I ran across an interesting Media Post article recently about a partnership between Country’s Zac Brown Band and Jack Daniel’s – two brands that have a lot of synergy.
As you’d expect, this commercial relationship will have lots of different tentacles – ticket giveaways, beverage signage, pre-concert “Eat & Greet” events (the band is famous for their love of food and incredible cookout parties), and other stuff that is designed to make both entities look good in the collective mind of the audience.
This type of brand marriage makes all the sense in the world, and as I read the article, I started wondering why radio couldn’t play a role here. After all, it is still the source of music discovery in our most recent 20,000+ survey of core radio listeners – the folks who are buying Zac Brown Band albums.
This word cloud depicts the primary source for finding out about new music among our sample:
No contest, right? All those other sources – satellite radio, TV shows, movie soundtracks, Pandora – are all well and good. But if it’s music exposure you’re seeking, all roads lead to FM radio.
And Country is a huge radio format – it’s focused, in-touch with its audience, and an efficient “no waste” source for reaching the kind of target consumer that both these brands covet.
Except that in the case of the Zac Brown Band and Jack Daniel’s, they’re buying TV spots to publicize this campaign, along with some in-store promotion and social media.
With all due respect, once you get past CMT, there are some serious inefficiencies there. These types of marketing efforts are right down radio’s sweet spot. Both Paul and I will be presenting at the 2012 Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, and we’ll be bringing this message with us.
But for other radio formats that make new music part of their brand pillars – Top 40, Alternative, Hip-Hop, and others – these multi-faceted marketing campaigns can be turbo-charged with radio’s powerful cumes and trusted personalities. Reaching out to labels and band management teams could be a first step in crafting campaigns that take advantage of radio’s powerful and influential megaphone, not to mention its growing social media prowess.
We see it all the time with jacAPPS – our mobile application division. Non-media clients struggle mightily to get the word out about their apps. It’s no different with bands. Sales and marketing programs tied directly into radio’s core strengths ought to be at the center of integrated digital sales.
Or to quote the title of the Zac Brown Band’s platinum album, “You Get What You Give.”
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Another great post, Fred! How often do we miss an opportunity – in any industry – when we fail to look at things from 30,000 feet? As you have done at Jacobs Media for decades, you focus on audience, customer, client behavior which is the key. If we continue to hold the megaphone by our sides and only use it when we want to push our message in one direction, we miss 90% of the conversation which will continue to negatively affect the revenue line.
Kneale, really appreciate those thoughts. It IS about understanding consumer behavior and also going to school on Groupon, Living Social, etc. Thanks again for being a part of the conversation.
Once again its another missed opportunity. The competition for the dollar has never been greater. We all need to step back and constantly ask the question “what if?”
The medium is constantly evolving and we all need to adapt to the change to insure we aren’t missing opportunities to bring money to the cluster.
If we don’t then we may as well go back in the production studio and look for the grease pencil and splicing block.
Yup, and we have to start looking for revenue opportunities that aren’t your standard :60s and :30s. Deals done right is a great start. Thanks, Danny.