The recent announcement by Anheuser-Busch that they are cutting marketing budgets to stave off the takeover from a Belgian brewer is another slap in radio’s face. In this chapter, the beer company that has dominated radio advertising for decades has decided to pull significant radio dollars off the table – and in some cases, is eliminating its radio buys in many markets. Yet, it appears that A-B – rather than hacking its marketing budget uniformly across all media – is simply moving these radio dollars into other media. For many stations that are dependent on beer advertising, this is yet another setback.
But in the bigger picture, the rules of buying and selling radio time have been undergoing changes for some time now. The days of account reps who work for highly-rated stations sitting around answering the phone and giving out their rates are over. As budgets tighten and competition increases, only the most creative and aggressive will succeed. Nothing is as simple as it used to be for radio, and will probably never be that way again.
In many markets, we work with stations that are top-rated in the glamour 25-54 adult demos and they are struggling mightily to make goal. The old adage that "If you get the ratings, the sales will follow" has been upended by the reality that radio is not going to get the dollars simply because that’s how they’ve historically been allocated. Just ask the marketing guys at A-B.
Instead, clients are looking for results, not numerical justification for higher rates or "getting on the buy." Today, sales people have to SELL. They have to be creative, and they have to provide solutions, not just cost-efficiency. And that means developing programs that show results. Retailers aren’t interested in 25-54 shares and better cost-per-points. They want people in their stores, buying their product.
A recent article in the New York Times told the story of Heinen’s Fine Foods, a local grocer who is up against the big guys. Rather than trying to win with lower prices, Heinen’s has come to realize that in order to keep and win customers, there’s a need to tell stories, a lesson they learned from competing against Whole Foods. To generate sales and loyalty, Heinen’s now trains its employees with an arsenal of 50 stories they can tell customers about the meat, the produce, and other store items.
A few years ago at another Jacobs Summit, marketer Tom Asacker told the story (that’s what HE does well) about a how a good story can trump data every time.
Tom was correct, and radio needs to learn these lessons well. The medium has tremendous power. It can drive large audiences to web sites and car lots. It can motivate listeners to download coupons and show up at phone stores. But the simple times of getting ratings and easily converting them to easy sales are over, and radio is going to have to work harder at telling stories – ITS stories.
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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Air talent need to take note. Jocks need to be able to weave a mind-stimulating rap that goes beyond the basics. An on-air announcer who while playing a song, Googles an artist and then quickly relays that information (concert dates, liner notes, music tidbits, etc) to his audience is really offering nothing more than what the listener can do for himself. I mean years ago we were taught “don’t read the newspaper to your audience.”
Air talent needs to take factual data, weave in personal thoughts and information, laced with some creative adjectives and perhaps some editorial embellishment to engage the audience and stand out with words that cannot necessarily be readily found on the web.
Entertaining-information have been the basis for all the great air talent….Rush Limbaugh, Steve Dahl, Greaseman, Howard Stern, Casey Kasem and many others.