing magazines as ADWEEK, CREATIVITY, AD AGE and MEDIAWEEK. It will also run in AUTOMOTIVE NEWS and other magazines read by leading advertisers. The RAB has also created a dedicated website (www.radio-thatworks.com http://www.radio-thatworks.com/> ) that will mimic the look of the campaign and offer links to various industry sites that offer detailed support to the various facts that run at the bottom of each ad (i.e. “Has a 40% better ROI than TV,” “Reaches 80 million people in cars hourly”).