4sight

Bro Idol

Maybe 2011 is the Year of the Guy.

Back in January, we launched our Marketing To Men initiative (we’re the yin to Alan Burns’ yang), and we’ve received great feedback from radio and the advertising communities.

There’s more to men than meets the perceptual eye.  And this hit home in a recent AdAge blog written by Ricardo Poupada.  He featured an AskMen survey of 2,000 guys who responded to a question that asked them about who they consider their role models.

Maybe we're moving beyond worshiping jockstraps and gravitating toward entrepreneurs as the people to emulate.  Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Biz Stone, and those who have taken risks that have paid off are the envy of the world.  And men are getting the message.

Poupada also points to a Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute study that shows that “millennials” were 120% more likely to start a new business without previous workplace experience.

Some of this may be driven by the economy, but there’s something to be said for this growing trend in changing role models.  Recently, The New York Times highlighted some of these entrepreneurs who started chasing their Plan Bs.

It’s not easy to start up a business especially after you've worked for big companies throughout your career.  While being untethered from working for others promises freedom of expression, personal gratification, and free time, the truth usually tempers those temptations.  The Times article points out that long hours, manual labor, feelings of isolation, and the pain of uncertainty are all part of the entrepreneurial experience.

As someone who made this step nearly three decades ago after having held great jobs for big companies – Frank Magid and ABC Radio – I can tell you that going out on my own was simultaneously the smartest thing I’ve ever done and the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

It is reassuring to learn that men are now idolizing guys like Mark Zuckerberg more than they are Chad Ochocinco.  It suggests that more of them will take that leap and hopefully enjoy success on their own.

Men are re-emerging, and hopefully, advertisers will start getting that message, too.

Team Coco

Consider these comments in a recent New York Times article that describe a popular media personality and his new show:

“It will be a hit with advertisers initially because of the familiarity they have with ______.” – Brad Adgate, SVP for Research, Horizon Media in NYC

“We know ______ has a passionate following, and we wanted to tap into that.” – Daryl Evans, VP/Consumer Advertising & Marketing Communications, AT&T Atlanta

Here’s another quote from Evans:

“______ is a proven talent, and a proven brand.  Rubbing up the AT&T brand against the ______ brand is a good thing; there’s a nice brand equity share.”

The name that belongs in these blanks is Conan O’Brien.  Turner Entertainment ad sales is leveraging his new show on TBS.  In fact, they had deals in place with AT&T, General Motors, Microsoft, and the News Corporation – before the show even aired.

How is that possible, especially for a guy who “the press always liked…more than viewers,” according to Steve Sternberg of the Sternberg Report?

Nonetheless, to hear Linda Yaccarino, EVP and COO for Turner Entertainment tell it, getting Conan off the ground (check out the AT&T blimp) with advertisers was about “working closely with Conan’s creative team” to integrate sponsors into commercials.”

O’Brien’s team also utilized social media, generating nearly a quarter million “fans” for the show’s Facebook page, as well as more than 100,000 followers on Twitter, a strategy they are working hard:

 

This combination of strategy plus investment guarantees a successful launch for Conan, whether the show ultimately wins in the ratings or not.

And it speaks to the differences between the way that TV companies and networks approach their franchise shows and personalities and the way that radio often does it.

Consider the following...

1. Investment. Turner invested in promotional materials and collateral, well before the show debuted.  By thinking and acting big, they communicated the message to advertisers that they are committed to this show and their new personality icon.  In turn, sponsors and brands – already familiar with who Conan is and what he does – feel that if TBS believes in this show, they can, too.

2. Integration. Conan’s team is ready, willing, and able to work with sales and sponsors to handcraft commercials, campaigns, and materials that reflect his brand essence.  By working closely with advertisers, the Turner sales team reflects a confidence in Conan – to him and his team, and to these sponsors.  Plus, the show gets incidental marketing from commercial campaign integration. 

3. Social media. Conan and the Turner team had a plan to generate audience excitement for the show, something that any major personality could do.  But presence on Facebook and Twitter – with strong followings on each – is another metric for advertisers that demonstrates engagement and loyalty.  It also helps to ensure a respectable audience when the show kicked off.

4. Proactivity.  Turner didn’t wait for the first few Nielsen's “to see what happens” in the ratings.  In radio, that “wait and see” approach guarantees a slow advertising start for new shows.  By locking down advertiser commitments upfront, Turner has some breathing room to tweak the show and its marketing after it rolls out.

5. Strategy.  Offering sales trips to Cozumel in January isn’t a strategy.  It’s a tactic.  A strategy is working with individual advertisers to create win-win-win programs for Turner, brands, and viewers.  In the process, some of these advertisers are using their own sites and media to promote the show.  Diet Coke and Bing are both advertisers that are creating their own content or using their sites, while Chevy may give away a new 2011 Cruze.  By helping advertisers debut their own products in the show, Turner and Conan can share in their success.

Tailored promotions, talent integration, product placement, and an intrinsic belief in the product are all components in the Team Coco plan.  All departments at Turner are on board – programming, talent, sales, social, and marketing.

That’s media value, that’s multi-platform marketing, that’s integrated sales programs.

That’s success.

(And if the first night means anything, Conan edged out both Jay and Dave.)

Free Beer (and Hot Wings?)

No brand is immune to deterioration and erosion, even including the biggest spenders imaginable.

In this case, Budweiser.

Anheuser-Busch has suffered in recent years, and the culprit is the under-30s.  Just like in radio, when a product like beer or mass entertainment becomes less cool to younger consumers, there are problems.

How far has Bud fallen?  USA Today reports that sales were off 9% in ’09, and are slated to fall by a similar percentage this year.  Worse, Bud is suffering from a seven-year brand loyalty skid, according to Brand Keys research.  Back in ’03 among national brands they were ranked #16.  This year, they have plummeted down to 220.

Think there’s a trend here?

To counter this loyalty cascade, A-B is going commercial-free.  Well, at least the equivalent, by giving away free beer to younger beer imbibers in a campaign that will run several weeks.

Beyond the sampling campaign, Bud is partnering with Facebook to award a free beer to those who hit the legal drinking age (not unlike a station birthday card with a nice gift or discount), as well as new TV ads that will be laser-focused on a one-week period starting Saturday and running until October 3.

So, keep an eye out for these new Bud ads, as they attempt to retrench among young people.  Obviously, boomer marketing has hit a wall as more upscale beer drinkers have drifted to less caloric alcoholic beverages or designer brews.

The question is whether a venerable brand, famous for showcasing classic athletes and Clydesdales can engineer a youth turnaround. 

As A-B is discovering, if you lose youth, you can lose it all.

That’s a good lesson for media companies, too.

(And we all know how long commercial-free lasts.)

Down On The Farm(Ville)

If you think some people in your station or office are unproductive because of an addiction to computer games or Facebook, the combination of those two - FarmVille - is probably the culprit.  The creation of Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, Farmville is an amazing Facebook game that has now sucked in more than 70 million monthly players, vying to create virtual farms using digital tractors, animals, and other tools - all of which are on sale.  According to USA Today, FarmVille generates lots of revenue by selling these virtual goods to players.

Now, FarmVIlle is available on an iPhone app, so there's no telling just how distracted players will be in restrooms, cars, restaurants, and all the other places people use their mobile phones.  And if you're thinking that we're just talking about kids playing FarmVille, the average user is a 43 year-old woman, an amazing stat that underscores the changing nature of digital revenue, as well as the stereotype of the "typical gamer."

Maybe the most impressive thing about FarmVille is the philosophy of its creator, Pincus.  While you've been running music logs, re-forecasting this quarter's revenue projections, or arranging the weekend air schedule, some estimate that Zynga may be worth $3-5 billion.

Despite these obvious riches, Pincus isn't interested in an IPO or cashing in any time soon.  As he points out, "We're focused on building a long-term sustainable consumer service.  That's our mission."

Smart guy who knows more about customer satisfaction and building successful businesses than many of the experts selling those services.

FrontierVille is next, a Wild West themed game.  Maybe RadioVille is in the planning stages.  

I'm game.

Game Set Match

What are people speculating most about this summer?

For people in Cleveland (Chicago and Miami), it's the next destination for LeBron James.

For millions of others, its whether Verizon and Apple will come together to produce an iPhone anytime soon.

Now the rumors, buzz, and blog chat may be coming to an end as many sources are now reporting that AT&T's hold on Apple's iPhone will end early in 2011.  This is good news for many Verizon customers, who number more than 92 million strong. 

Most analysts agree this could be the next breakthrough moment for Apple and the iPhone.  And I'm one of them. 

If you think the iPhone has been an incredible story to date, the combination of this hot device and Verizon is more than powerful.

It could be the whole enchilada.

A New Leaf

Welcome back from your holiday weekend.

While we were watching fireworks, eating burgers and dogs, and hopefully not getting too sunburned, Apple was reinventing mobile advertising.

 

<FOR EMAIL RECIPIENTS: CLICK HERE TO VIEW NISSAN LEAF APPLE iAD>

The Dirty Little Secret

OK, "recession" aside, perhaps the three most oft-mentioned words in business and communications circles last year (and now this year) are "mobile," and "social media.' 

We've discussed both phenomena in this space, and I can promise some powerful data from our Tech Poll VI which we're wrapping up as this blog posts. 

Social media has become a mega-force because it changes the way we communicate with one another.  If you think about it, for decades and decades, people simply picked up the phone, wrote a letter (or sent a fax), or struck up a live conversation.  That's how people did business with one another.

Then the Internet came along, and we started emailing information.  Later, texting on mobile devices became shorthand for conversation.

But it has been the advent of social media, popularized first by MySpace, and now totally dominated by Facebook that has reinvented the way we interact with one another.  And Twitter is using some of the same principles to become a force in social media.

At the same time, there is no shortage of social media "experts," more than happy to advise businesses on the best way to utilize these new tools.  And caught in the middle are traditional advertising agencies, struggling to come across as hip, but often tethered to their traditional media roots.  When you have been proficient for decades at designing and creating campaigns for television, radio, and print, the explosion of social media can totally redefine the media plan - and with it, the core focus and staff of the agency itself.

We're all trying to learn and better understand this space, often reading whatever we can get our hands on to better grasp the change.  We were fortunate to have one of President Obama's top advisors, Scott Goodstein, speak at last fall's Summit at the NAB.  And since then, I have made a connection with Alison Circle, who heads up media and social networking for the Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library.  I have truly enjoyed the insights gleaned from both of these new experts in the field.

A recent case study in the "Business" section of The New York Times caught my attention.  It's the story of a new high-end startup - EPC Cigar - and the media choices they made in launching their new brand.  They had a $300,000 budget with lots of options in front of them:  taxi tops in New York City, TV ads on channels like Comedy Central, Spike, and Vh1, radio in NYC, Chicago, and L.A., and print ads in publications like The Wall Street Journal, Yachting, Golf Digest, Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado.

Instead, EPC Cigar went with their agency's choice and opted for a social media campaign that mostly uses website resources, Facebook, and Twitter.  This campaign only chewed up $40K, allowing them to divvy up the rest on trade shows, events, point of sales material, and some traditional media.  Part of their aversion to going the "old media" route was a belief they could get more bang for their buck with social media.

The company's main spokespeople are also the owners - Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr. and Ernesto Perez-Carrillo III - and they are directly involved with maintaining the company's Facebook and Twitter presence.  

When the article was written in late February, EPC Cigar had garnered 700 Facebook fans and 250 users following their tweets on Twitter.  (Since the Times article appeared and I wrote this blog a few days later, they picked up another 700 fans.)

Now this doesn't strike me as great results.  Understanding that this is a premium brand that is aimed for a well-heeled male consumer, I picked WCSX here in Detroit - and they have twice the number of Facebook fans.  So what does that tell you? 

In an effort to put these case studies in perspective, The Times sought out opinions from a panel of experts, some of whom expressed disappointment at EPC Cigar's small numbers of fans and followers. 

As Donna Novitsky, CEO of BigTent pointed out, "The Facebook fan and Twitter follower numbers are extremely low — we would want to see tens of thousands, at least.  It is likely that cigar smokers and would-be cigar smokers are not the most active social media users.  It is also possible that avid social media users do not smoke $13 cigars.  Plus, the dirty little secret of viral marketing campaigns on social media is that it often takes a lot of traditional media marketing to get them started.”

That's a "dirty little secret" that every radio rep should be telling clients who are enamored with the "efficiency" of using only social media tools for branding and sales.  Traditional media still delivers the big numbers for new media monsters from Apple to Microsoft to Droid.

And there's a good reason why.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

A recent story in The New York Times highlighted that famous Vh1 promotion back in the '80s where they gave away 36 Corvettes - from the very first model in 1953 all the way to the current year (1989) sports car.  For a bit more than a million dollars, that much-buzzed about promotion helped put Vh1 - MTV's neglected little sister - on the map.

Conceived by branding and marketing impresario Jim Cahill, the Corvette promotion remains legendary more than two decades later.  You still "ooh and ah" when you think about the magnitude of one guy winning all those dream cars.  The winner was Dennis Amodeo who quickly flipped the cars to artist Peter Max who had an idea for an art project for the fleet that never materialized.

Now you're probably thinking, "Who has a million dollars to come up with a big promotion?"  And in fact, when Cahill pitched the promotion to MTV Networks head, Tom Freston, the response was, "This is a big hunk of change, boys."

So, here's the kicker.  MTV Networks made money on the promotion!

Working with Vh1's head of programming, Jeff Rowe (many of you remember him as radio PD Dallas Cole) and the GM of MTV/Vh1 Lee Masters, Cahill put together a plan to monetize the promotion utilizing 1-900 numbers.

Well, consider that in order to enter Vh1's contest, viewers had to use a 900-number with a fee of $2.  By the end of the promotion, more than 1.3 million viewers paid $1.49 a call to enter, two presenting sponsors ponied up $500,000, along with another million from four participating sponsors.  All told, $3 million dollars in profit to MTV Networks. 

The story is a reminder of what you could do with a lot of imagination and a few bucks back in the day.  But why couldn't you pull off a similar win-win promotion right now?  What if your company came to you with a hunk of cash and the directive to "Shake it up, make some noise, and get people talking about the station."  Or in the case of a startup, what if you actually had some working capital to launch a new station.  

What would you do?

Don't laugh.  I've had this conversation a couple of times already this year.  While this might suggest that there is indeed the beginning of an economic recovery underway, it also is a reminder of how long it's been since radio stations had any significant dollars to use in order to move the promotional needle.

Guess what?  It's not like the days when you could simply peruse this year's Filmhouse reel and buy something off the rack.  So if you had some cash right ow, what kind of television spot would you create for your station or morning show that would stand out and accomplish your goals?  Or would you even bother with TV at all?

I had a similar thing happen last week where a client programmer got a nice "gift" of contest dollars for second quarter.  It had been so long since they had actually given something away that wasn't a part of a sponsorship deal, the PD had almost forgotten about some of the great contests and promotions his stations had pulled off in the past. 

In an industry where it is becoming common to just play "small ball" with reduced staffs, minimal research, and virtually no promotional spending, it is even more important to keep thinking big in order to avoid totally losing sight of that big idea.  And as we've learned time and again, it is possible to still put that big promotion together with a combination of client sponsorships, promotional ingenuity, and a few bucks. 

Sometimes having no money for promotions and marketing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Quarter after quarter, year after year, the promotional budget comes up bare.  So managers stop asking for funds, and worse - they stop thinking about the "what if's" - the ideas that could generate awareness, more listening, and brand building. 

At a time when everyone is being asked to do more with less, it is important to not let those big ideas and dreams gather dust.  When MTV's Tom Freston came to Jim Cahill for that big idea, it didn't take long for that amazing promotion to come together.

All they did was make money and history.

So what would YOU do?

Risk/Reward

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may be thinking, "Enough already with this Super Bowl."

But when a single sporting event attracts more viewers than any other show in the history of television, generating approximately $3 million per :60 commercial, you'll have to indulge me for one more post.

That's because with all the marbles on the line, the Super Bowl's big winners were those who didn't play it safe.  In fact, the biggest risk-takers were rewarded (or will be rewarded) with the best returns. 

First, there was Saints' coach Sean Payton who opted to start off the second half with a surprise onside kick.  Of course, it turned out to be successful, and changed the tone and vibe of the game.  Even had it not worked, however, Payton sent a message to the Colts that he was not going to simply go the tried-and-true by the book route.  It was a big risk that paid off big-time.

Second, there was Jay Leno.  After weeks of NBC corporate botching his drama with Conan O'Brien, Leno took a risk by appearing with David Letterman (and Oprah) in one of the most memorable promos we've ever seen.  By bucking convention and appearing on behalf of his arch rival, Leno sent the message that he is truly a funny, inventive guy willing to break the rules and have a good time.  By not taking it so seriously, Leno did more in :15 to repair his image than any major ad campaign (hey, Toyota, did you notice that?). 

<CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO>

Third, there was Denny's.  Yup, free Grand Slam Breakfasts for every Tom, Dick, and Harriet this past Tuesday.  Did it work?  Well, the restaurant chain reportedly served up a whole lot of GSB's, while generating millions and millions of dollars in free coverage and buzz on media outlets worldwide. 

 

Is it a great return on investment to give away all that food on Denny's "Super Tuesday?"  Maybe/maybe not, but that's what brand investment is all about.  

At a time when conventional wisdom tells us that if we want to win in business, we need play it safe, don't make mistakes, and avoid risks, it might be wise to revisit that thinking. 

As we all know from experience, not every risk pays off.  And the bigger the risk, the bigger the potential failure.  But in a media and entertainment environment where consumers have seen it and heard it all before, it is megawatt films like Avatar on the one hand, and boutique projects like Crazy Heart and District 9' on the other, that have the best chance of winning this year's Oscar gold. 

Steve Jobs' iPad adventure is taking a lot of heat in the geek community.  Everyone has their snarkey list about why it is destined to fail.  And while Jobs has been widely criticized before the device is even on sale to the public, he would probably tell you that without risk (Remember Newton, Lisa, etc.), there is no reward. 

When It Goes Wrong

Toyota is going through hell right now, and in the typical frenzy that occurs in these media crazy times, they have become the butt of jokes, from late night talk hosts to YouTube.  

We can all sit on the sidelines and snicker, but the fact is, anyone who manages a company or station should get a little shiver when they read about Toyota's problems.  That's because deep down inside, we know the same thing could happen to us. 

Toyota had a sterling reputation for decades, bolstered by great reviews, a strong track record for building reliable vehicles, and fabulous word of mouth. 

Does it all just get blown up because of the company's current problems, which seem to be getting worse by the week?  Or does the equity of the Toyota brand allow them to salvage their image, and ultimately, their vehicles sales?

That's the same question that a consistently strong radio brand ought to ask when something goes wrong with a promotion, an event, a contest, the transmitter blows up, or even when a personality misbehaves, breaks the law, or otherwise embarrasses the station.  How big is that "good will gas tank" when something goes wrong, and a station is faced with a public relations nightmare?

It all comes down to how you handle it, and in a recent blog entry, media maven Joe Jaffe discussed Toyota's travails and what the company ought to be doing to turn perceptions and reality around.  Here are a few of his points, paraphrased by me.

First, the day when you could simply run a full page ad in USA Today and The New York Times are over.  That's not where most people are.  Instead, using YouTube, Facebook, and outlets that are viral and more inclusive is the way to go.

Second, make sure that your website tells the right story at a time when the station is experiencing one of these difficult, embarrassing moments.  It's the place to get in front of the problem, and address it head on.

We see this all the time in radio during a crisis when the website has not been updated and simply looks and feels out of it.  

Third, social media can help in a big way.  As Jaffe notes, Toyota has surprisingly few followers on Facbeook and Twitter.  This is because "the first people to turn to are customers, loyalists, enthusiasts, fans, friends, followers, advocates, evangelists... hell, even critics.  These groups of people don't magically materialize overnight.  They are built, earned and nurtured over time."  

They aren't alone.  A new study by ForeSee Results shows that only one-fourth of the top 100 online retailers have a Facebook presence; another quarter have fewer than 10,000 fans.

Using the connectivity of social media - as well as a radio station's email database - can quickly communicate to your customers the problem and what you're doing to solve it.  Building these networks of core followers isn't just a good idea so you can promote ticket giveaway or celebrity guests on the morning show.  This is where communities are built and nurtured, especially useful during crunch time.
 
Of course, as Jaffe points out, Toyota has also been slow to "join the conversation" on Facebook.  A commitment to dialogue with listeners/customers is also so essential to transparently working through problems and regaining brand equilibrium, as opposed to simply letting "fans" or "friends" bitch and moan about how lame the company is. 

Fourth, Jaffe talks about anticipating problems before they occur.  The importance of "contingency planning" cannot be under-estimated, as shown by Toyota, a great company that has now gotten caught - multiple times - in compromising situations with its vehicles and their mechanical/computer problems.  These dilemmas are worsened by the company's lack of responsiveness and adaptability.  

On the radio front, how vulnerable are stations because of smaller staffs and harried managers?  How many contests are being executed without the proper rules?  How many poorly conceived events aren't properly secured or managed?  How many important things are simply slipping through the cracks because of a lack of time and manpower - all with the ability to bite a station where it hurts?  

On the technical side, how many stations now lack the "redundancy" necessary when there's an engineering problem or even an "act of God" that disables the tower, the transmitter, and other key components of the broadcast chain?  The website and the stream (that so many broadcasters fought) could be the salvation the next time something goes technically awry.  In radio, there can never be too much "contingency planning" because as we all know, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. 

Fifith, there's the reaction from the top.  In Toyota's case, they have been painfully slow to provide explanations and even truth from the corner office.  Akio Toyoda, president and grandson of the company's founder, took forever to face the media.  This has led to more speculation, doubt, and questions about Toyota's intentions.  When disaster strikes, stonewalling never works.  Tiger Woods learned this, and now, so has Toyoda.  It may cost his company billions. 

Whether in a serious auto recall or a major mess for a radio station, this is where leadership rises to the top.  In our fast-paced media and Internet world, it is more important than ever for CEOs to step up, get out in front of the problem, and meet the crisis squarely.  You can question big salaries and bonuses all you like, but these are the times when corporate moguls earn theirs. 

Finally, when the problem hits the station - or car company - across the street, squelch the urge to pile on.  There is a "karma train" and it's just a matter of time before trouble arrives at every door.  Note that in the middle of Toyota's mess, Ford had to issue a recall of its own. And now Honda is experiencing problems.

GM, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, BMW and the rest would be wise to resist the temptation to try to make hay from Toyota's multi-recalls.  Toyota's backfires may make them feel good because for so long, the company enjoyed much media love and adoration.  

There's no need to hit Toyota when they're down, because consumers have already gotten the message.  Toyota will either do a better job in the coming weeks of addressing its problems and its PR - or they won't.  In the meantime, a car company with a good product and brand that provides quality and economy, along with being well-marketed and connected with consumers, will do just fine while Toyota suffers. 

Toyota has finally started running heart-warming, nostalgic TV spots that address their problems, and underscore the hard work that is being done to turn their problems around.  They are well-produced and they take responsibility for the company's mess.  If it were only that easy.  And the current wrangling with ABC-TV affiliates in the southeast over what Toyota feels are "excessive stories" muddies the ad waters even more.

There's a lot to be learned from this Toyota lesson.