This morning, we hear from Paul Jacobs and his perspective as an industry leading sales maven. For more than four decades, Paul has seen it all from his perch as a rep, sales and general manager, and consultant for Jacobs Media. Here’s his POV on a hot topic in radio:
Despite being brothers, there are times when it’s pretty clear that Fred and I come from different ends of the gene pool.
He’s programming. I’m sales.
He’s right brain. I’m left.
And when we worked together at WRIF when he was PD and I thought I should be (like most sellers), he taught me a valuable lesson when I would frequently tell him what music the station should be playing, based on my own personal taste: “Shut up and sell.”
But there’s one area that we agree on, and that’s when the demos advertisers dictate adversely impact programming.
In the ‘90s, we had to constantly fight for the financial viability of the Alternative format since it wasn’t 25-54 friendly.
Today, we hear similar cries from our Classic Rock clients concerned that their audience is aging out of the money demo, and isn’t as appealing to advertisers.
Recently, The Detroit Free Press ran a piece that resonated with me because it speaks to this demographic conundrum. “Middle Age Car Buyers More Important Than Ever To The Industry” builds the case that advertisers that have invested in and profited from their relationship with Baby Boomers for over 30 years shouldn’t stop now. And for car companies, dealers, and other suppliers, it’s even more important than ever.
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute just released a study of car buying habits that should make radio stations reconsider whether or not they should stop playing The Doors or The Temptations. Their data shows that “Adults in the 55-to-64-year old age group were 15 times more likely to buy new vehicles than 18-24-year-olds.” (emphasis is mine).
The study’s author, Michael Sivak, went on to say that “The probability of buying a vehicle per driver is highest for people between 55 and 64 years of age. That is probably surprising to many people because they think of much younger people being the target audience.” And he also pointed out that younger adults are obtaining driver’s licenses at a much lower rate than older Americans. So what does that tell us about opportunities for a radio industry that is struggling to maintain growth in 2013?
So, while advertisers control the purse strings, they shouldn’t control programming or target demos. It’s the responsibility of media content creators and marketers to build value for their audiences, whether or not they perfectly fit the specific target of the advertiser.
This is why we continue to hear 25-54 targeted clients on formats like News/Talk, where well over half of their audience has gone over the “cliff.”
It’s also why MTV is one of the most profitable cable networks and why advertising in the Super Bowl isn’t based on traditional cost-per-point calculations. It’s not about cost-efficiency – it’s about building value for the audience despite what buying metrics dictate.
In other words, it’s about taking control, and right now, too much control is in the hands of the advertisers.
How can a radio station regain control over the value of their brand? Consider some of these steps:
1. Tell a story. The Baby Boomer saga is literally the history of American marketing over the past several decades. No generation has had a greater impact on products, media, culture, and marketing than Boomers, and there’s no reason to assume that just because they’re now turning 60 that it’s going to end any time soon. Boomers are the largest, wealthiest generation in history. They aren’t shrinking, they aren’t going away, and as this study indicates, they’re still buying a lot of stuff.
But you can’t tell their story with just metrics. You can create a compelling narrative with a great presentation that includes the literally hundreds of ads that use Boomer music like Classic Rock, depicting Boomers as young-thinking, vibrant, and relevant. And yes, research from third parties like this article tells a more powerful story than rankers from the latest monthly or quarterly ratings report.
Stories change perceptions. Ratings don’t.
2. Don’t sell when the buy is up. That’s the worst time to build value, because you’re in the middle of a negotiation. The parameters have been set, and you’re stuck in a cost-per-point conversation. Building value is a long-term proposition, and requires a longer-term strategy to change minds and perceptions.
3. Go around the buyer, even if it ticks them off. Buyers are like accountants, simply trying to make the columns add up and if yours are outside of their target, you’re toast. This isn’t about numbers, so stop talking to numbers people. For decades, I’ve heard that stations worry about going around the buyer because it will upset them. What about being upset when you don’t get bought?
Try to collaborate and include the buyer, but in the final analysis, the only way you’re going to truly have an impact is to change value perceptions about your audience with the people who make those calls – the client, CMOs, and other higher-ups at the agency level. They’re the ones who are focused on actually selling product instead of making an efficient buy.
I respect the fact that for the past several years, advertisers have held all of the cards, especially as budgets have shrunk. But we have a choice – alter our product which has a strong potential to damage it OR go on the offensive, tell our story, and build value and demand for our audience.
Otherwise, we’re all going to go over the cliff together.
After a brief stint working for the William A. Robinson marketing services agency in Chicago, where he created campaigns for Philip Morris and Seagram's, Paul struck gold when he was hired as an Account Executive at WRIF-FM in Detroit. This experience launched his sales management career, and four years later, he became the General Sales Manager for KZEW-FM in Dallas, and ultimately, the General Manager for KHYI-FM, also in Dallas. He was lured home to run WDFX-FM in Detroit, before joining Jacobs Media as its General Manager in 1991.
Along with overseeing the day-to-day operations of Jacobs Media, Paul’s main contribution has been the addition of sales consulting services. As an expert in all Rock formats, Paul has made Jacobs Media clients’ untold amounts of money by aiding them in their understanding of how to sell, market, and position their formats via sales training seminars. He has conducted hundreds of client presentations on behalf of Jacobs Media clients, and has aided the Ford Motor Company and Procter & Gamble in improving their understanding of the youth market. Paul is a true "format champion" – someone who believes in the power of branding, and developing radio’s inherent assets.
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Fred,
SPOT ON! The Jersey Boys is a smash on Broadway. How much Four Seasons music (besides Oh, What a Night) do you hear on radio? The greatest music of all times is not played because folks ‘think” the demo’s too old. The Top 40 hits, now oldies, and all those superb albums are treasures to the majority of buyers. When you want to connect with the audience, music does it. And, when PBS needs money, they put on the Do Wop show! Thanks, again.
Clark
And, may the spots play on, as well!
Thanks, Clark. Every generation has its own unique brand of nostalgia. The music that we grew up with will always be meaningful, and the Baby Boomers will continue to be an influential and important generation. Appreciate you contributing to our conversation.
Thanks, JC. You’d think in a challenging economy, it would be as simple as “fish where the fish are.” But it is sad and strange that convention, habit, and “the way we’ve always done it” always seems to kick in when you consider the often puzzling world of advertising. Thanks for bringing some common sense to the conversation.
Fred & Paul,
I’ve been bangin’ my head against the wall for 10 years about this subject. I went “off that cliff” about 10 years ago when the station I was programming flipped from Oldies to Classic Rock. Now they’re comin’ after Classic Rock, soon to be followed by Classic Hits.
As long as the buyers/ad people/agency reps are 25-34 year-olds–the over 50 audience will be ignored…regardless of how much they spend. It’s just not “cool” to go after Boomers anymore. Such. A. Travesty.
I’ve always thought that if you’re looking for an audience, or money…GO WHERE THE NUMBERS ARE. Those charts you posted tell the story.
Thanks for this wonderful post, guys…Never say die!
Selling boomers to advertisers should be focused on their buying habits, not their musical ones IMO. And as Paul so correctly points out – that story should be told to the people who can actually impact decisions.
I’ll take Paul’s point about going around the buyer one step further. Talking to a buyer about a product’s target demo is like talking to a sales clerk at The Gap about this year’s colors and styles. Media buyers have no say whatsoever about target demos for their buys. Its just how the system works. But the emotional appeal of baby boomers is off the mark IMO.
Mad Men and women have always had a youth bias – they did when boomers were young and still do. But they also respond to research. Radio has, for some reason, been deathly afraid of having real marketing discussions with the people who make real marketing decisions.
The auto story is a good one – there must be some reason for the big change in numbers and being armed with the back story would help bring them to life. Anyone marketing new cars should be interested in it. That, along with more research like it – focused on marketers needs (not radio’s) is the answer to raising radio’s share of marketing budgets.
As for boomers, for the most part, they aren’t, IMO, young thinking, vibrant or relevant. Boomers seem to like the same music as when they were kids and love to share pictures of things like dial phones on social marketing imploring people to “like” if they remember them – and associating them with 35 year old music probably won’t help make their case to young marketers. How many of them still carry old Blackberry’s, have their kids/grandkids update their iPods and watch Standard Def TV on expensive flat panels because they’re unaware that there’s an HD tier or how much better the picture looks?
Seriously, the reason to market to any group is because they have a propensity to buy a product, not because they have an interesting story to tell about their past. Boomers have led the discussion about most things all their lives but they were they ones who concluded that 54 represented a marketing cliff, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re being forced to live under the rules they drafted.
Great observations, Bob. Without question, the youth market has value. They are trend setters and ensure that brands stay on their toes. At the same time, Boomers have value also – while they might not be customers in 25 years, it’s likely they could be this weekend. In today’s environment, that has value.
But advertisers who buy into the hype that boomers are over the hill and simply want to be leading edge are making a serious mistake. Their stereotyping of this generation through demographic myopia is keeping them from generating sales.
And it gets worse from there. My 84 year-old mother and 95 year-old stepfather each have iPhones and iPads. When was the last time you saw that demographic targeted?