Perhaps you’ve seen these billboards in your hometown or while on vacation. The “Shot on iPhone 6” campaign is another smart effort by Apple to remind us of an amazing feature of their flagship smartphone.
Adweek tells us that Apple has amassed 77 photographers in 70 cities in 24 countries around the globe to launch this visually stunning outdoor promotion. Apple pored through thousands and thousands of photos shot on its iPhone 6 – a user-generated campaign (where the consumers didn’t even know they were auditioning for an ad campaign).
You can see a gallery of these iPhone 6 photos here.
And you can see the inevitable parody campaign here on Tumblr. That’s part of the residual benefit of launching a noteworthy campaign as the satirists come out of the digital woodwork.
These are the kinds of things that happen when you’re promoting an already world-beating gadget. First, it’s pretty easy. And second, the product or brand is so big that it spawns both tributes and parodies.
Just like our best broadcast radio stations.
Trouble is, we almost never promote them. One of the sad outgrowth of consolidation is that most of radio’s best local brands never get a time in so-called “outside marketing.” Somehow the “conventional wisdom” changed, because back in the day, it wasn’t just fashionable – it was desirable to market your biggest station. Radio was vying for share of market up against the glamorous TV news teams and the traditional newspapers, so it had to think big in order to stay in the conversation – and also build its top-of-mind awareness in the agency community. So its biggest and best stations, from WJR to The Loop to KVIL were always highly visible on TV, billboards, and wherever you went.
All that changed in the early days of station clusters, and companies marshalled their marketing dollars for their weakest stations or new start-ups (often the same ones). And in the process, promotion for the flagship, megawatt stations dried up.
The explanation? These stations are doing well in the ratings, so they don’t need promotion. Did anyone take Marketing 101?
And as a result, some of radio’s best brands haven’t been promoted for years – in some cases, decades. They’ve been punished because they consistently perform too well. If you don’t believe me, think about some of the biggest and best stations in your market – along with their personalities – and ask yourself when was the last time you saw their billboard or TV spot?
In most cases, you knew the answer before you got done reading the question.
It is ironic that radio tells advertisers that it is essential to keep marketing to establish and build your brands – even the good ones – and yet, often ignores that same advice for its own properties.
Maybe radio companies got away with the “Don’t Market the Big Dog Rule” in the ’90s and early 2000’s but conditions have changed. Radio isn’t the only game in town for audio entertainment, and is now being challenged by a myriad of new players, brands, and platforms both for ratings and revenue. Maybe it’s time to question that given and consider a different course.
At a time when radio’s leaders keep preaching that the industry needs to tell its story better, here’s a thought:
If the one mega-station in each cluster in the top 100 markets ran a viable advertising campaign this fall, what kind of impact – in ratings, sales, and in brand building – might that have?
By truly taking an Apple approach to our best-in-class stations and personalities – reminding your city or town why they’re essential, amazing, and great – radio just might be able to elevate its flagship stations, improve the ratings, build awareness in the ad community, and maybe improve and enhance the entire industry.
Instead of talking the Apple talk, we should be walking the Apple walk.
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.
- Radio + Thanksgiving = Gratitude - November 27, 2024
- Is It Quittin’ Time For SiriusXM? - November 26, 2024
- Radio, It Oughta Be A Crime - November 25, 2024
Respectfully guys….when I came into my market, I spent $300k over two years on external media. I bought TV, outdoor, behavioral targeting online, FB promoted posts, hell, I even bought Pandora for contesting. You know what happened? Nothing. (at least of significance)
Unlike Apple in your analogy,..where anyone form 6 to 70 can buy their product right off the shelf… I/we are beholden to 975 meters that will make or break my life.
Maybe my product wasn’t up to par, but my gut tells me that I’m right. In a sampled environment…with limited funds in a struggling economic environment where the top 10 stations are separated by 3th’s of a ratings point….tough to make the argument that anything above will really move the needle. Just my 2 cents….
Dave, points well taken. I don’t know the details or circumstances of the buy, the creative, or the circumstances. But we tried to make a bigger point – that radio globally can elevate its position in the minds of both listeners and advertisers by focusing a marketing effort on its biggest, most high-profile stations. A lift in the ratings would be a nice residual benefit from that initiative, but as we know, the reality of meters and other variables don’t always lead to a happy outcome.
Maybe that marketing effort helped perceptually in ways you weren’t able to tangibly see at that time. Or maybe not.
In either case, I appreciate the comment. I’m sure there will be more.
Macro view versus my micro view…. likely. Good thoughts. Thanks FJ.
Dave, both views are necessary. But we’ve all been there, spending a lot of money and not seeing that immediate hit. With the pressures of today, it can be difficult to see past the quarter. Thanks for contributing.
AMEN!! Radio recognition ass business! I continue to lobby the great work at Nielsen (now connecting with streams and new delivery) to simply publish just one overall “apples to apples” number for ALL licensed radio stations in ALL markets. The proper coverage will add ratings credibility by telling the entire story, not 40 or 50% from subscribers, only. And, it’s likely some of the essential Mom & Pops will want to give Nielsen new business to have real info to sell. ALL of radio’s local service gets recognized and talked about. Thank you, Fred. Once again, you’re spot on (good broadcast term) connecting all-media attention to Radio. It IS the ONLY Audio game in town. Clark
Much appreciated, Clark. Thanks for commenting.
When I started in radio sales, a prospect gave me a hard time about why my station was spending so much on advertising, asking if we were just trying to hype our ratings. My answer (probably would be tamer now, but possibly less effective as a result) was, “…how can I ask you to believe my bullshit if we don’t?…What kind of credibility would I have if I told you that your business needs to advertise but mine doesn’t?”
FWIW, I once spent $300K on marketing and watched my key demo ratings double. There are marketing success and failure stories all over.
Honestly, how can anyone in the business of selling advertising not do any and maintain any credibility? As for radio’s CEO’s clamoring for “telling our story better”, they are presiding over an industry that is flat to down, has lost roughly a third of its revenue base and have (with literally a few exceptions) responded almost exclusively by firing people. At the very least, based on that, they should be ignored and possibly looked to for a good example of “what is the opposite of what I should do?”
That said, marketing a product that hasn’t changed appreciably in 15-20 years probably won’t accomplish much. There’s an old joke about wealthy suburbs – “how many (insert wealthy suburb here) residents does it take to change a light bulb? Only one – they hold on and the world revolves around them.” That seems to be radio’s strategy and marketing won’t solve that problem – but do something different that reflects current media tastes and use patterns and market that…that’s a strategy that would bring TSL and ad dollars to radio.
Bob, I think about our run at Greenville/Spartanburg as a very interesting case study in marketing “big dogs.” For that example, WROQ was a great station, but so was the WSSL and My102.5. If you wanted to keep up with Joneses in the Upstate, you had to have your wallet open and be playing your A Game.
I appreciate about what you’re saying about doing different things, and in many cases, the big dogs that I talk about in the post are making that happen. Sadly, they’re just talking about it with their cumes. Marketing won’t solve all problems, but it would elevate awareness and brands, not to mention the entire medium. That would be a different line of thinking that would be a nice place to start.
Thanks for the comment.
Case in point – The San Francisco Giants have been selling out AT&T Park for years, they’ve won 3 World Series Titles in the last 5 years. They could take the attitude that everyone already knows about the team. They already sell out every home game. Why market?
And yet every year they market even more. Relentlessly. What do they know that Radio Execs don’t?
They are leaders and they’re proud of their brand. We (regrettably, at times) talk about our kids and what they’re accomplished. Why wouldn’t we do the same with the great radio stations that are still left? Thanks for a great analogy, Jeff.
Fred, again I am coming from a biased position — but all we have to do is look at the most successful
brands in our world and the amount of money they continue to invest to nuture and grow their
brands (ie. Target, Geico, Apple, the plethora of insurance companies —
I appreciate you bringing this up for dialogue. I am hoping that intelligent broadcasters will recognize the
need to look at marketing and advertising as an investment long-term and not a short-term expense –
Dave, while you have a horse in this race, the pullback in marketing – especially for radio’s really killer brands – is a sad outgrowth of consolidation and the mistaken notion that listeners (and advertisers) will always be fans. Thanks for the comment.
Great thoughts….in sales we obsess about raising the rookie’s billing by 10% – but raising the senior reps billing by the same amount is worth five times the dollars! In the words of Al Ries….Focus: The Future of Your Business Depends on It!
True that, Charlie. Thanks for chiming in.