OK, it’s true. I did not attend Radio Ink’s “Forecast 2013” event earlier this week, but I followed the conference on Twitter and through trade press articles.
This running theme about how radio is misunderstood by advertisers continues to amaze, perplex, puzzle, and yes, even anger me. As a programmer and programming consultant, I have spent nearly four decades helping radio stations achieve their ratings goals.
And more often than not, I’ve been successful. But in recent years, strong ratings matter less and less.
That’s because the age-old equation – “When you get the ratings, revenue will follow” – broke down a long time ago. Like the fighter that took a shot to the head in the 10th round, radio is still reeling from this reality punch. And in the process, pointing the finger at all the wrong excuses and rationalizations for why this is the case.
So when Radio Ink covers its own event, featuring some of broadcasting’s biggest companies, the RAB, and other entities that should be representing and promoting the best the industry has to offer, and we keep hearing that same lament – “If advertisers only knew our story” – you can cue up the primal screams.
If advertisers only knew our story?
Whose fault is that?
While radio continues to pound the tired 93% drum, it misses what advertisers really want – results and solutions. Not rankers, trips to Cabo in February, or “value-added” remotes where eight people show up.
Radio’s solution? Two interns, the tent, and the van. Assuming we haven’t already sold the van.
Every radio station in this country has success stories – amazing ways in which they’ve solved an advertiser problem, generated store traffic and sales, opened up new business paths, and created value for local and national businesses. Radio stations are loaded with impressive tales of fund-raising, heroic disaster coverage, and creating a personality connection with audiences on behalf of advertisers.
From the hometown car dealer to big tech companies like Constant Contact, radio has compelling stories to tell.
Problem is, we have the worst storytellers in the world.
If every radio rep was truly a P1 to the station that hired them, Radio Ink would have to come up with a whole new set of panels for Forecast 2014.
Earlier in the year, we worked with a broadcaster to help them launch a new rock station. The sales manager – who had no previous experience in the format – asked for some examples of great rock radio sales pieces, presentations, and collateral materials.
So we began a search, and the results were just this side of pathetic. Walk down to your own sales departments, and take a look at the quality of their presentations. Prove me wrong on this, because our little exercise led us to the conclusion that the sales strategies of too many stations today greatly resemble the “state of the art” from 1985.
Pet rocks, mood rings, and 18-49 adult rankers on a 4-book average. Dated, tired, lame, and ineffective.
We were embarrassed by what we saw – a lack of sophistication, an over-reliance on ratings, and a total lack of true success stories where putting together an integrated advertising program produced bona fide results for a client.
Today, ratings pale in comparison to a compelling story combined with a strategic, integrated approach and metrics accountability, wrapped around a creative concept. As I heard marketing guru Tom Asaker say at one of our Summits, “Stories always trump data.” Sadly, we aren’t hearing great storytelling at a time when it is so essential to radio’s ultimate success.
At Forecast 2013, MediaVest USA CEO Brian Terkelsen asked, “What’s new about radio?” to explain why his agency spends a paltry 1% of his company’s $9.9 billion on radio.
But perhaps the best comment came from Bill Koenigsberg, Horizon Media CEO, a well-respected player and as Radio Ink notes, “a huge friend of radio.”
His fix? “Radio needs to figure out how to have their prom and tell their story.”
A prom?
How about an intervention?
A “sales intervention,” to be precise.
If you’re one of those people who believes that radio no longer produces great content, ask yourself why that’s the case.
As Bill Clinton would say, “It’s arithmetic.”
Falling revenue has led to staff cutbacks.
Staff cutbacks have led to more multi-tasking and fewer people doing more jobs.
Radio has become an industry that has essentially written off engagement with the youth market, thus choking off radio’s appeal to young, fresh sellers, not to mention the buyers and planners who are today’s decision-makers.
The declining influence of ratings on revenue generation has created this cycle of fewer and fewer resources devoted to the product – and its marketing.
And this is during a time when new, bright shiny objects like Pandora and Google are calling on these same advertisers with energy, a great story, a digital play, metrics accountability, geo-targeting, and a great narrative. They don’t need a prom. They are successfully creating events of their own.
If the radio industry doesn’t address its sales strategy, these panels and conferences will continue to repeat themselves, frustrating attendees, to be sure.
As radio continues to look for the answers, the media world is moving on. This isn’t a “death by a thousand cuts” situation. There IS a smoking gun.
It’s sales.
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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Excellent comments, with one caveat: Falling revenues were not what led to staff cutbacks. A desire to increase profit margins initiated the firings which, in turn, led to lower product quality and less relevancy to the community. That is what led to lower revenues.
Much of what you say has been echoed for over a decade – continually being cast aside with the chant “radio produces compelling local content” – as if the persons mouthing these words ever produced content, or knew how difficult it is to make content “compelling.”
(Past your reference of “If advertisers only knew our story…”) I had to laugh with Bob Pittman’s comment that there’s a lack of 20 year olds in radio. He’s a CEO who can fix that by mandate. It’s a problem that been talked about for a long time.
Ken, thanks for weighing. The decline in content is, in fact, due to many factors of which falling revenues and “efficiencies” played starring roles. Thanks for reading our blog, and adding to the conversation.
Fred,
Our industry has lost it’s storytellers, because our industry has forgotten the art of storytelling… actually radio had forgotten it’s art all together. I attend talent-based conventions and it’s the same thing year after year: all strategy and no art.
The most shocking occurrences are some of the lifeless panels, dominated by our non-talent leaders. Does anyone in sales or management do Toastmasters or any other public speaking classes anymore?
Fred when you invited me to be in your social media panel at the 2011 NAB I approached it the same way I approach any performance. I set out to make it entertaining. After, I was approached by two young and vibrant professional women who were genuinely excited about the panel. I was very encouraged to think that these two were part of our industry’s future… Until I found out they were NOT in radio, but were attending a different conference and stayed late just to attend the radio social media panel.
I followed them on Twitter and found that they were tweeting about our panel enthusiastically, quoting the radio panelists comments about our biz & social media. Why?
They enjoyed the stories we told.
I know talent and management have a tough time trusting and relying on each other, but the reality is that talent IS the solution. As a talent I have one job… tell great stories. Mastering that art has helped in the ratings, the morale of the building and in delivering great results for the client.
My name is BJ Shea and I always have a great story to tell about radio… the original social network.
BJ, you totally get it, and that’s why you have achieved success on the air and socially. You tell compelling stories and there’s something new and interesting to look forward to every day. That’s the same mentality that many new media companies embrace, too. The days of putting it in cruise control for radio ended a long time ago, and yet, so many in the business still think they can get away with it. Thanks for telling us another great story, for doing what you do, and for reading our blog and creating a little content for us with your comment.
I’m been following your blog since it’s inception Fred and that’s one of your best pieces ever. Bob Pittman asking why they’re aren’t any “20 year programming people anymore” is like Hannibal Lecter asking why “no one wants to have dinner with him anymore?”
Seriously.
This is going out to my leadership team, with a special emphasis to sales. It’s about the show biz, stupid.
Great work
DP
Thanks for the high praise, Dave. Much appreciated.
Dave, love the Hannibal simile, particularly after reading today’s news about the new round of cuts at Clear Channel (not “death by a thousand cuts” – but only a few dozen at a time).
Well played, Sir. It is all about solutions. And the funny thing is – radio does work. It moves product. It can incite behavior. The problem is – as you pointed out – is that radio is too worried about getting their “fair share” of the buy and making sure there are digital dollars attached. They spend precious little time finding out what a business needs. Of course, part of that problem is the system. Agencies – especially at the national level – are more concerned with ratings points and meaningless “value added”. They are dealing in tonnage, not client solutions. One of the many hats I wear is in the agency world and we DO use radio and we DO get results. Of course, that is because we are working for our clients and force radio to deliver what we need. Some come kicking and screaming but many come with ideas. But, we are already pre-sold – we get radio. This is an issue for those “buyers” who think a million impressions on a nebulous display network that generated 423 clicks is a successful marketing campaign. You should take this to the RAB.
You’ve hit on some great points, Steve. It’s up to radio people to make the sale, tell the story, and point out the medium’s obvious benefits – even in situations that are transactional or demand, as you refer to it, “meaningless value added” that make stations look bad anyway. I am hopeful that industry leaders are paying attention, and I thank you for your contribution to the conversation.
Check this out: https://www.adweek.com/news/technology/hot-list-145630
So, Ad Week does a “hot list” for PRINT!? But, no radio.
I’d settle for the “Warm List.” Steve, thanks for the heads-up. Storytelling, great content, PR, and marketing are all part of the story. We need to get radio back on those agency radar screens.
Crushingly, totally, absolutely true.
Thank you, and thanks for reading our blog.
So true, Fred! Especially about ‘sales’ telling the story. The best AEs I’ve dealt with were true P1s to the station. Tough to find these days when AEs are selling upwards of six stations/brands/audiences simultaneously.
It is frightening to look at the sales pieces and ‘audience profiles’ that the sales department ‘thinks’ the clients want to see. Even more chilling are client-specific proposals that go out referring to out-dated features, talent, show names, etc.
Also, Asaker is right. Everyone wants a story…and a success story is even better. Data/methodology/PPM can be challenged. Tell me a story about how someone accomplished a similar goal to mine and I’m all ears.
Very strong stuff Fred…bring on the intervention!
I’ve received some personal emails with a lot of these sentiments. Storytelling would be a great place to start, and we all now brands that have a great collection of them. I’ll let you know when that intervention gets scheduled, but I warn you that it will be a crowded room. Thanks, Brad – much appreciated.
Great post, it also astounds me that an industry that still has so much to give to its listeners and to advertisers is so dramatically out of touch with what both are looking for. Fred you’re right, advertisers want a story, they want testimonials and they want proof. Yes, we need better storytellers but we need storytellers that understand that the characters have changed. We live in an age of proof of accountability…the digital age. The digital players get it and we don’t. We attempt to play digital and understand enough about how it works and how it may help our advertisers but we only know enough to show that we really know nothing. Our advertisers understand this and use it against us to devalue our product because we can’t explain the value ourselves.
Radio continues to be effective at generating business for its clients despite our own incompetence. I often have people ask me about how long they feel radio will last. When will it be replaced by the Pandora and Satellite radio? None of us have the timeline for when this will occur but I know that radio as we know is on the fast track of being an eight track unless we can attract better storytellers to the industry and not undereducated reps that look at their job experience in radio as a stepping stone to a better position selling cars. The problem is for the most part, radio leadership. They give their managers limited resources to hire the sales reps expecting them to be great storytellers and to understand how digital compliments radio. Leadership doesn’t value the synergy between radio and digital. Sure they say the words but they don’t understand how the pieces fit together to make radio and its local presence fit with digital and smart phone technology. They should create new stories of how radio can provide today’s businesses with solutions that drive traffic, sales and revenue.
Eric, it’s a nasty cycle to be sure. And as revenues have diminished so have the resources necessary to provide the foundation for hiring and training better people. Many events have come together to create a nasty blend of difficult conditions, between the economy, digital erosion, and even the advent of PPM. And as you note, somehow radio continues to be effective for many advertisers. That’s why this talk about doing something NEW or staging something big (a prom?) just seem like the wrong avenues to go down. I appreciate your comments and your taking the time to engage on this issue. Thanks.
I don’t know, I started selling radio in 1980 and ended up managing sales staffs and eventually entire clusters of radio stations. Every once in a while, someone would decide that the problem was radio salespeople not knowing how to “tell our story” and he would go out and hire a newspaper rep, or TV rep to show them how a real salesman operates. You can imagine how that went.
Along with a lot of other ex-radio people, I made the transition to Internet-based advertising and I assure you the sales pieces are, if anything, more technical and number driven than radio sales pieces.
I appreciate your frustration and if the problem was a station, a market or a company, this would be a plausible explanation but when it’s an entire advertising sector, something larger is at work.
Jerry, it IS an entire sector. And the fact that it was a major session at Forecast suggests that it is chronic issue. That the same conditions impact other media isn’t suprising. But in this case, radio has never gotten its fair share of the pie, and now “financial shrinkage” is a nagging reality. Maybe all your former radio guys moving to new-fangled platforms is part of the problem, too. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I saw a study today that said people that listen to Pandora listen to more AM/FM radio than people that don’t listen to Pandora. Yet we look at Pandora as some evil enemy. All Pandora is is the 8-track of a new generation . But their story tellers are selling it as the radio of the future. The problem is too many radio people are believing it.
You are dead on when you say tell a story. I am in talk radio. Too many GM’s, owners, and even programmers think you have to be conservative to be a good talk radio host. You need to be able to tell a great story. You need to draw the listener in. You need to engage them. You need to generate some emotion from them. Things that will bring great results for advertisers. Without investing in talent and content, all a smart phone with a radio app is is a paperweight.
Based on your comments, as well as BJ Shea’s, maybe part of the solution is to bring talent to sale presentations and agency functions rather than spreadsheets and rankers. I appreciate you taking the time to weigh in and engage on this topic, Tom.
I beg salespeople to take me with them on calls. It’s surprising how few of them are willing to do it. Radio is show business. Bring something different to the table. A good on air talent that understands their show can do an excellent job in closing a sale. They can’t go on every sales call obviously but they can go on the important ones.
Tom, “bringing the DJ” was always an integral part of the strategy for personalities here in Detroit like Dick Purtan and Jim Harper. That’s where the personality, the passion, and the fun reside, and that’s how advertisers and clients visualize their own success. By associating with a great brand and local DJ celebrities, they can see the path that helps them solve their problems and reach their goals. Thanks for the comment.
Fred. Great comments. I know that you will have more ideas to share at Worldwide Radio Summit 2013 when you present the findings of Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey9. Thanks for keeping the radio torch blazing and for participating at WWRS 2013.
Thanks, Joel. We are gearing up for a great survey and always appreciate the forum at your great event.
Radio’s sales issue is like the old joke about the Narcissist; “Enough about me, lets talk about you. So what do you think of me?”
Radio…advertisers know your story and your share of the ad dollar is a mirror reflecting their reaction to it. Advertisers don’t want to hear your story…THEY WANT YOU TO HEAR THEIRS!!!! Show clients and prospects how you can advance their agenda, solve their problems and how the results can be measured and no one will ask or care about your story, they’ll just throw money at you and if you deliver, thank you for the privilege.
IMO, radio has never understood how to sell. Save the occasional outlier, steady growth in demand has traditionally propelled radio to increasing levels of profitability. A nice story was told about radio’s consultative sales approach, but with some exceptions, radio sales effort has largely been transactional. Now the demand increases are history and radio thinks the answer is better story telling. Nope. The answer is to actually get into the problem solving business.
Fred – you’re right and this may be the best column you ever wrote. Radio is systematically cutting out many of its key advantages while simultaneously boasting about them. If you have one live shift in 24 hours, you can’t credibly claim that localism is why you’re better than other media. And how local are you when every decision has to be approved by someone at the corporate office?
Radio needs new management. People not afraid to beta test, not afraid to be wrong and smart enough to understand that their client’s story is the one that needs telling with creativity…not theirs.
Bob, I greatly appreciate your insights on this issue, as well as the many comments that we received for attrribution, as well as many “off the record” observations. When radio was an “easy business” (remember the phrase, “a license to print money?”), getting on the buy was often just a matter of answering the phone, faxing the rates, and kicking back for another year of 40%+ margins. The crashing realities of the last decade – a rough economy, digital erosion, and consolidation – have ushered in this period where marketing radio successes to advertisers requires an industry reset. Thanks for your kind words and perspective. Do you have a date for the prom?
I’m not sure about my prom date. The one in the blue dress (second from the left in the picture) keeps saying no, but her eyes say yes…
Your best column ever. Hardest thing for any business to do is look at itself honestly.
Thanks for that – and for caring about radio and its success. I believe that’s the common element behind these comments.
A couple people asked me yesterday whether this post caused any “blowback” from radio’s higher-ups, and I truly questioned that question. The post was written with a deep feeling of passion and concern for an industry that could and should be doing better. The many comments that have followed reflect that purpose and that emotion.
Thanks, Jim.
Great post, Fred.
And, thanks for calling Radio Ink on its willful neglect in covering what’s really happening in the biz. To be fair to them, they want to stay in business more than they want to fix the business – which is why we don’t hear anything like your comments from any of the ‘official’ press. Unless, Jerry Del Colliano is ‘official’ – and many won’t know because he’s behind a paywall.
However, there’s a bigger issue.
The biggest companies don’t care about ratings as long as they can grab market share of radio ad dollars. They bundle, cut rates, and target senior media planners with ‘goodies’. In the short run, it gets them cash so they can stave off the hovering bankruptcies that they created with the methodical looting of the business they consolidated.
As part of this looting, they didn’t rethink radio. They just stopped investing in innovation, imagination, creativity, and people.
In the long run, this combination of inventory grab and lack of focus on real innovation destroys the ‘value’ of radio.
That’s why it’s such a joke when the CEO of one of the biggest companies says radio should be a $35 billion business even as their smart algorithms are juggling inventory in such a way as to guarantee it will never see $20 billion again.
John, I am so impressed by the level of discourse this post has generated. Your comments are very additive to the conversation and speak volumes about how the headiness of consolidation, sky-high margins, and short-term Wall Street thinking, all of which have conspired to devalue the industry. The realities that came out of Forecast suggest that model is broken. I don’t fault Radio Ink considering the attendees and the sensitivities. The face that this panel occurred at the conference says a lot about just how insidiuous a problem this has become. I also believe the panelists were well-meaning, too. As NPR has proved so well over the years, the best analysis often occurs a day or two after the event itself. I believe that’s been the case here, as evidenced by the impressive comments – like yours. Thank you so much for contributing.
“Radio has become an industry that has essentially written off engagement with the youth market, thus choking off radio’s appeal to young, fresh sellers, not to mention the buyers and planners who are today’s decision-makers.”
You’re right. When focus groups filled with young people overwhelmingly state “radio sucks”, it’s hard for advertisers to justify spending their clients money on radio.
But a “sales intervention”? – Seriously? That sounds like one dinosaur talking about another.
How about an “Investment Strategy”?
At least Clear Channel recognizes the world has moved on. The public has been empowered and we like choices. IHeartRadio has been downloaded 95 million times and has 12 million registered users. That is a ‘story’ advertisers want to hear. Clear Channel’s online audience has risen 117% over last year.
And that’s a problem.
Why? Pandora, while enjoying rapid growth, still pays more than half its revenue in music royalties.
Calling out sales people on poor power-point presentations is not why radio is failing. The focus group full of young people telling us that same 12 songs played 80 times a day ‘sucks’ doesn’t need to see a ranker to tell you they don’t like it. TuneIn has 70,000 streams to choose from and recently raised $16 million in new investment.
Share holders and business owners of radio companies who spent their money on corporate jets and parties in Cabo when the money was flowing in need to invest in the future and embrace change. It’s coming whether they like it or not.
Phil, thanks for airing this out and staking out new turf for the conversation. We’re on the same page with the youth vacuum, and I share your concerns about the lack of the “vision thing.” Aside from the iHeart accomplishment, innovation has been scarce.
I would maintain that while radio’s sales problem may not be the root cause of the industry’s inability to pivot, the lack of financial health has contributed to less than substantial investment in great people and a new future. It may not be “the cause,” but it is a symptom.
Thanks for taking the time, pushing back, and moving the discussion along. And thanks for reading our blog.
Here’s the problem. We’re an industry of C-Students. We venerate talent like Scott Muni (who never had ratings in his life) because he “played what he wanted”. Shouldn’t we play what listeners want? And they want Lady Antebellum not “Things from England”. Ninety three percent of people listen to radio because for 93% of people want the familiar and comfortable.
On the Sales side, we have managers like the one referenced above that needs a package and a “collateral” piece to sell a client. OUR product knowledge is overrated;we need to be more interested in selling the THIER products. Believe me, they are much more interested in that. And that doesn’t include a bio of our afternoon jock. We need to explain to them that you can’t brand (or as clients like to say “get my name out there”) without electronic media, i.e. radio. It doesn’t matter what format. This media is so powerful that the government BANNED us from airing cigarette spots long before they tampered with print. Isn’t THAT a story to tell?
Our biggest detractors are the bitter ex-radio hacks that think Pandora (and before that XM…and before that IPODS…and before that Walkman), were the death of the medium. No, our problem has been we have no understanding of what we really need to do – satisfy the LISTENER and the ADVERTISER.
Serving the listener, the advertiser, AND the communities in which stations are licensed to serve provide a font of great stories and compelling reasons for “Why radio?” Thanks, Pat, for the comments.
Bravo Fred!
The reality is that MOST of what was said by the advertiser panel (which represented $100 Billion in advertising and 75% of ALL advertising) went over the heads of most of the people in the room. They were talking concepts about measurement techniques, for instance, that were new to everyone in the room. There were lots of blank stares. They stated that radio does not even know what they don’t know.
Radio is not on th radar of these advertisers, they don’t naturally think about using radio and rarely consider it, they find it hard to understand and harder to buy, said they cannot interest their creative people in doing radio, don’t feel they know how to get good creative done or who to go to, and don’t feel radio is approaching them with compelling ideas.
Most importantly they said radio lacks the data to prove its relevance to clients. They said ratings were not the metrics they were looking for but they needed proof of our ability to move product and research to support it, which no one in radio has provided. They told us that other media are considerably more prepared and sophisticated and that they rarely meet with radio people. Though they said ideas sell, we cannot even get to that discussion until we can first provide data about radio’s relevance to their customers, response rates, impact on their social relevance, etc.
“Product benefit is just the cost of entry, the consumer wants value exchange. It used to be about reach now its about engagement. It used to be about frequency, now its about relevance. No longer cost per point, now cost per value point. Your story has to be reinvented, you have not figured out how to take the engagement factor and audience engagement and package your story.” -Bill Konigsburg
Fred, you are not wrong that radio is missing the boat. Though a few select group heads were in the room, others were in other rooms for meetings and were not there listening to this important panel. When the group head meeting occurred they talked about what we should be doing. Problem is that only one on the panel made remarks relevant to what the advertisers were saying we needed to do. The others completely missed the mark and sounded like 1980 not 2013.
In reality there is this giant elephant in the room. Everyone talks about the need to tell our story but no one does it. I’m honestly not sure anyone knows our story as well as they should, or perhaps a better way of saying it is that our story, as we’re telling it, is not relevant to those we need to listen. Clearly there are some evangelists who repeat the same numbers, the fact that radio remains strong while newspapers and others crash, but nothing matters unless it matters to the advertiser. What can you do for me?
Radio as an industry has some big issues to repair. It needs to start by actually listening to the clients… not hearing what we think they want us to say. There is, I fear, a touch of arrogance among us, which does not bode well for making change based on someone who knows better… the advertiser.
Strategy is discussed Fred, the problem is that we have different silos who refuse to agree on which strategy to follow. Some want to do it themselves, others want to do it the way its always been done, others don’t want some groups to participate. Its a mess. If we were smart RADIO as an industry would hire Bill Konigsburg, who lead this advertiser panel, give him a giant check and say ” develop a strategy and implement it, we will follow.” But I don’t think we could get agreement on this.
The panel told us they no longer have radio departments, they have audio departments. Most are embracing Pandora, Spotify, doing business with them and giving them the information needed about their audiences that go beyond ratings. Its all about response and we need to start proving it.
– Eric Rhoads, RADIO INK
Eric, you are right regarding the radio industry hiring Bill Konigsburg. No one wants to pay for anything, they want it free or cheap. Yet, they want to sell their own product at a premium.
Eric, first of all, kudos to you for staging this panel. It’s an important conversation that radio often seems to want to ignore or avoid having. And I’m happy that I wasn’t in the room, because I probably would have embarrassed myself by jumping up and jumping in. There is often a gap between radio’s content creators and those charged with selling it. And it’s become a chasm that impacts many internal operations, and as you point out, it’s having a negative effect on connecting with advertisers.
Second, thanks for taking the time to provide us with your “take” on the topic. As a true friend of the industry and as someone who is a thought leader,, your comments are worthy of attention. Radio has so much more to offer than Pandora or Spotify, but the industry has to understand what advertisers are looking for, how to tell its story, and to point out the obvious differences and advantages.
Eric, thanks again for these ideas, and the hope that the industry can emerge from these challenges in a state that is more energized, accountable, and effective.
Eric’s observation is right on: “…nothing matters unless it matters to the advertiser. What can you do for me?”
There are plenty of advertisers in cities and towns across the country whose radio advertising successes address that question. We ought to be collecting and publishing *their* stories, for the benefit of those other advertisers on whose radar screens we’re not showing up.
Nothing sells like success.
Thanks for commenting, Rod.
Thanks for pulling back the curtain Fred, and to Eric and the others willing to speak truth to power. I’ve been passively watching this sad drama unfold with my friends in the world of radio for the past 12 years, and it has become clear that “you have met the enemy and they is you!”
Mindsets are very difficult to change, especially when memories of the past are more compelling than an unproven vision of the future. It’s critical to realize, especially during fast-moving times, that you are not your history!
Consider Vince Gilligan, creator of the hit television series “Breaking Bad.” Gilligan was known (positioned) as a comedy writer when he did Malcom in the Middle, then a sci-fi guy when he did X-Files, then a super hero guy when he did Hancock, and now he’s a gritty, reality guy, because he did Breaking Bad.
IMO, Radio needs not only to tell its story, but to change its story. Forget who you were. Forget what you’ve done. And forget what others are doing. Simply ask, How can we uniquely add value to the lives of our constituents; listeners, advertisers, employees, and community? Now go do it. And bingo! That’s who you are.
Tom, your outside/in perspective to this conversation is invaluable. We have talked about a sort of industry SWOT analysis for radio for some time now – the exercise of reassessing value to our various constituencies. Thanks for the clarity, and as always for reading our blog and adding to it.
Interestingly, the comments here present as close to a “meeting of the minds” as I’ve observed in various forums. What seems to be missing, glaringly from my perspective, is the fact that many small market stations are thriving in their communities, as they have all along. Their owners, managers, salespeople, and air staff are all invested in their communities, sitting on the boards of non-profits, promoting their local schools, hospitals, service organizations, etc. — and this involvement is reflected in the way they conduct their day-to-day programming and advertising. More than a few of the most successful broadcasters of my acquaintance received ongoing sales training from the late, legendary Jim Williams and a few of his proteges that followed in his footsteps. Rarely do you read or hear anything about their successes, but they’re consistent and often electrifying. For an illustration of this, take a moment to watch Wisconsin broadcaster Roger Utnehmer’s presentation at the last NAB/RAB Radio Show (https://bit.ly/L3MW87)
Frankly, exposure to a panel of small market radio operators like Roger, Randy Miller, Jerry Papenfuss, Steve Newberry, etc. (probably most members of the international Broadcasters Idea Bank) willing to share their philosophies and practices–the “secrets” to their ongoing successes–might provide a refreshing and meaningful alternative to the same numbers-crunching-hand-wringing-finger-pointing-back-slapping war of words to which we’ve become inured.
Fred, hearing echoes of your primal scream, I might mention that back in the late 1990’s the RAB did lead what proved to be a meaningful initiative (at that time, anyway; like too many good ideas, it was abandoned when the novelty wore off): RADIO GETS RESULTS. Remember it? Stations were encouraged to share success stories about radio advertisers who were getting measurable results from their ad campaigns. Their goal was to collect 1000 stories (or whatever the number was) to present to prospective advertisers wanting to know more about how others were using our medium effectively. Perhaps Erica Farber and her colleagues ought to revisit and retool that campaign to address our present situation.
Thanks for the opportunity to weigh in.
Rod, thanks for the thoughtful comment. I am at the Arbitron Client Conference today, and Erica was interviewed by Carol Hanley. At one point, she asked the crowd to send her their success stories. So I suspect that not only is she open to it, she would welcome it.
It is interesting that as radio evolves over time, there have been periods where smaller markets infuenced larger ones (especially as talent moved up the ranks) and others when major markets set the tone for everyone else. Perhaps given radio’s global competition, it has flipped again. As you point out, small market broadcasters need to be in touch with their communities. My bet is that they are also more stable. That counts for a lot these days.
I have done a great deal of speaking at state broadcaster association conferences over the last 3-4 years, and the more time I spend with broadcasters in unrated markets, the more I form a deeper appreciation of what broadcasting is all about. Thanks for the reminders and for chiming in.