Radio Companies Are Marketing Again

Once upon a time two or three very high profile TV production companies dominated both the NAB Radio Show hospitality suites and the exhibit hall floor.

Today, as a number of high profile radio programmers churn out music video-based TV spots for radio on their home computer, stations invite listeners to create spots for them via You Tube, every small town cable TV operation has the high-tech video/audio production bells and whistles that used to cost millions, TV production companies appear to be no-shows at the 2011 NAB.

However, at the risk of leaving out someone I may have missed yesterday I won't mention names, but I have run into at least eight different direct/interactive marketing for radio suppliers demonstrating impressive state of the art multi-media resources which are laden with innovative smart mobile, email internet and address-based geo- and values-targeted direct mail database-driven tricks which promote usage, regularity and relevancy not even the largest radio companies have in-house.

Lesson 1: if you're not marketing in some way, there are at least eight other stations in town which these folks are trying to sell new tactics which are designed to hurt your ratings shares.

Lesson 2: (from someone who has made this mistake): never market a poor product. Nothing will kill it faster than great marketing.

Lesson 3: if you have anything but a terrific product, you're especially vulnerable to lesson 1. It's called being a sitting duck.

Convergence Or Collision?

Heard at Radio Ink's "Convergence"

• Twitter "is very good for monitoring the sentiment, the communication, the overall feelings about any brand." - Guy Kawasaki
• 'Find Your Niche, And Own It'
• "It used to be about getting people to your website. It's now about getting your website to the people."
  
• 'Phony Is Out. Real Is In'
• New Brand Platforms
• Found Money; Good Ideas
• Borrell Focuses On Local
• "Listening Is The First Step Of Any Entrance To Social Media No Matter What Your Business Is"

Kudos to the magazine for not only a great Silicon Valley meeting, but - even better - very complete coverage of each speaker's comments online (which seldom happens since many of these folks present more or less the same canned presentations at meeting after meeting).

I guess they all feel like they'll keep telling us these same things until we actually do them.

However, Seattle pal Jackson Dell Weaver put it all in a very sensible context: "More like a massive collision…"

"For any media exec it’s a confusing, long list of platforms and ideas to evaluate and sort through – social media (and all that entails), texting, streaming, mobile…and what is RadioDNS and will Jelli become the equivalent of ‘all-request’ radio shows…? And…how do you make buck with any of it? One attendee – a notable broadcast group head – told me that it was overwhelming. 'How' he asked, 'do you sort through all the advice, ideas, new products and technologies?'"

Weaver confesses, "Not being a group head – I don’t have to answer the question. But I do have some thoughts."

1) Build a platform – almost media agnostic. Focus on one question: How do you help your clients sell more products and services? Work from there…
2) Experiment– if a journey begins with one step, then make the first step.
3) Screw up. Be comfortable with some failure and even budget for it.
4) Be strategic – which is vague, I admit. A newspaper streaming a jazz format because the publisher loves Kenny G isn’t a strategy. Developing neighborhood streaming radio stations around a newspaper does make sense.
5) Sell it. Charge something for your digital products…something. And don’t let clients cherry pick your menu. It’s tough to do…but you will set the expectation for years to come if you don’t properly position your media. And even more, you’ll compromise your client’s campaign effectiveness.
6) Avoid black holes. Many digital marketing tools are endless amounts of work for little incremental revenue. Evaluate early and often.

Thanks, JDW. I am glad you were there.

A Refund I Plan To Frame

It looks like the folks at Billboard/Nielsen/Radio & Records are not just timely in sending out renewals and bills, but they have been equally quick in refunding pre-paid registration money for the fall convention.

I got mine the day after we all learned that the publication was no more.

My first radio convention was R&R in 1974. I paid my own way and by employer at the time let me take the time off without counting it as vacation time. I learned so much that I did the same thing the following year with CRS.

My first thought when I received this was a hope that NAB would honor these registrations in Philadelphia. Then, when I realized how many great experiences I've had at R&R conventions over the years, how formative they have been for my career, I'm now glad that they didn't do that.

This credit slip belongs in a frame on my office wall, as a memorial to "Chunky Leader" Bob Wilson's genius and vision. The publication on that closed its covers a very long time ago, sadly.

A&O At The R&R Convention: "2007's Best Ten Minutes Of Country Radio"

R&R Country Editor R.J. Curtis' Country Session will be on Wednesday (9/26/07) from 10:15 am to Noon and Michael and Jaye will kick it off with a new audio visual interactive presentation showcasing the very best audio and even web and TV video of country's top radio stations, and they dissect the targeting, values, content, entertainment and production elements to learn from these terrific moments of great country radio understand what makes them so compelling and engaging.

The format has gotten more competitive in many market situations over the last several years and the winning country stations have learned how to improve their game in ways that hold onto the traditional core, while building Gen X and Gen Y listening. You'll hear how they are doing it and what the latest strategies and tactics being employed are in this entertaining and enlightening session.

We will see you at R&R '07!

A&O To Bring 180 Lightbulbs And A Roadmap To The CCMA Convention

Hopefully, you plan to be in Regina. If so, I'll see you there. The Albright & O'Malley Seminars will be on Saturday and Sunday (9/8-9/9).

Saturday 12:45pm – 2:00pm, Umbria Room, Delta Regina
Seminar: Albright & O’Malley’s Canada Country Radio Roadmap 2007
Two just completed Albright & O’Malley national studies of Canadian country radio listeners, a national perceptual research project in conjunction with Mercury Research guru Mark Ramsey, and a national test of almost 700 songs using MediaScore. What actions should Canadian country broadcasters be taking right now in light of these new findings? Jaye Albright for A&O will report on the facts and then a panel comprised of some of Canada’s best programmers will build a plan of action.

Saturday 2:15pm – 3:30pm - Music Meeting 101
Seminar: Why Aren’t They Playing My Song?
You’re sure “it’s the song”. You work tirelessly to push it through the recording process. You get it to radio, to the powers that be, but your song doesn’t make the cut. Find out why. Did you know only 1 or 2 songs are added to radio playlists each week – from all sources? That radio in 2007 heard a lot of music that was poorly produced, had soft vocals, badly structured songs, and more. How do we know? They’re coming to Country Music Week to tell you about it. Top Canadian MDs and PDs hold a real, live “Music Meeting” – something usually held behind closed doors, to tell it like it is with current music charts, up to minute music delivery systems, and the realities for artists on what it takes to get on the air.

Sunday 2:15pm 3:30pm
Seminar: 180 Light Bulbs for Broadcasters in 90 Minutes
Jaye Albright unpacks her bags full of fresh ideas, tactics and strategies culled from top country radio stations all over North America. Grab a coffee, and join a fact-paced brainstorm that will draw you into its vortex and we’re betting it won’t be long before you start sharing your best from the past year. All attendees will receive take-aways.

Two other Sunday sessions not to be missed: "Live Performance Coaching" with Nashville's Tom Jackson (very applicable to air personalities as well as musicians and other artists/performers)

Our goal, thanks to CCMA: give you lots of ideas you can implement right after the convention at your station. See you in Saskatchewan!

Your Own Personal Conclave

If you missed last month's event in Minneapolis, session materials and recordings are now available for the clicking and ordering.

Some good ones to grab (free) right now:

Marketing to Women with Fran and Bill Lytle, How Brands Defy Gravity with David Brier, No Budget Marketing with Lindsay Reinert and Chet Whitmore and E-Mail Marketing That Works with Melinda Krueger, Rebecca Falk, Jamey Garner, and Craig Zimmerman, the "Click On This" Session Presented by DLoad gave everyone a look at the new ways we can communicate with our listeners. Click here for a copy of the MJI presentation on Podcasting, the exclusive Troy Research AC/Hot AC Study, Small Market Secrets Revealed. Click here for Rhonda Wedeking's presentation.

CONCLAVE #33 (June 26-28, 2008): Register early for next years Conclave for just $179.