A new TV campaign for Pandora ought to have everyone in broadcast radio thinking about what this media company is thinking.
According to RAIN News earlier this month, the TV monitoring site, iSpot.tv reports that as of last evening, the commercial called “The Next Song” has already nationally aired more than 2,100 times since the campaign launched. You can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lngTK6E9VsI
Email recipients can watch the new Pandora commercial here
The real story, however, is not that Pandora is aggressively marketing on television. It’s not the medium but the message.
What makes this spot noteworthy is what it doesn’t say about the pure-play music streaming service.
It doesn’t say, “We play the most music with the fewest commercials.”
It doesn’t say, “We have a million songs in our Music Genome Project…and growing.”
It doesn’t say, “Download our app from the Google Play store.”
It doesn’t say, “More music, more genres.”
In fact, the spot isn’t about any positioning claims. It is all about the raw energy, anticipation, and excitement that comes from being happily surprised by a music service that has taken the time to carefully curate their playlists.
“The Next Song” taps into an emotional audience experience surrounding music and the car.
And it’s no accident that the commercial takes place while a group of young kids is jamming in a car. That should hit close to home. It’s a listening location radio used to own.
Getting its messaging right and addressing key consumer needs are things the radio broadcasting industry continues to struggle with as its digital and satellite competitors grow in familiarity and strength.
I was reminded of this yesterday as the 2015 PRPD Conference got underway in Pittsburgh. There were some great sessions in the historic Omni William Penn Hotel, but one that truly connected with the 500 attendees was fronted by a familiar face.
In fact, he was introduced as “public radio’s prodigal son.” Eric Nuzum – former NPR VP of programming – returned to PRPD with a fresh perspective from his new post as SVP of Original Content at Audible. They’re owned by Amazon, and is described as an audiobooks company.
Nuzum describes his position with Audible this way: “I create great audio experiences that stay with the audience long after they’re finished listening.”
He’s not working on a podcast strategy. He is working toward the more important task of defining his brand’s listening experience. And if that sounds familiar, it’s precisely the angle that Pandora is pursuing as they scope out the growing “radio” landscape and focus on a key emotional benefit of listening to their channel.
Nuzum reminded the PRPD attendees that “radio” is no longer a technology – it’s an experience. And that hit home with many of the PDs, many of whom have spent years filling out a program schedule, but perhaps haven’t always focused on what listeners derive from the listening experience.
Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone to see the world in a different light. In just a few months at Audible, Eric Nuzum has gained valuable perspective and gladly passed onto his former colleagues.
And it’s something we all know.
Radio – it’s an experience.
Eric Nuzum will be speaking at the DASH Conference on a panel called “In The Car – On-Demand” that includes Midroll’s Erik Diehn, WNYC’s Sarah Van Mosel, Amplifi Media’s Steve Goldstein. Register here.
Pandora’s Geoff Snyder will also be presenting at DASH, as the pure-play gets more aggressive in the automotive space.
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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The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the commercial a couple of weeks ago was a flashback to about 35 to 40 years ago when I was the age of the characters in the spot. I was fortunate to have grown up in metro Detroit where there were three powerhouse rock stations in town.
Listening and dial-hopping between them was an experience, filled with the anticipation and excitement of what the next song played could be. It was what my friends and I would call the WOW factor. When we turned on WABX, how far in left field would they be going with a current breaking new wave artist? WRIF could be counted on to be the most consistent with the good stuff. WWWW (W4) had some great on-air personalities and were the first to embrace some of the new metal coming out of England, but seemed to have a problem balancing the older with the newer.
Then came WLLZ, bringing a narrow playlist (seemingly the same 20 songs repeated every couple of hours, a Zeppelin tune just about every hour, etc…). While ‘LLZ made a splash in the ratings and effectively chased away the competition (only WRIF survived the challenge), my friends and I used to listen to them only when we felt like having fun betting on what would get played next. You could place a bet on REO, Styx or Journey and be pretty safe. Would this hour’s Zeppelin tune be “Stairway”? Would they get adventurous and play “Hey, Hey What Can I Do”? …and if I never hear “I Could Be Good For You” by 707 again, I will feel blessed (not that it’s a bad tune, but I heard enough spins of that tune to last a lifetime).
With the narrowing of the AOR market in Detroit, the tighter playlists and exciting music being made in other formats, MTV came along and became our place to get the WOW factor. Yeah, like Beavis and Butthead, we would sit through four or five videos that we would make fun of, but the payoff would be that one that would give us the WOW factor.
With the internet, and the ability to monitor stations nationwide, there are still some that provide the WOW factor; you just have to look for them. Be it something new and undiscovered, something older that was not exposed enough when it was current, or an old favorite that was nearly forgotten because stations limit the amount of “gold” to a few hundred songs, good music programming can still produce the WOW factor.
Kurt, thanks for the insightful comment. Obviously, we share the same perspective, and I totally get what you’re saying about that brief history of music on the radio/TV. And yes, it was and is about the WOW factor, which Pandora does a nice job of depicting on their spots. And BTW, WRIF has survived WABX, W4, WLLZ, several versions of Alice, The D, MTV, 89X, and I’m sure I’m forgetting about a half dozen other wannabes. Appreciate you taking the time.
My take-away is that they took a negative about Internet radio– the “dead air” between songs in the stream– and turned it into a positive– a “moment of anticipation”. Clever. We’ll see if the audience buys it.
Ron, interesting comment. I’m not sure dead air is a problem for today’s music fans, but to us radio guys, it is still verboten. Thanks for the comment and the thought.
Let’s not overthink this.
Attractive people in a car…
Really enjoying music…
Pandora.
It’s an anti-radio spot that’s very effective at selling music services in your car.
If we don’t fix the content and get back to understanding the expectations of listeners, the radio “experience” will continue to pale by comparison.
p.s. when was the last time you saw a spot for Radio on TV, besides the tired iHeartRadio ad?
Good points all, my friend. And I always plead guilty to the overthink charge.
Mr. Harper, you helped many people get the WOW factor (as evidenced in the recent blog “The Other Side of Programmatic) with advertisers, but you also provided WOW on the music front. Referencing two of the three methods of music programming WOW in my post above (older and under exposed & old favorites almost forgotten), you and your show made unexpected, “aftermarket” hits of “If I Had a Million Dollars” by Barenaked Ladies and a holiday favorite/standard of “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas” by Gayla Peavey. “Million” is in Gold rotation to this day at a handful of stations in the Detroit area and it would be nearly impossible to listen to WNICs Christmas format without hearing the “Hippo Song” every 4 or 5 hours. I am sure there are more, but these two stand out to me as the best examples of your insight. Thank you!
Solid points that hit the mark. Enjoyed your right-on, perspective on this.
Appreciated, Robin.