Dan and Jim Price have heard every excuse for why radio creative doesn’t matter anymore. They’ve watched competitors close shop. They’ve seen budgets shrink and timelines compress. And yet, here they are in 2024, still assembling teams of nine writers and five composers for a single project because they believe audio deserves better than “five minutes of pain.”
Their website simply says “Hear Us Out”—which might be the most confident three words in advertising.
“Good radio is unlike anything else that’s available to you,” says Dan Price, who co-founded Oink Creative with his brother Jim in 1992. Started in a tiny Philadelphia office where both brothers spent their days on the phone, the agency has evolved through every seismic shift in audio production—from ISDN lines to AI-assisted creative—while maintaining one simple belief: great audio makes brands memorable.
The Dinner Table Test
Here’s how the Price brothers evaluate scripts: Would someone talk about this at dinner?
It’s brilliantly simple. Because when Dan asks clients to name the best radio work they’ve ever heard, nobody says “that spot with the phone number repeated four times.” They talk about Real Men of Genius. The Molson couple. The campaigns that became culture.
“Mediocrity will take you a long way in radio,” Jim admits with the kind of honesty that comes from three decades in the business. “So imagine what good radio will do.”
From Flying to LA Every Three Weeks to Whatever Comes Next
The Oink Creative story tracks perfectly with the evolution of audio production. Dan spent eight years flying to Los Angeles every three weeks for sessions at hotels like Shutters in Santa Monica. Then ISDN changed everything. Now they’re experimenting with AI-hybrid productions and dynamic audio—or as they call it on their site, “digital audio” (though they’re equally proud of their “dead radio” work, complete with a toe tag graphic that tells you everything about their sense of humor).
“We’ve been pretty good at staying nimble,” Dan notes, which might be the understatement of the interview.
While their competitors disappeared, the Price brothers kept adapting. They went from working exclusively with agencies to pitching brands directly. They shifted from traditional radio to streaming and podcasting. They watched the audio dollar get “carved up” across platforms but kept pushing for creative that cuts through.
Why Senior Creatives Still Love Audio (When It’s Done Right)
Jim works with freelance creative directors ranging from 25 to 65, including ECDs and GCDs who take on audio projects “just because they like it and it’s fun.” These are people who could be doing anything, but they choose to write radio because Oink Creative lets them try ideas that would never fly in their day jobs.
“They know they can try different ideas, that we’ll try and sell through things that they would have no shot with their current client,” Jim explains. It’s the kind of creative playground that barely exists anymore.
The testimonials on their site back this up. As one creative director puts it: “Radio doesn’t get the attention it deserves… Oink made all the difference in the world.”
The Mercury Award Behind Dan’s Head (Yes, It Comes With Cash)
During our video interview, Dan’s Mercury Award sits prominently in frame. Jim jokes about hanging his shelf in the wrong spot, but he’s got a Wheel of Fortune wheel signed by Pat and Vanna from 20 years of producing spots for their shows. These aren’t just tchotchkes—they’re evidence of what happens when you treat audio as a craft instead of an afterthought.
Still Underdogs, Still Essential
The Price brothers call themselves underdogs, and they’re not wrong. They’re fighting against streaming services that promise free creative with media buys. Against the perception that audio is purely promotional. Against the tendency to cram everything possible into 30 seconds.
But here’s what smart marketers should understand: Audio is the most portable and shareable medium out there. It’s intimate. It’s theater of the mind. And when done well—when it passes the dinner table test—it does something no other medium can.
“When you’re driving down the road and you hit a commercial break, and there’s one spot that stands out,” says Jim, “that’s what you remember.”
After 33 years, two brothers who started in a tiny Philly office are still here, still caring about the craft, still making the case that your brand deserves better than mediocrity. In an industry that loves to chase the next shiny object, there’s something beautifully stubborn about that.
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Contact: jim@oinkcreative.com
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