Singing In Unison With Mark Lapidus

Any radio column that concludes with the recommendation to begin practicing this simple but powerful phrase: “Starting January 2014, we will stop giving away advertising of any kind, online or mobile. Instead, we will use these precious assets to generate money for our radio station” gets a "second" from me.

The Radio World promotions writer last week created a list of long-overused vehicles for mentioning client names along with routine programming elements, but the title of the article - Put Ads In Their Proper Place - rings my chimes.

Radio has no shortage of places to drop the names of advertisers within the context of what we do and listeners turn up the volume to hear.

The key question is:  are you getting enough money for the ones you currently do?  If not, why wait until January to do the right thing?

The Airlines Do It...Why Can't We?

Just yesterday, I had a client set up a diary review for next Monday, meaning I had to change my flights today. You know the drill. Less than a seven day advance. No refunds allowed. $150 change fee. Plus, a higher fare than I would have gotten with more advance notice.

After a decade of multibillion-dollar losses, U.S. airlines appear likely to profit for years for a simple reason: They are flying less. By grounding planes and eliminating flights, airlines have cut costs and pushed fares higher. As the global economy rebounds, travel demand is rising and planes are as full as they've been in decades.

We always have the parallels with airlines in inventory control. Maybe there's one to draw here.

Less flights, more money. Fewer spots, higher audiences, higher rates, more money.

Does anyone in our business (other than Cox) have that kind of courage?

If you know of any others, please recognize and salute them in a comment, below.

They deserve the success that they are creating right now for their immediate, medium and long term future ... and beau coup props for it as well.