Today we’ve got a guest posting from Jacobs Media’s Paul Jacobs:
Guerilla marketing is over because it’s been equated with terrorism in Boston.
Radio station contests are too dangerous because of the unfortunate event in Sacramento.
Risqué language is verboten because of Janet Jackson’s boob – two years ago.
At a time when it’s harder than ever to cut through the noise and get people’s attention, radio’s bag of tricks has been hijacked.
It’s not so easy anymore. The cheap laughs. The insulting shots. The crude jokes. The blue language. Even Mancow, who once stopped traffic on a San Francisco bridge, has said "Enough!" (as hard as that is to believe).
But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Maybe it’s a message that we can no longer take the easy way out. Maybe it’s a sign that we need to craft our products differently. Maybe the four-hour air shift is over. Maybe we need to begin seriously prepping shows, work harder at appearances, hire writers and producers, and put out a higher quality product.
NPR has figured it out. So have their nearly 30 million weekly listeners.
Television has figured it out. Look at the ratings for "Gray’s," "Lost," "24," "Idol," etc.
Maybe radio needs to re-discover that a quality product trumps everything.
Unless, of course, you’ve got a million dollars for TV advertising. And even that won’t keep them tuned in.
It’s not so easy anymore. We’ve got to work harder. And smarter.
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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Paul…any radio station that refers to the time the air talent works as a “shift” causes radio to not have quality…in fact, shift-workers work in a factory…