This year marks the 10th anniversary of a Jacobs Media initiative that was a total failure. Or maybe it was a total success. And that’s why while recently reading an article about the impact of social media on brand marketing, some of the NEO memories came rushing back to me in a torrent.
For those of you who weren’t clients at the time, or who just forgot, or never thought there was anything there in the first place, NEO Radio was launched as a change agent style of radio. At the time in all sorts of research – studies from companies like Coleman and Edison, our own focus groups, and initial web polling via station databases – we were seeing something on the radar screen.
Radio listeners were being hit by all sides – Sirius, XM, iPods, and lots of undifferentiated streaming stations. We were picking up on strong indicators in this research that radio listeners were interested in a more active role in their stations, and even in the creative process.
We took it very seriously, and some of the ideas we came up with grabbed attention in some very interesting places because broadcast radio was coming under fire for being slow to react to new digital competition and too “corporate.” I wrote a piece for a web publication called “Change This” (called “Radio Clash”) and was also featured on NPR’s All Things Considered in 2004 in a feature called “Neo-Radio Succeeds By Cutting the Noise.” Both are dated, as you may imagine, but also provide context on what was happening at the time as the radio winds were changing. I cringe a bit when I read and listened to these features this past weekend, but I also heard the “reality of now” resonate in places, too.
I took a deep dive into our archives and pulled out a couple of key NEO quotes from that era:
Now keep in mind that MySpace launched in the summer of ’03, and Facebook didn’t hit the scene until the winter of ’04, so the vast impact of social media – especially on brands – was totally unknown and mostly unanticipated at the time. Even in their infancies, these platforms were about people interacting and sharing with other people – not with companies – or radio stations.
Dave Beasing worked with us during this time, and was active in helping us shape these values. And two years later, we were beginning to see indicators of success with some of the stations that had “bought in” to our vision, and the signs that the consumer was moving into a position of greater control were growing.
During that year, Business 2.0 released its ranking of “The 50 People Who Matter Now” – its list of “people whose ideas, products, and business insights are changing the world we live in today – those who are reshaping our future by inventing important new technologies, exploiting emerging opportunities, or throwing their weight around in ways that are sure to make everyone else take notice.”
So, who would you expect on that list? If you’re thinking Bill Gates, the Google guys, Barry Diller, Robert Iger, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Oprah, you are correct that back in 2006, they were the movers and shakers of that time. But there’s no way you could have guessed their #1 choice – the most influential human who will be controlling more in the worlds of business and media.
Their answer was YOU – the consumer. Here’s how Business 2.0 explained their choice, revealing a great deal about how this thinking was beginning to permeate every aspect of the new media landscape:
Why You Matter: They’ve long said the customer is always right. But they never really meant it. Now they have no choice. You — or rather, the collaborative intelligence of tens of millions of people, the networked you — continually create and filter new forms of content, anointing the useful, the relevant, and the amusing and rejecting the rest. You do it on websites like Amazon, Flickr, and YouTube, via podcasts and SMS polling, and on millions of self-published blogs. In every case, you’ve become an integral part of the action as a member of the aggregated, interactive, self-organizing, auto-entertaining audience. But the You Revolution goes well beyond user-generated content. Companies as diverse as Delta Air Lines and T-Mobile are turning to you to create their ad slogans. Procter & Gamble and Lego are incorporating your ideas into new products. You constructed open-source and are its customer and its caretaker. None of this should be a surprise, since it was you — your crazy passions and hobbies and obsessions — that built out the Web in the first place. And somewhere out there, you’re building Web 3.0. We don’t yet know what that is, but one thing’s for sure: It will matter.
This emphasis on CGM – on Consumer Generated Media – was something that we championed in market after market. We had already featured Ben McConnell, author of “Customer Evangelists” at two of our Summits, and more and more stations were turning to listeners in the creative department and as brand advocates.
So I looked back at these old NEO Radio memos, and it occurred to me that many of its core principles resonate today – in some ways even more, because of the advent of social media, Wikis, and other tools that allow consumers to have a greater voice. Here’s some of what I saw in those client advisories:
• NEO Radio is about stations listening to their listeners
• NEO Radio is about listeners first
• NEO Radio is about giving listeners a seat at the table
• NEO Radio is about rekindling the relationship between radio stations and listeners
Part of our failure with NEO Radio was the confusion (that we probably created) that NEO Radio was a format – at the time, gold-based Alternative. And we probably didn’t help ourselves with playlists that were allowed to sprawl and grow too long – and this was before PPM. We tried to refocus the issue on our belief that NEO Radio was more of a movement, an attitude, a values-based way to interact with the audience in a unique, non-corporate way. Programmers like Garret Michaels, Dan Michaels, and John Hager “got it,” but in some ways, NEO Radio wasn’t ready for the masses.
But as I reviewed the old memoranda, this quote (which we bolded at the time just like you see it here) jumped out at me because it accurately predicted what we believe has come true, and it mirrors our philosophy today about the new competitive environment:
We did not anticipate there would be a dominant streaming service like Pandora, nor did we have the sense at the time that social media would become an empowering tool that had the potential to acknowledge fans, and connect them to our brands. We could not have known that smartphones and mobile apps would change the way that we communicate with each other and enjoy and share content.
But a decade later, many of the principles that we attached to the NEO Radio movement hold up very well in the light of today. As the funnel has flipped, and listeners are more empowered by social media and their own networks, some of the basics of NEO Radio are back on the table today. In this blog, we often subconsciously incorporate those philosophies and values in strategizing what consumers are “hiring radio to do” in 2014.
There are also radio stations that have adopted many of the core philosophies of NEO Radio, from 97Rock in Buffalo on the one hand, and KNRK in Portland on the other. Both John Hager and Mark Hamilton respectively have found a way to take the best parts and integrate them into their station DNAs. And today, Dave Beasing’s KSWD/The Sound in L.A. continues to exude many of these same principles that he has seen work again and again.
Go ahead, and have at this post – good, bad, and otherwise. I often feel like predictions, gambles, and launches that happen in our business are rarely followed up on years later – or even an entire decade. You may conclude that I’ve got it wrong or that Triple A was doing all this stuff years and decades earlier. But NEO Radio was much more than depth tracks and respecting the music. It was an acknowledgment that the listener played a role in our brands, and recognized that she was rapidly moving into a position of control.
Here we are today, staring at a much intense multi-competitive challenge for radio in the car, at work, and at home because of gadgets and platforms that we couldn’t have anticipated just ten years ago. Looking back on it, I believe that much of what we may have accomplished with NEO Radio was to fire off an early warning shot about bigger threats, not taking the audience for granted, and the need to form deeper and more meaningful connections with our audiences.
Now ten years later, we know a lot more about the competition we face. While there are measurement and efficacy questions revolving around Pandora, and distinctions about who actually subscribes to satellite radio versus all those free samples, the impact of these new channels is all around us.
In order to prove its mettle in this changing landscape, broadcast radio will need more than collective contests, voicetracking, direct mail marketing, and commercial-free hours to stay relevant and appreciated in this environment.
Have acknowledgment, respect, and “every listener counts” become a part off your brand’s philosophy?
Has your station found its NEO?
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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Maybe it was no so much a movement as it was enlightened clarity and a reminder of what was needed then and even more so today…
Present the familiar in unfamiliar ways.
Probably so, Marty. We probably hyped it more than we should have. But there was always something there. Thanks for the comment.
From the NPR piece: “Because if there’s one thing commercial radio can do, it’s to learn how to successfully copy what another radio station is doing”… I laughed out loud!
But the NEO radio thing would have been really hard to copy, without a really smart programmer who “got it” and the right talent for the format (and those don’t grow on trees!) It seems to me that NEO was, yea, about creating a community. I honestly don’t remember your initiative, as I was out of the rock radio world at that point. But as usual, Jacobs Media was stirring up the norm with another compelling broadcast idea.
Listing to the open of the NPR piece introduction on the banality and corporate sameness of commercial radio, it reminded me of one of my favorite Steve Job’s quotes:
“I have my own theory about why decline happens at companies like IBM or Microsoft. The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important. The company starts valuing the great salesmen, because they’re the ones who move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers. So the salespeople end up running the company. John Akers at IBM was a smart, eloquent, fantastic salesperson, but he didn’t know anything about product. The same thing happened at Xerox. When the sales guys run the company, the product guys don’t matter so much, and a lot of them just turn off.”
Yea, when the product guy’s turn off, so do the customers (listeners). Who are these “product guys” in radio? You can name me a host or two, manager of the year (as defined by the collective biz) but where are these product guy’s?
John, they are in shorter and shorter supply, and that’s an industry problem to be sure. Radio took its eye off the content ball in order to pay off its debt and financial obligations. You can grow your EBITDA all you like, but if you’re not focused on the product, you eventually pay the price. The Jobs quote is priceless, and now that sales revenue seems to be in a polar vortex of flatness, you’d think the pendulum would swing back to the “product guys.” Let’s hope so. Thanks for contributing the conversation.
As one of the early ones exposed to your Neo concept, Fred, I did make the immediate connection to the values used at AAA stations (which stole the ideas from Public Radio etc..)
People connect with people- not with logos. That’s why mascots were formed – so faceless corporations could assume a “relatable” identify.
In retrospect connecting with and respecting the audience should never have seemed so radical.
Now, it’s standard talking point at Radio conference room meetings – even if the follow through is not.
But where I do feel the Neo values everyday is with online media.
One trait among most successful YouTube Channels, Podcasts and Blogs is the constant solicitation for advice, help and feedback from the audiences. “We can’t do this without YOU” is a constant theme for most of the “micro-brands” being built online. Thank Yous! and Shout outs to supporters and acknowledgment is a constant part of the experience.
It feels more genuine around niche interests than mass market stuff. Again – people over logos.
When you know you’re part of a smaller group – you feel like your voice does make a difference – that your support really does help.
The Public Radio direct support method is being applied even when this media has “ads”. They simply say -if you dig what we’re doing and want to help us keep doing it – please click our Amazon Affiliate link – we get a little commission on everything you buy – etc…
It’s all very upfront – honest and transparent. Compared to the world of big brands hiding behind logos and transmitters and busied out phones, unanswered emails.
Somehow – hearing a mass market radio station take that stance in between banging Creed & Nickelback songs would ring false to me. But what do I know. I guess I’ve still got a little AAA in my blood. 😉
Your instincts have always been excellent, Jeff, and that why you have consistently found yourself in key strategy meetings. You’ve got the BS filter that I always depended on whenever some of my ideas got too cute, clever, or full of themselves. Learning how to listen to the audience and taking the time to truly hear what they’re saying is an art, and after all these years of focus and LAB groups, I’m still learning the craft. Clearly, the public radio experience has been helpful, too. And in that regard, that broadcast community has an inside track when it comes to generating loyalty and meaningful audience connections. Thanks again for giving this post a good look.
Thanks Fred, I’ve always appreciated the opportunities to work with you.
This trip down memory lane reminded me I blogged favorably about Neo Radio way back – did a quick search and found it. A bit of a mea culpa it seem. 🙂
https://precipice.wordpress.com/2006/07/11/kfog-ization-of-meathead-radio/
I think we were on the right path and then got distracted by PPM, Pandora, and Facebook.
Speaking of which – I look forward to reading your thoughts on the new Rushkoff produced Frontline “Generation Like” -it’s amazing.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/
Fascinating – I don’t remember seeing your post and I will share that with Dave Beasing who had a lot of skin in the game, too. Meantime, thanks for turning me onto the Frontline piece. Can’t wait to see it. Thanks.
Many of the tenents of NEO have been a center lane philosophy for me and my stations in the last ten years. It worked quite well, prior to the accent of social media and certainly showed in our engagment rates as the stations adopted various social platforms.
Listening to listeners via social media or even through dozens of LAB groups gave us most of our great programming and marketing ideas. Of course our consumers could only articulate the seeds of most ideas. It took filtering those ideas through our programmers mind to make it bare fruit. It is what we are paid for isn’t it?!
Maybe NEO wasn’t a massive success across broadcast radio at the time. Had it been broadcast radio would be in a much better space now.
You we’re a strong practitioner of it, Curtiss. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Its funny – since I started in (and long since after I left) radio, the best radio stations always listened to their audience and reacted to what they said they wanted. That was my reaction to NEO Radio at the time and still is.
That said, very little of the personalization that has helped propel so many of radio’s media competitors has been adopted by radio – either on the air or via back channels like social media and blogs. I’m reminded of my comments about critical mass and now I think I understand what Lori Lewis has been advocating and why. With so much media competition seeming to target individuals, a mass medium like radio HAS to do it too if it hopes to compete and not lose audience…one listener at a time.
Its also odd that when the media world is prospering by reaching out to individuals, radio has been becoming progressively less personal.
I guess NEO Radio was an attitude as much as anything else and ahead of its time in that respect. On the other hand there’s Cumulus’ inevitable CBS radio acquisition…
I am not in broadcasting, nor marketing, or any other type of media related background. And I’d never heard of NEO radio until a past on air talent posted a link to this blog on facebook. But this resonates with me…
I moved to San Diego in 2007 and didn’t know a soul in the area. While chatting with someone at work about music he asked me if I listened to any of the local radio stations and suggested 94.9, in fact he pretty much informed me that I had to listen to it. And thank god I did. What you described NEO to be was exactly 94.9 – it made me feel a aprt of that community, and I began to carve out my identity in Southern California with that radio station always present in the background. I hadn’t come across a decent radio station in years of moving around the country. It was fantastic. And then it wasn’t… as morning show “personalities” began to creep in, more corporate blah blah… but it was great while it lasted.
I didn’t love every song that was played, but I rarely changed the station. I felt connected to what was going on, I felt like music was again an important part of my life and better yet- it was important to other people too, because why would this radio station exist if it didn’t?
I was sad to see it go. And yes I use Pandora and spotify now because the radio stations are crap where I live. But it was a great time to listen to the radio 🙂
You epitomize why the philosophy that guided FM 94.9 was effective, albeit difficult to sustain over time and as managers come and go. This is high wire/no net radio, the degree of difficulty is high, and the ratings don’t always cooperate. See today’s entry – A Day In The Life – for proof of that. I especially appreciate your line: “I didn’t love every song that was played, but I rarely changed the station” That’s the price you pay for listening to an adventuresome, curated station that helps you discover new music and new artists. But as we know, it’s not for everyone. Thanks for taking the time to give us that all-important outside POV.