Noted Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, author Marshall McLuhan once posed a question during a seminar I attended which I will share with you. What is the definition of “read”? After a cornucopia of interesting but wrong answers he gave a hint. “Don’t explain read by using read and don’t tell me about the action of the word, tell me its meaning.
After 10 more minutes of suspense he gave the most unusual definition. He said the definition of the word “read” means “to guess”. How else can you explain how three people can read a sentence, for instance like “I got the promotion” and come up with three different interpretations. So based on your background, language, perceptions and experiences about what you know you “guess” at what the author is trying to convey.
Which leads me back to “I got the promotion”; some who will “read” this sentence envisioned job advancement or a contest idea. If so, bad “guess” since that perception missed the point I was trying to convey. Here’s why, last week while on my daily shopping trip to Whole Foods Market, a local Subaru dealer was test driving cars in front of the store. As I was about to pass and decline their offer, the lovely sales representative said “Take a test drive and we’ll give you a twenty (20) dollar Whole Foods gift card that you could use right now”.
Well that got me to drive one and as I watched for the next hour, 85 percent of those they approached made the same choice. I later found out that the Whole Foods and Subaru partnered in this effort. According to the salesperson because both companies core customer base was earth friendly and health conscious. So they took the product to where their core customers are. Interesting!?! When I shared the experience with another friend he asked “how many cars do you think they sold”? He’s a bean counter so the bottom line was his focus however he missed the wisdom of the promotion. After all if you had 100 people commit to the test drive and 3 question survey afterwards (now you’re in their database). The cost would be two (2000) thousand dollars worth of Whole Food gift cards for this promotion. If you didn’t sell a car was it worth it?
I can’t tell if they made a single sale but Subaru wasn’t among the top 10 cars I would have chosen before the test drive and it is now! McLuhan was right, the message is the medium. The Subaru mindset must have been don’t add discounts or drop the price, it might hurt the perception of their product when the car market finally rebounds and someday it will. This promotion made new customer in-roads and probably grew their market share. By the way, the profit from one car sale would’ve paid for this promotion. The perception of (car) quality remained high because you believe you’re getting more than your money’s worth. I don’t believe the twenty dollars alone would not have created this high (85%) test drive percentage but with the value added Whole Foods gift card it was instant gratification. Thus planting seeds of a new top of the mind awareness with potential customers and generating positive word of mouth advertising.
You may have noticed more of corporate America’s dollars you trying new creative ways to grow their customer base. Target teamed up with Facebook and Twitter to setup a fan page. Their fans the week before “black Friday” had an opportunity to get the first crack on sell merchandise at drastic discounts. The local ABC television affiliate profiled one mother who got a seventy (75%) percent fan discount on her Christmas gifts from Target. Starbucks fans can send their Facebook friends a free drink. One small mom and pop food stop Quesa-d-ya’s used a Facebook promotion to celebrate their first year in business. For one day they sold their small Quesada valued at 7 bucks for one dollar. One of my Facebook friends talked me into checking this one out and I’m glad I did. I bought two they we’re the size of a very large pizza for two bucks. To be honest I expected the McDonald dollar meal size but I was pleasantly surprised. The owner told me about 300 people stopped in because of his Facebook promotion. He continued that” the profit margin was low with such a large turnout”. Next year, he’ll sell them for 2 dollars and if he gets the same result would clean up. So I had to ask if he ever tried using radio. He ran a small commercial schedule with a free lunch promotion with the top rated radio outlet in the market and got nothing. Why?
Once again to refer to McLuhan the medium is the message. Radio in not known for instant gratification and the Internet is! In this world of shorter attention spans and microwave meals, how fast can I get, my prize, my request, my discount and my satisfaction?
Many 18 to 34 listeners have chosen Internet radio as their first choice for music. Web radio outlets like Pandora, is like having your own personal radio station. This music website inputs your vitals on a music database. Then the taste test software plays your request and immediately suggests new songs that fit your profile. Pandora can really offer more for less ad time at only a fraction of the cost on digital streams of regular radio stations. And they can command higher prices for their product according to Media Spot Inc. Here’s a shocker Media Spot Inc did research for a client who wanted to target the Los Angeles listeners of Pandora. They got the return of investment response they wanted and paid twenty (20%) percent more than buying regular terrestrial LA radio. Pandora for the first three months of this year could barely eke out a profit. However CFO Tim Westergren expects they will close out the year with revenue of about forty (40) million dollars on the bottom line.
More than 42 million each week listen to radio online, that’s more than double the rate from five years ago according to Edison Research and Arbitron Inc. Borrell Associates research says radio gets an estimated 2.4% of its revenue online while TV gets 3.4% and newspapers 7%. Radio has got to improve in this area before the window closes. The good news is that terrestrial radio is still the revenue king. Buyers still say their clients don’t attach much value to the additional information available from Internet streams although that’s changing.
One more promotion comparison, this week McDonald with its hip hop marketing strategy announced a dramatic drop in revenue, even after introducing the dollar meal and the seemingly on-going “Monopoly game”. While on the other side of the counter, family oriented Chick-fil-a with its on-going cows for chicken campaign posted profits that hit the 3 billion dollar mark for the first time in the company’s history in a bad economy. What makes Chick-fil-a plan work? Huge community involvement! They are at every parade giving away free drinks whether you purchase or not. They’re active in the church community providing meals for seminars and workshops. During the beginning of this year they gave away free language programs for Spanish, French and Chinese, no purchase necessary and they're closed on Sunday. Now who of the two, do you think created the best customer word of mouth?
In closing, if word of mouth is still the best form of publicity (and it is), what kind of words are your customers using about your station? Having said all of that “did you get it”?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
IT'S THE NETWORK
You’ve probably heard the very popular telecommunication commercial “it’s the network”! The phrase embodies a feeling of superiority and excellent service with the network for all your cellular applications.
However when the phrase “it’s the network” is used at local radio affiliates, across the country, it takes on a whole different meaning. Generally assigning blame for something that went wrong with their programming, technical issues or sales challenges down to even the basic “I can’t ever get the request line”!?!
Both program providers and it’s cornucopia of clients have probably said in unison “can you hear me now” since corrective changes in this marriage must often times seem almost non-existent. And they tell each other “you’re not doing it right” the scary part of this statement is that there is truth from both points of view. The client believes they’ve done what was required to be successful with the national program provider and as does the network for its clientele. This is why some stations sound so natural with the network audio feed while to this day other struggle. “They just don’t get it” and once again both are right! The best example I can give is communicating in American English to someone who only understands the Queen’s English. You use the same words but some take on different meanings because of the culture. You both think you understand each other until what you’ve discussed has to be executed. Here’s a tip, simplify the operations manual to just bullet points, add a demo of stations who execute the format well with contact numbers for a small fee if need be or a regional engineers hotline who understand what you require to help those new or old affiliates whose struggling.
History really does repeat itself in this case. Network radio as we know it today began in the middle 80’s with the network radio pioneer John Tyler’s Satellite Music Network. SMN would send its engineer Carlos Hurd to set up and consult its network affiliate base; he was almost always on the road. Customer service was important since it was a new technology and the perception was to make the listener believe this better product came from their hometown. As the Network business grew with more competitors, the cost of doing business did too. Having a quality control guy roaming from affiliate to affiliate could no longer be justified. There lies the answer to many of the issues in this occasionally toxic relationship.
Plus in the late 90’s when a handful of radio companies grew at an alarming rate, the network program providers feared for the worst. Their effectiveness on paper appeared to be seriously compromised since that “handful” gobbled up many of their clients. In other words, the Wal-Mart business model came to radio. Mom and Pop along with some cousins and uncles were suddenly out of business, so the question became can we compete if “they” owned all the stations? At the time I was a junior executive with ABC and my answer was “Yes”! One day the balloon payment would be due and the “handful” will need a friend to help them with the enormous programming and personnel cost of this venture. Few saw the opportunity since the problem appeared so enormous and hopeless, after all what could this kid new to the table really know about this dilemma?
Under the current economic crisis the “network” has become like big government in today’s health care debate. But this time the Internet is the lobbyist and new technologies is the big money behind this effort to keep broadcasters in a cost per point quandary.
In the final analyst radio is using the survival tactics of the airline industry. Cutbacks on staff, contests, workshops, sponsored sales packages for clients and website options meantime listeners are moving to a variety of website options for a better deal. “Can you hear me now?”
Who would you rather do business with a company who offers new ideas and services for an additional fee or one who decides to charge you for services you once gave freely for years?
I hope you noticed the intentional telecommunication approach of innovation in the marketplace to enhance their bottom line. Their phone service, cable TV, high speed internet, your blackberry or iphone works better when you use our 4G system of highly integrated maps and networks. They are the now network because their products boost their profits. Innovation!
However where is the innovation with the airline industry, for luggage you pay, for the in-flight meal you pay, for pillow and blanket you pay. You pay for everything you once got for free. Now which one offers the customer a better deal? “Can you hear me now?”
In just a few weeks we’ll sing that line from the New Year’s song - ”may old acquaintance be forgot”. Upgrade your radio business model or you will miss the opportunities of the new day. The old adage; the world is your oyster has become a reality. Unlearn what you have learned; create something that will make people want to tell your story for you!
The global marketplace will make you restructure, rethink, reinvent the way you do business. Here are some more ideas along that line:
1. Bring back the client sales, marketing and programming workshops. Use Skype teleconferencing to bring affiliates together for ways to help their product. If security is a concern, publicize it! Tell the industry what you’re doing for your clients, since almost everything on the internet is free anyway.
2. Social Networking is huge! Facebook has over 300 million users, and Twitter has become one of the fasting growing sites. How can you use these vehicles or create your own social site with your network of affiliates? Take note: corporations have begun to jump on the social network bandwagon. By the way in a recent study from Rutgers University one out of every five twitter users are “informers”, posting information such as links to news articles. The remaining 80%? They are “meformers” posting updates mainly about themselves.
3. Celebrities are the leading many of their fans to these websites for social interaction. Don’t miss the power of your air-staff. Again most miss this opportunity to cash in on their intellectual capital for ideas and impact.
4. Synergy! If the telecommunications guys can offer bundles, why can’t you?
5. How prepared are you when the internet can be heard in your car? Just in case you haven’t heard it’s already on your mobile phone with digital quality! Go to http://www.broadcastevangelist.com/ if you “can hear me now” for more ideas.
However when the phrase “it’s the network” is used at local radio affiliates, across the country, it takes on a whole different meaning. Generally assigning blame for something that went wrong with their programming, technical issues or sales challenges down to even the basic “I can’t ever get the request line”!?!
Both program providers and it’s cornucopia of clients have probably said in unison “can you hear me now” since corrective changes in this marriage must often times seem almost non-existent. And they tell each other “you’re not doing it right” the scary part of this statement is that there is truth from both points of view. The client believes they’ve done what was required to be successful with the national program provider and as does the network for its clientele. This is why some stations sound so natural with the network audio feed while to this day other struggle. “They just don’t get it” and once again both are right! The best example I can give is communicating in American English to someone who only understands the Queen’s English. You use the same words but some take on different meanings because of the culture. You both think you understand each other until what you’ve discussed has to be executed. Here’s a tip, simplify the operations manual to just bullet points, add a demo of stations who execute the format well with contact numbers for a small fee if need be or a regional engineers hotline who understand what you require to help those new or old affiliates whose struggling.
History really does repeat itself in this case. Network radio as we know it today began in the middle 80’s with the network radio pioneer John Tyler’s Satellite Music Network. SMN would send its engineer Carlos Hurd to set up and consult its network affiliate base; he was almost always on the road. Customer service was important since it was a new technology and the perception was to make the listener believe this better product came from their hometown. As the Network business grew with more competitors, the cost of doing business did too. Having a quality control guy roaming from affiliate to affiliate could no longer be justified. There lies the answer to many of the issues in this occasionally toxic relationship.
Plus in the late 90’s when a handful of radio companies grew at an alarming rate, the network program providers feared for the worst. Their effectiveness on paper appeared to be seriously compromised since that “handful” gobbled up many of their clients. In other words, the Wal-Mart business model came to radio. Mom and Pop along with some cousins and uncles were suddenly out of business, so the question became can we compete if “they” owned all the stations? At the time I was a junior executive with ABC and my answer was “Yes”! One day the balloon payment would be due and the “handful” will need a friend to help them with the enormous programming and personnel cost of this venture. Few saw the opportunity since the problem appeared so enormous and hopeless, after all what could this kid new to the table really know about this dilemma?
Under the current economic crisis the “network” has become like big government in today’s health care debate. But this time the Internet is the lobbyist and new technologies is the big money behind this effort to keep broadcasters in a cost per point quandary.
In the final analyst radio is using the survival tactics of the airline industry. Cutbacks on staff, contests, workshops, sponsored sales packages for clients and website options meantime listeners are moving to a variety of website options for a better deal. “Can you hear me now?”
Who would you rather do business with a company who offers new ideas and services for an additional fee or one who decides to charge you for services you once gave freely for years?
I hope you noticed the intentional telecommunication approach of innovation in the marketplace to enhance their bottom line. Their phone service, cable TV, high speed internet, your blackberry or iphone works better when you use our 4G system of highly integrated maps and networks. They are the now network because their products boost their profits. Innovation!
However where is the innovation with the airline industry, for luggage you pay, for the in-flight meal you pay, for pillow and blanket you pay. You pay for everything you once got for free. Now which one offers the customer a better deal? “Can you hear me now?”
In just a few weeks we’ll sing that line from the New Year’s song - ”may old acquaintance be forgot”. Upgrade your radio business model or you will miss the opportunities of the new day. The old adage; the world is your oyster has become a reality. Unlearn what you have learned; create something that will make people want to tell your story for you!
The global marketplace will make you restructure, rethink, reinvent the way you do business. Here are some more ideas along that line:
1. Bring back the client sales, marketing and programming workshops. Use Skype teleconferencing to bring affiliates together for ways to help their product. If security is a concern, publicize it! Tell the industry what you’re doing for your clients, since almost everything on the internet is free anyway.
2. Social Networking is huge! Facebook has over 300 million users, and Twitter has become one of the fasting growing sites. How can you use these vehicles or create your own social site with your network of affiliates? Take note: corporations have begun to jump on the social network bandwagon. By the way in a recent study from Rutgers University one out of every five twitter users are “informers”, posting information such as links to news articles. The remaining 80%? They are “meformers” posting updates mainly about themselves.
3. Celebrities are the leading many of their fans to these websites for social interaction. Don’t miss the power of your air-staff. Again most miss this opportunity to cash in on their intellectual capital for ideas and impact.
4. Synergy! If the telecommunications guys can offer bundles, why can’t you?
5. How prepared are you when the internet can be heard in your car? Just in case you haven’t heard it’s already on your mobile phone with digital quality! Go to http://www.broadcastevangelist.com/ if you “can hear me now” for more ideas.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
IF I’M AMOUG THE WINNERS WHY DO I FEEL LIKE WHINNING
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Dickens was right with all the cutbacks, layoffs, downsizing in the past 360 days it has created a worker’s sub-class! It’s the tale of two cities, those who live in the workplace and those who are trying to find a new place to work.
Even if you are among the survivors of all the recent economic downturns. The atmosphere of truly being grateful is not genuine or maybe heartfelt is a better term. For most it’s more work, less pay and in some cases reduced vacation time which has made this a tale of an endless workweek. The research from the National Association of the Self Employed has proven people tend to perform poorly when overworked, and their personal and professional relationships can deteriorate. So the strategies management has put in place to keep the ship afloat could in the long run create an product the audience would view as inferior to what they’ve been used too. Then they search for other outlets to meet their entertainment needs leaving us with smaller audience shares and even smaller ad revenues. It is a vicious cycle and as you know times couldn’t be worst.
This isn’t a picnic for management they’ve taken measures to try and save jobs and keep the company in business. In spite of smaller budgets, greater pressure to generate more revenue, more meetings and more travel, so less time with the family again this weekend. And for the big broadcast companies another balloon payment and cash reserve quotas to meet along with rumors of the “b-word” bankruptcy.
If you’re working in the broadcast industry or any business now a days you can probably relate to what has been said so far. The purpose for this blog is to remind all who are involved “we are all in the same boat”. Argue the place in the boat if you like however on the Titanic first class and economy got the same view of the water.
Depending on who is talking management or workforce, the conversation is the same from both, “they” are always the problem and “I or me” isn’t given the tools or financial support to accomplish what “I’ve” been asked to do. Right!?!
Here’s a news flash the entire media industry is in crisis mode. Radio, Television and newspapers are trying to re-invent themselves to compete in the age of the internet. Yet in this hour of despair I still have hope and here’s why, I’m a student of the Japanese language and culture. The same Chinese symbol or Kanji used for “crisis” is the same one used for “opportunity”. These are the times that try men’s imaginations. It was during tough economic times when the solution for the dirty glass created the paper cup. Eureka!
May I make a suggestion, cash in on your “intellectual capital”! Mister Radio Station employer, when times get better and they will, could you give back or restore the pay reduction and vacation time to tenured employees. Make it a promise, put it in writing and post it in the break room. Mention it often during meetings because the goal is to get us back to making money. But do that on one condition, the workforce must work to make this goal happen and give ideas on how to streamline operations.
After all they do the work they know what it takes to get the job done. Solicit ideas and pay them for the ones you implement. Encourage your staff to not overlook something left undone because “it’s not my job”. Do it or call it to the attention of someone who can, no more of this it’s not my company talk anymore! However, the only way we as management and staff can reach this point of cooperation is when all are respected, valued and praised when a job is well done.
One more thing, give them a say on how to cut expenses in their departments, I’ll keep saying this until you get it, remember they do the work. And to be frank the morale issue which is the real villain during these worst of times will have gotten a must needed stimulus package.
According to my Funk & Wagnall’s standard desk dictionary; the definition for a “city” is “a place inhabited by a large permanent community, a municipality of the first class with definite boundaries and various legal powers”. To borrow a line from an old television program, there are 800 stories in the naked city which one will be yours?
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Dickens was right with all the cutbacks, layoffs, downsizing in the past 360 days it has created a worker’s sub-class! It’s the tale of two cities, those who live in the workplace and those who are trying to find a new place to work.
Even if you are among the survivors of all the recent economic downturns. The atmosphere of truly being grateful is not genuine or maybe heartfelt is a better term. For most it’s more work, less pay and in some cases reduced vacation time which has made this a tale of an endless workweek. The research from the National Association of the Self Employed has proven people tend to perform poorly when overworked, and their personal and professional relationships can deteriorate. So the strategies management has put in place to keep the ship afloat could in the long run create an product the audience would view as inferior to what they’ve been used too. Then they search for other outlets to meet their entertainment needs leaving us with smaller audience shares and even smaller ad revenues. It is a vicious cycle and as you know times couldn’t be worst.
This isn’t a picnic for management they’ve taken measures to try and save jobs and keep the company in business. In spite of smaller budgets, greater pressure to generate more revenue, more meetings and more travel, so less time with the family again this weekend. And for the big broadcast companies another balloon payment and cash reserve quotas to meet along with rumors of the “b-word” bankruptcy.
If you’re working in the broadcast industry or any business now a days you can probably relate to what has been said so far. The purpose for this blog is to remind all who are involved “we are all in the same boat”. Argue the place in the boat if you like however on the Titanic first class and economy got the same view of the water.
Depending on who is talking management or workforce, the conversation is the same from both, “they” are always the problem and “I or me” isn’t given the tools or financial support to accomplish what “I’ve” been asked to do. Right!?!
Here’s a news flash the entire media industry is in crisis mode. Radio, Television and newspapers are trying to re-invent themselves to compete in the age of the internet. Yet in this hour of despair I still have hope and here’s why, I’m a student of the Japanese language and culture. The same Chinese symbol or Kanji used for “crisis” is the same one used for “opportunity”. These are the times that try men’s imaginations. It was during tough economic times when the solution for the dirty glass created the paper cup. Eureka!
May I make a suggestion, cash in on your “intellectual capital”! Mister Radio Station employer, when times get better and they will, could you give back or restore the pay reduction and vacation time to tenured employees. Make it a promise, put it in writing and post it in the break room. Mention it often during meetings because the goal is to get us back to making money. But do that on one condition, the workforce must work to make this goal happen and give ideas on how to streamline operations.
After all they do the work they know what it takes to get the job done. Solicit ideas and pay them for the ones you implement. Encourage your staff to not overlook something left undone because “it’s not my job”. Do it or call it to the attention of someone who can, no more of this it’s not my company talk anymore! However, the only way we as management and staff can reach this point of cooperation is when all are respected, valued and praised when a job is well done.
One more thing, give them a say on how to cut expenses in their departments, I’ll keep saying this until you get it, remember they do the work. And to be frank the morale issue which is the real villain during these worst of times will have gotten a must needed stimulus package.
According to my Funk & Wagnall’s standard desk dictionary; the definition for a “city” is “a place inhabited by a large permanent community, a municipality of the first class with definite boundaries and various legal powers”. To borrow a line from an old television program, there are 800 stories in the naked city which one will be yours?
Monday, August 31, 2009
THE MOST PROFITABLE BIRTHDAY ON RADIO
In just a few days, one or more of the radio stations in your market is going to go to “the all little drummer boy with chestnuts on an open fire format”.
It happens earlier and earlier each year and for good reason since they usually generate a rating bonanza, just last year 95 percent of these radio outlets racked up double digit shares in key audience demo cells!
How did this trend get started? Well in 2002 when WSNI - Sunny 104.5 – switched formats from easy listening to oldies. As a part of their new format launch, they became Philadelphia's first station to try a full month of Christmas songs and completely dominated the market with the move.
Mr. Brian Check, then regional vice president of programming for Clear Channel Communications at WSNI-FM in Philadelphia said, "Maybe it's the mood of the country. Maybe after 9/11, and with the war, people want an early pick-me-up, I'm not sure," he said. "But audience demand is what's driving this."
He was partly correct; it’s taking hope and fear and explaining it to ignorance the nature of the unknowable. The audience needed this spirit to remind us there is something bigger than our circumstances. So much so that now seven years later in 2009, 4 stations in Philadelphia are planning to repeat last year’s plan and switch to the all Christmas format and at least a hundred others nationally because of the massive ratings increase.
Here’s why, the United States remains a dominantly Christian nation. According to Gallup Polls, more than three-quarters of all Americans identify as Christian. And the vast majority of those who identify with any religion say they are Christian in some form or another.
However you have probably heard that there has been a decline in recent decades for those who profess the Christian religion. Let’s look at the numbers, today the country is just under 80%, according to an aggregate of Gallup Polls conducted in 2008. Which is more than a 10% drop since the 1948 study when the country was a whopping 91% ( that's when Gallup began tracking almost 70 years ago) claiming Christian religious identification.
To most of you the “go all-Christmas format switch” in September is not an option. However if this holiday generates this much interest, how will you capitalize on this season of ratings giving?
Here’s an option, create some interactive Christmas promotions:
1. Sponsored Podcasts! (something fun) How about the on air staff Christmas soap webcast (include office personnel too) with a direct link to a clients website, so you can track the respondents. Be creative with this podcast about Christmas and tie in a contest!
2. Set up an All-Christmas music internet stream on your website with the style of music your audience enjoys. Again, client website link you don’t have to stop the music just make sure the scenery during the webcast is exciting and seasonal during the holidays for this stream. (If you have an HD signal this is also an option however it will be difficult to gauge your effectiveness for a client and limits the reach)
3. The (your station) Christmas Grinch hater who will show up and give away free money and prizes to listeners who have their Christmas attire on in your clients place of business. The set up is” sometime this week the CGH will visit this business, mall, parade, food bank, homeless shelter etc, looking for listeners dressed for Christmas” (give them something goofy to say to make it fun) .
Here’s a news flash, the same listeners who will listen to the all Christmas format will also buy something for the holiday. All of them, 100% because it is not just tradition, it’s like a religious obligation to honor Jesus Christ’s birth. Credit card companies will testify that these holiday consumers are not always driven by their bank accounts.
It’s the three “R”s, Radio needs the money, Retailers need sales and everyone needs Results. When you create a buzz about your station it all adds up to Ratings. Isn’t that how the all-Christmas format became so popular, remember it was great word of mouth!
OK! Here it is, keep the main thing the main thing. Let me say it different, Keep is simple stupid. I see you missed it “Don’t re-invent the wheel”. If they believe you intentionally won’t use Christmas because you don’t want to offend anyone you’ve just alienated 80 percent of your audience, remember whose buying and whose birthday they are celebrating.
The best example I can give on this subject is Israel! Their number one industry is tourism. Even though the landscape of this country is breath taking, that’s not why people flock to their hotels and restaurants this time of the year, is it. And it is also the reason why, the most successful fall format promotion ( for radio chains that can afford it), is all Christmas, all the time!
Did you know that the most famous Christmas carol of all time is “Silent Night” so called because of why it was written. The church organ had broken on Christmas Eve in 1818 in the small alpine village of Oberndorf. Austrian priest Joseph Mohr and his friend Franz Gruber composed this classic intended for a guitar and simple score in less than an hour for Midnight Mass that night.
Just like Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber, the promotion with Philly’s Sunny 104.5 was to fix a broken format and instead they introduced the radio industry to the all time ratings bonanza.
Silence is golden when you give the people what they want!
In just a few days, one or more of the radio stations in your market is going to go to “the all little drummer boy with chestnuts on an open fire format”.
It happens earlier and earlier each year and for good reason since they usually generate a rating bonanza, just last year 95 percent of these radio outlets racked up double digit shares in key audience demo cells!
How did this trend get started? Well in 2002 when WSNI - Sunny 104.5 – switched formats from easy listening to oldies. As a part of their new format launch, they became Philadelphia's first station to try a full month of Christmas songs and completely dominated the market with the move.
Mr. Brian Check, then regional vice president of programming for Clear Channel Communications at WSNI-FM in Philadelphia said, "Maybe it's the mood of the country. Maybe after 9/11, and with the war, people want an early pick-me-up, I'm not sure," he said. "But audience demand is what's driving this."
He was partly correct; it’s taking hope and fear and explaining it to ignorance the nature of the unknowable. The audience needed this spirit to remind us there is something bigger than our circumstances. So much so that now seven years later in 2009, 4 stations in Philadelphia are planning to repeat last year’s plan and switch to the all Christmas format and at least a hundred others nationally because of the massive ratings increase.
Here’s why, the United States remains a dominantly Christian nation. According to Gallup Polls, more than three-quarters of all Americans identify as Christian. And the vast majority of those who identify with any religion say they are Christian in some form or another.
However you have probably heard that there has been a decline in recent decades for those who profess the Christian religion. Let’s look at the numbers, today the country is just under 80%, according to an aggregate of Gallup Polls conducted in 2008. Which is more than a 10% drop since the 1948 study when the country was a whopping 91% ( that's when Gallup began tracking almost 70 years ago) claiming Christian religious identification.
To most of you the “go all-Christmas format switch” in September is not an option. However if this holiday generates this much interest, how will you capitalize on this season of ratings giving?
Here’s an option, create some interactive Christmas promotions:
1. Sponsored Podcasts! (something fun) How about the on air staff Christmas soap webcast (include office personnel too) with a direct link to a clients website, so you can track the respondents. Be creative with this podcast about Christmas and tie in a contest!
2. Set up an All-Christmas music internet stream on your website with the style of music your audience enjoys. Again, client website link you don’t have to stop the music just make sure the scenery during the webcast is exciting and seasonal during the holidays for this stream. (If you have an HD signal this is also an option however it will be difficult to gauge your effectiveness for a client and limits the reach)
3. The (your station) Christmas Grinch hater who will show up and give away free money and prizes to listeners who have their Christmas attire on in your clients place of business. The set up is” sometime this week the CGH will visit this business, mall, parade, food bank, homeless shelter etc, looking for listeners dressed for Christmas” (give them something goofy to say to make it fun) .
Here’s a news flash, the same listeners who will listen to the all Christmas format will also buy something for the holiday. All of them, 100% because it is not just tradition, it’s like a religious obligation to honor Jesus Christ’s birth. Credit card companies will testify that these holiday consumers are not always driven by their bank accounts.
It’s the three “R”s, Radio needs the money, Retailers need sales and everyone needs Results. When you create a buzz about your station it all adds up to Ratings. Isn’t that how the all-Christmas format became so popular, remember it was great word of mouth!
OK! Here it is, keep the main thing the main thing. Let me say it different, Keep is simple stupid. I see you missed it “Don’t re-invent the wheel”. If they believe you intentionally won’t use Christmas because you don’t want to offend anyone you’ve just alienated 80 percent of your audience, remember whose buying and whose birthday they are celebrating.
The best example I can give on this subject is Israel! Their number one industry is tourism. Even though the landscape of this country is breath taking, that’s not why people flock to their hotels and restaurants this time of the year, is it. And it is also the reason why, the most successful fall format promotion ( for radio chains that can afford it), is all Christmas, all the time!
Did you know that the most famous Christmas carol of all time is “Silent Night” so called because of why it was written. The church organ had broken on Christmas Eve in 1818 in the small alpine village of Oberndorf. Austrian priest Joseph Mohr and his friend Franz Gruber composed this classic intended for a guitar and simple score in less than an hour for Midnight Mass that night.
Just like Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber, the promotion with Philly’s Sunny 104.5 was to fix a broken format and instead they introduced the radio industry to the all time ratings bonanza.
Silence is golden when you give the people what they want!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
THE SHOCK JOCK IS DEAD BUT COULD THE QUIET STORM MEET THE SAME FATE
THE SHOCK JOCK IS DEAD BUT COULD THE QUIET STORM MEET THE SAME FATE
Remember the 1979 pop rock song “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the British group The Buggles? It celebrated the golden days of radio by describing a singer whose career is cut short by television. Here’s the parody the News killed Shock format and the Internet married the Quiet storm. I’ll explain…..
It has become increasingly harder to out shock the daily newscast. When news stories about men raping 3 year old children and recording it on video or a woman kills a pregnant friend in an attempt to raise her yet unborn baby as her own. How about claiming to be kidnapped so you don’t have to get married! No shock jock could ever top this stuff.
The bottom line is the audience is numb, appalled, disgusted but “would you pass the peas please” uninterested in the next shocking saga. Their focus is on how to survive in a down economy and if radio is interested in staying in business it has to adjust to the change in lifestyle.
However if you still feel that is your niche, re-invent your style! Sacha Baron Cohen's characters are the movie's version of the shock jock, isn’t it? Borat was a huge success, the more recent Bruno wasn’t you know why? One was the innocence of being in a different culture, the other and stereotype in the midst of a gay rights campaign. Timing is everything when you have fictional people do the dirty deeds.
It is not the guy on the radio; it is an actor playing a role. The dummy does the insult not the ventriloquist. The joke is what is embarrassing; it’s not an embarrassing joke. Now that’s walking a very “fine” line just ask the Federal Communication Commission.
On radio’s other weak programming sister, the evening love music show.
The “Quiet Storm” radio program was born in 1976 on WKYS in Washington D.C. Its host and creator was Melvin Lindsey, who borrowed the theme of this broadcast romance concept from Smokey Robinson’s song of the same name.
Unfortunately, he never filed a legal copyright to the idea and it spread like wildfire. Under a cornucopia of different names “the love zone” the slow jam’s interlude” and “A Pause in the Storm” are a few that come to mind.
For three decades now the same program has been a staple for Urban and Urban AC outlet’s evening programming. Why? In 30 years the audience’s lifestyle has certainly changed regarding evening radio. Generally unless you’re in the car, in the office, out shopping and it’s on in the store, you’re not having the radio set the mood for your evening.
These are just two examples of the various reasons why radio can’t stop the dwindling audience base!?!
When associations to certain terms are drawn repeatedly – sometimes with permission – sometimes with crudeness – the effect is to dilute the power of the terms and their underlying concepts. When everyone plays slow songs from 7 to midnight or 8 in a row or 50 minutes of continuous music the phrase no longer stands out.
Research conducted at Stanford and Yale show that this process – explaining terms and concepts for their emotional associations – is a common characteristic of communication. People tend to overuse any idea or concept that delivers an emotional kick. It’s called a “semantic stretch”.
Stanford professor and author Chip Heath, who with his brother Dan penned the recently published book "Made to Stick: Why some Ideas Survive and Some Die," explains further what is a semantic stretch.
"The first person to say, 'we have to think outside the box,' had a cool concept in mind, and it produced an emotional reaction. The people who repeat it want to recreate that reaction, and as it gets repeated more and more, it gets stretched out. It becomes flabby.
They suggest most such jargon is born out of a crisis of perspective. "It's difficult to take on the perspective of others. Leaders like managers or coaches are trying to communicate ideas to people who don't have expertise. So the 'Big Idea' is in the head of the expert, and they're trying to summarize concrete things with abstract labels. It's the curse of knowledge."
I was sharing my thoughts on this subject with a broadcast confidant which led into how the internet has captured the mindset about music. Download this! Websites like “Last fm and Pandora’s box” will take request from its online clients then select songs based on their previous selections. Don’t miss that, they create their own personal radio station really playing all of their favorites in a row without commercial interruption.
How do you compete with that?
Well if you can’t beat them how do you mix in the technology to enhance your presentation? There’s an experiment in the bay area with Live 105 that bears watching. It is an on air; online live interactive radio station where the playlist is generated by votes from the online community.
My programming mind says that your P-1 listeners will drive the playlist and miss the more passive listener’s musical desires. However my innovative mindset says - new concept, fresh new buzz about my station, new approach for the listener to believe they really have a voice in what is being played on the air. And the number one advantage, you still control the list, this is just another tool to become a better radio outlet.
As I end this discussion, radio professional, this may seem shocking but the industry could use a jolt right now before we end up like the daily newspaper. The words of my granddad say it best: “you can be a piece of coal and fuel somebody else fire. Or you can take the pressure become a diamond and nobody can ever burn you again”.
Will you let the internet kill the radio star?
Remember the 1979 pop rock song “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the British group The Buggles? It celebrated the golden days of radio by describing a singer whose career is cut short by television. Here’s the parody the News killed Shock format and the Internet married the Quiet storm. I’ll explain…..
It has become increasingly harder to out shock the daily newscast. When news stories about men raping 3 year old children and recording it on video or a woman kills a pregnant friend in an attempt to raise her yet unborn baby as her own. How about claiming to be kidnapped so you don’t have to get married! No shock jock could ever top this stuff.
The bottom line is the audience is numb, appalled, disgusted but “would you pass the peas please” uninterested in the next shocking saga. Their focus is on how to survive in a down economy and if radio is interested in staying in business it has to adjust to the change in lifestyle.
However if you still feel that is your niche, re-invent your style! Sacha Baron Cohen's characters are the movie's version of the shock jock, isn’t it? Borat was a huge success, the more recent Bruno wasn’t you know why? One was the innocence of being in a different culture, the other and stereotype in the midst of a gay rights campaign. Timing is everything when you have fictional people do the dirty deeds.
It is not the guy on the radio; it is an actor playing a role. The dummy does the insult not the ventriloquist. The joke is what is embarrassing; it’s not an embarrassing joke. Now that’s walking a very “fine” line just ask the Federal Communication Commission.
On radio’s other weak programming sister, the evening love music show.
The “Quiet Storm” radio program was born in 1976 on WKYS in Washington D.C. Its host and creator was Melvin Lindsey, who borrowed the theme of this broadcast romance concept from Smokey Robinson’s song of the same name.
Unfortunately, he never filed a legal copyright to the idea and it spread like wildfire. Under a cornucopia of different names “the love zone” the slow jam’s interlude” and “A Pause in the Storm” are a few that come to mind.
For three decades now the same program has been a staple for Urban and Urban AC outlet’s evening programming. Why? In 30 years the audience’s lifestyle has certainly changed regarding evening radio. Generally unless you’re in the car, in the office, out shopping and it’s on in the store, you’re not having the radio set the mood for your evening.
These are just two examples of the various reasons why radio can’t stop the dwindling audience base!?!
When associations to certain terms are drawn repeatedly – sometimes with permission – sometimes with crudeness – the effect is to dilute the power of the terms and their underlying concepts. When everyone plays slow songs from 7 to midnight or 8 in a row or 50 minutes of continuous music the phrase no longer stands out.
Research conducted at Stanford and Yale show that this process – explaining terms and concepts for their emotional associations – is a common characteristic of communication. People tend to overuse any idea or concept that delivers an emotional kick. It’s called a “semantic stretch”.
Stanford professor and author Chip Heath, who with his brother Dan penned the recently published book "Made to Stick: Why some Ideas Survive and Some Die," explains further what is a semantic stretch.
"The first person to say, 'we have to think outside the box,' had a cool concept in mind, and it produced an emotional reaction. The people who repeat it want to recreate that reaction, and as it gets repeated more and more, it gets stretched out. It becomes flabby.
They suggest most such jargon is born out of a crisis of perspective. "It's difficult to take on the perspective of others. Leaders like managers or coaches are trying to communicate ideas to people who don't have expertise. So the 'Big Idea' is in the head of the expert, and they're trying to summarize concrete things with abstract labels. It's the curse of knowledge."
I was sharing my thoughts on this subject with a broadcast confidant which led into how the internet has captured the mindset about music. Download this! Websites like “Last fm and Pandora’s box” will take request from its online clients then select songs based on their previous selections. Don’t miss that, they create their own personal radio station really playing all of their favorites in a row without commercial interruption.
How do you compete with that?
Well if you can’t beat them how do you mix in the technology to enhance your presentation? There’s an experiment in the bay area with Live 105 that bears watching. It is an on air; online live interactive radio station where the playlist is generated by votes from the online community.
My programming mind says that your P-1 listeners will drive the playlist and miss the more passive listener’s musical desires. However my innovative mindset says - new concept, fresh new buzz about my station, new approach for the listener to believe they really have a voice in what is being played on the air. And the number one advantage, you still control the list, this is just another tool to become a better radio outlet.
As I end this discussion, radio professional, this may seem shocking but the industry could use a jolt right now before we end up like the daily newspaper. The words of my granddad say it best: “you can be a piece of coal and fuel somebody else fire. Or you can take the pressure become a diamond and nobody can ever burn you again”.
Will you let the internet kill the radio star?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Don't hate the Player Hate the Game
Blog by Dewayne Dancer
There is an old Japanese proverb which says “the reputation of a thousand years may be ruined by the conduct of an hour”. Radio as we know it, is facing the “hour of reckoning” and how we respond will determine its future reputation.
One thing is certain, the game has changed! It has been a vicious cycle, advertising agencies tell Arbitron your diary rating system doesn’t generate product revenue like it used too, so we are looking for alternate ways to generate revenue for our clients. Arbitron creates personal people meters (PPM) because the top radio stations in our surveys aren’t giving us the impact they once did. Radio cries foul, legendary top stations are now further back in the pack, monthly reports replace quarterlies. And the consistent quarter hour powerhouses of radio accuse this new system of not accurately measuring specific groups in our marketplace. Since we are pointing fingers, may I include one for the thumb?
Even the record music industry took a major hit sending longtime retail outlets out of business because well the game has changed. So they go after website hosts who offer illegal music downloads and radio asking congress for a new pay per play deal aka “Singola”. Where performers, as well as composers as well as record companies all get to add a new fee for songs played on the air. All this drama has occurred because the game has changed and we’ve run out of ideas and quite frankly business. To paraphrase Dr. Spencer Johnson “who moved my cheese”?
The answer is “the internet and his band of new technologies” and they are never going to give it back! This is the player!!! It elected a president, unveiled and still monitors to the world the human rights crisis due to voting irregularities in Iran. It can answer any question you can Google and deliver the mail in an instant. I hear you, you already know that but do you? When this business turns around and it will, it will not be the same. Knowing that reality how will you broadcaster market your product with the player. Common mistake, downsize your staff, “wait” find out its strengths and reallocate talent to meet the new challenges to finding different revenue streams. Here’s the bottom line” you cannot downsize your way to success”, in order to STAY IN BUSINESS YOU MUST BE INNOVATIVE!!!!!!
Certainly Sirus/XM has thought about this question, last week launching their new I Phone application. How much is that per download again? Clear Channel and Citadel media seems to have read the tea leaves too. Multi-tasking has evolved into a hand held multi-marketing, multi-broadcasting, Multi-languages, multi-marrying technologies enterprise, remember you’re a global business now. How are you going to use “the player” to your advantage? Do you have an online sales office? What kind of presence do you have on the web? When was the last time you revamped the website? What are you doing with the data gathered from your online presence?
The future of local advertising is definitely online. A study done by the Kelsey Group and BIA Advisory Services reveals that online local advertising is predicted to grow at rate of more than 18%. Right now online advertising is about 12% of the overall local spending and that could go as high as 22% by 2013.
Online media measurement group ComScore reported an amazing 808 million local business searches occurred during each month of 2008. What does that mean for you? It means that consumers are searching their local towns and cities high and low for the goods and services they seek. If you’re not there to give it to them, who do you think will be?
In closing, I speak Japanese, I am not fluent, more closer to a constant drip, just enough to be annoying. However in their language the character for crisis is the same character for opportunity, after reading this article, which one do you see?
Legendary Dallas/Ft. Worth broadcaster Dewayne Dancer is a freelance writer and CEO of Dewayne Dancer Enterprises Inc. a broadcast motivation think tank. He can be reached at 817-461-4150 or email at Dewayne@DewayneDancer.com.
There is an old Japanese proverb which says “the reputation of a thousand years may be ruined by the conduct of an hour”. Radio as we know it, is facing the “hour of reckoning” and how we respond will determine its future reputation.
One thing is certain, the game has changed! It has been a vicious cycle, advertising agencies tell Arbitron your diary rating system doesn’t generate product revenue like it used too, so we are looking for alternate ways to generate revenue for our clients. Arbitron creates personal people meters (PPM) because the top radio stations in our surveys aren’t giving us the impact they once did. Radio cries foul, legendary top stations are now further back in the pack, monthly reports replace quarterlies. And the consistent quarter hour powerhouses of radio accuse this new system of not accurately measuring specific groups in our marketplace. Since we are pointing fingers, may I include one for the thumb?
Even the record music industry took a major hit sending longtime retail outlets out of business because well the game has changed. So they go after website hosts who offer illegal music downloads and radio asking congress for a new pay per play deal aka “Singola”. Where performers, as well as composers as well as record companies all get to add a new fee for songs played on the air. All this drama has occurred because the game has changed and we’ve run out of ideas and quite frankly business. To paraphrase Dr. Spencer Johnson “who moved my cheese”?
The answer is “the internet and his band of new technologies” and they are never going to give it back! This is the player!!! It elected a president, unveiled and still monitors to the world the human rights crisis due to voting irregularities in Iran. It can answer any question you can Google and deliver the mail in an instant. I hear you, you already know that but do you? When this business turns around and it will, it will not be the same. Knowing that reality how will you broadcaster market your product with the player. Common mistake, downsize your staff, “wait” find out its strengths and reallocate talent to meet the new challenges to finding different revenue streams. Here’s the bottom line” you cannot downsize your way to success”, in order to STAY IN BUSINESS YOU MUST BE INNOVATIVE!!!!!!
Certainly Sirus/XM has thought about this question, last week launching their new I Phone application. How much is that per download again? Clear Channel and Citadel media seems to have read the tea leaves too. Multi-tasking has evolved into a hand held multi-marketing, multi-broadcasting, Multi-languages, multi-marrying technologies enterprise, remember you’re a global business now. How are you going to use “the player” to your advantage? Do you have an online sales office? What kind of presence do you have on the web? When was the last time you revamped the website? What are you doing with the data gathered from your online presence?
The future of local advertising is definitely online. A study done by the Kelsey Group and BIA Advisory Services reveals that online local advertising is predicted to grow at rate of more than 18%. Right now online advertising is about 12% of the overall local spending and that could go as high as 22% by 2013.
Online media measurement group ComScore reported an amazing 808 million local business searches occurred during each month of 2008. What does that mean for you? It means that consumers are searching their local towns and cities high and low for the goods and services they seek. If you’re not there to give it to them, who do you think will be?
In closing, I speak Japanese, I am not fluent, more closer to a constant drip, just enough to be annoying. However in their language the character for crisis is the same character for opportunity, after reading this article, which one do you see?
Legendary Dallas/Ft. Worth broadcaster Dewayne Dancer is a freelance writer and CEO of Dewayne Dancer Enterprises Inc. a broadcast motivation think tank. He can be reached at 817-461-4150 or email at Dewayne@DewayneDancer.com.
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