4sight

Stray Voltage

What happens when social media meets politics and creates an unintended consequence?

That’s what happened to two of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s staffers – Alec Ross and Jared Cohen.

 

Both of these guys got their Twitter thumbs slapped for sending out colloquial tweets during a trip to Syria.  The State Department was embarrassed by some of their missives, calling their messaging “stray voltage,” and there were the predictable criticisms from the other side of the aisle.

But the piece of the story that may have gone unnoticed is the importance of integrating young people into the political process as hundreds of thousands live vicariously through the tweets of Cohen and Ross.  When I wrote this blog, Cohen had amassed more than 300,000 followers, while Ross has more than 287,000.  As they journey around the globe, they have become Twitter celebrities, keeping their followers up to date with U.S. foreign policy as well as their unique views from the inner circle.

Secretary Clinton praised both Cohen and Ross, saying their ability to combine diplomacy and technology is a piece of “21st century statecraft.”  As we struggle in radio to integrate America’s youth into our medium, the political world has many of the same challenges, especially among a generation loaded with cynicism, and justifiably so. 

This is Twitter at its best – celebrities or people in a position of power or access who take us behind the curtain.  Many radio personalities have the ability to bring their special access – backstage, in the studio, or even at home – into the spotlight.  But so often, tweets from DJs have more to do with “Breaking Benjamin tickets in the 9 p.m. hour” or “Talking about Lost tomorrow morning.”

 

As mobile devices make Twitter totally accessible and ever-present, smart digital strategists and social media thinkers can do amazing things with this great tool – more important than retweeting other people’s stuff or waxing philosophically about the weather. 

Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of stray voltage.

Political Capital

Last week, I had the pleasure to participate in a panel discussion with Greater Media Chairman/CEO, Peter Smyth, Kay Olin, the President of Local Focus Radio, and chaired by Marcia McBride, former Chief of Staff to FCC Commissioner Michael Powell, at the Media Financial Management conference in Atlanta.  It was a great opportunity to talk about how radio is handling the digital challenge during these tough times.

After our panel, Evan Tracey, founder and president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, spoke about the coming political advertising opportunity for mainstream media.

Wait, you're thinking - the election was over months ago, and it will be more than a year before the midterm contests begin.  But Tracey's point is that the Obama presidency is really acting like it's still running for office.  The result?  Advocacy advertising is showing signs of being bigger than ever, and the Democratic National Committee is still aggressively in "campaign mode."  As a result, Tracey expects that the Republicans - who he describes in "survival mode" - will also have to start getting aggressive with getting out their message.  He also noted that many state races are already heating up, too. 

Even though the candidates and advocacy groups will no doubt use new media, the fact is that the Obama campaign underscored the importance and power of traditional media outlets like television and radio.  Tracey believes there are opportunities for "old media" to benefit from these changing political trends.  

Who would have thought that 2009 could end up being a big political year? 

 

Marcia McBride, Kay Olin, Fred Jacobs, Peter Smyth

On The Attack

As we come off a tough political election campaign, the subject of "attack ads" is a constant in post-election analysis.  Did either McCain or Obama's attacks hit the mark, did they backfire, and who did the best job of playing offense and fending off attacks?  

While I'll leave that discussion to you political junkies, let's turn to the topic of whether attack advertising works with consumer products - such as radio.  While I've seen some attack ads work well - especially during the old YSP versus MMR wars back in the '80s - most of the time, naming names is a tactic that stations shy away from.  Many marketing experts concur they just aren't that effective when you get out of the political arena, and they can be downright dangerous.  Clearly, some in radio - especially a guy like Larry Rosin, who has been involved in political research for years - would take exception.  

So why don't more stations do it?

First, it's not easy.  There's a certain tone that's required in an attack campaign that needs to stay on the positive side of center.  Otherwise, the ads can sound downright mean, and most people are turned off by that approach. 

Second, an attack campaign has to be rooted not only in truth, but in areas that are of importance to consumers.  We can all think of limp radio attack campaigns that called out "Station X" for doing something that is of no major consequence to listeners.  Too often, the ads are just so much minutia. 

Finally, humor can play a major role in these campaigns, but of course, being funny - while staying on message - is something that most writers simply cannot pull off. 

But when you think about the wildly successful Mac versus PC "Get A Mac" campaign that Apple has orchestrated, it has all these elements - and more.  And it has clearly been a winner as Apple's share of desktops and laptops continues to rise.  While the iPod has been a major contributor toward consumers wanting to get a Mac for home or business use, the "Get A Mac" TV spots have clearly had a major impact.

They are well-written and funny - two of the key ingredients in making attack ads successful.  They are also extremely well-cast.  The actors who play the roles of Mac guy (Justin Long) and PC guy (John Hodgman) are perfect.  (And I've always made a connection between PC guy and Bill Gates, just to make these ads a bit more personal.)

But the key reason why this campaign works is that it's rooted in truth.  When we see these ads, they are very identifiable and they are funny.  And you tend to nod along with their message because you've probably experienced these same drawbacks and issues with Windows PCs - they crash, they're slow, Vista has been a crashing disappointment, etc.  This is how attack ads truly resonate - when they remind us of the actual shortcomings of a product, and do it in a way that we don't feel bad about.  

It's also noteworthy that Microsoft's "response ads" have been lame.  The Seinfeld/Gates campaign should have worked.  Seinfeld is hands-down one of the most popular funny guys ever.  And Gates is amazingly flexible and actually quite humorous in many on-camera situations.  But these spots fizzled because they really didn't have any substance or depth.  Nor were they funny. 

The next idea was the "I'm a PC" campaign, using "real people" to depict how widely popular and diverse Microsoft users truly are.  Nice idea, but besides having a slogan that sounds like "I'm PC" - which may not have a very positive connotation - how many people truly want to stand up and be proud of using a Microsoft computer?

We really don't want to be like PC guy.  He's a dufus, he's in denial, and he's lame.  Mac guy is much cooler, and many would rather go to a party at his house. 

Great marketing, great writing, and a brilliantly funny, credible campaign.  

Sic 'em.

A Grinchy Recipe On How To Worsen Economic Woes

The following Charles Osgood "viewpoint" comes from our friend, Laura Martinez, of Westwood One.

The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.

Most meteorological events, including the tropical depressions that become hurricanes, happen independent of what we do or don't do.  We can track them, try to forecast them and get out of their way when possible.

But economic depressions --- and recessions --- are not like the weather: they're almost entirely man-made, created by human activity or lack thereof.

Remember, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"?  Well, I have found a document, previously unreleased, that may well be the long-lost Grinch recipe for making a recession, extending a recession, and turning it into a full-blown depression.

With all due respect to the late Dr. Seuss, who gave me a new way to look at the news, I believe I have found an amazing description ... of what seems to be a depression prescription.

It spells out in detail, step by step, inch by inch ... in the tell-tale and Grinchified style of The Grinch ...

What goes into a slump that becomes a recession ... and how to turn that into full-blown depression.

If business falls off, you must not advertise.  Oh no, for that would be extremely unwise.

You must pull in your horns and not let people know ... how great are your products when business is slow.

If you let them find out, they might go out and buy.  You don't want that to happen, so don't even try to spark any interest in things that you make.  This might slow down the slowdown, for heavens' sake.

There once was a saying that you can dismiss.

If I recall, it went something like this:

"Here's the secret of success," I heard someone say, perhaps on CBS,"Early to bed / Early to rise / Work like a dog / and Advertise!"

If you want a recession, remember that verse ... then go out and do exactly the reverse.

If you're a salesman, don't do any selling. Cancel your ads --- they might be too compelling.

If you're a lender, don't lend any money.  Wait 'til the skies clear, and everything's sunny.

Creating depression is really a cinch.

That's how you do it ... Yours Truly, The Grinch.

The Osgood File. Transcripts, podcasts and Mp3s of these programs can be found at theosgoodfile.com.

 I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.

Taking It Personal

OK, I'm getting a little political with this post, but it's a great illustration about the power of using personality and warmth to connect through newer digitally communiqués, such as emails and text messages.  Marshall McLuhan taught us all about the importance of "hot" and "cool" media and messaging, and the Obama campaign has figured out how to make it work, unlike any other political machine we've witnessed.

If, by chance, you signed up for text messaging or submitted your email address at www.barackobama.com, you've been receiving missives from a variety of people from the campaign, including Obama himself.  What is striking about these messages is that they are encouraging without being cloying, and they keep supporters up-to-date with the campaign's thinking.

They are also very personal, using first names - the supporter's and Obama's himself.  It is interesting to receive an email or text from the candidate (and now the President Elect) that is simply signed "Barack."  It connotes familiarity, association, and a personal connection - even when you realize that you are one of perhaps millions of people receiving the same message.

This is also why radio station email messaging can be so much more effective when it contains that personal touch, conciseness, and simple messaging.  Every email from the Obama campaign is personalized, brief, and contains a simple action step.  They do not offer too much information or promotions, and there are never typos.  Your morning guy may not have the power and presence of a political candidate, but to your listeners, he may be the conduit between your audience and your station.  Unlike generic emails that we continue to receive from stations, your DJs can make the connection that iPods and other technologies cannot. 

In future blogs, we'll talk about how some of the lessons of the Obama campaign can work for radio - if we're smart enough to rethink some of the procedures we've been employing for years.  And if you were a McCain supporter, unhappy with the recent turn of events, I would ask you to go beyond your political leanings, and think about the Obama campaign as a way to get schooled about how to do it right.  The Republican Party is doing the exact same thing as we speak. 

Here's the email Obama sent:

The Shift Is On

By now, it seems like just about everyone has seen one of Tina Fey's take-offs on Sarah Palin.  But more people have now checked them out at their convenience on the Internet than by watching SNL in real time.  Between DVRs or watching them on streaming video sites, two-thirds of the "views" of these bits have occurred outside of the traditional slot that SNL occupies. 

That says a lot about how consumers are enjoying their entertainment.  Rather than being tethered to the couch late on a Saturday night, Americans have learned that there are easier ways to watch Tina send up Sarah.  While NBC hasn't figured out exactly how to monetize all this off-air viewing, they are moving closer toward attaching advertising before and after these clips.  But they appreciate the idea that viewers are virally passing them via email to friends, families, and co-workers.

Thus, success is being defined differently.  It's not just about ratings - but about aggregating all of this viewing to better deliver eyeballs to consumers. 

And in many ways, this has a connection to radio, where podcasting provides us with the ability to time shift, listen when it's convenient, and to monetize an entirely new stream of revenue apart from :30s and :60s. 

NBC is going after this opportunity with a vengeance.  They clearly understand the importance of time shifting, viral marketing, the ability to generate revenue, and provide value to their advertisers.  While they have the issue of viewers zipping through TiVo'ed commercials, they also recognize the power of people doing their marketing and buzz generation for them. 

Is radio thinking along these same lines?  For stations, personalities, and networks that have the content, how can we move more strategically to make it more accessible, while cashing in on the buzz that our shows and stations create? 

These are questions that we've been talking about for a few years now, and experts like Jason Calacanis and others even provided some road maps for radio.  It's time to stop talking and start doing.

Presidential Emails

Jordan Ayan, CEO of SubscriberMail, has written a great article about where the Obama and McCain campaigns are going wrong when it comes to their database marketing techniques.  Obama gets the lion's share of credit on his use of the Internet to raise money and aggregate supporters, but Ayan's criticisms of both him and McCain are on-point.  Any radio station programmers could easily take away some great lessons from his observations, which I've summarized in today's post:

Inconsistent "from" addresses - Ayan notes that while the campaigns often use "Barack" or "John" when sending out emails, they also use unrecognizable names, too.  As he points out, "Candidates' names are their brand."  Using the celebrity of your airstaff is a key to getting attention and impacting open rates, instead of a generic station address.

Targeting - Ayan complains that once you sign-up, the campaigns don't gather any additional data to target later messages.  Radio stations are universally guilty of this, missing a great opportunity to hit fans of bands or station personalities with narrower, on-target email messaging.  Instead, email "blasts" tend to send the same missives to everyone in the database.  You end up receiving a lot of email about promotions that you don't care about, leading to more unsubscribes.  Speaking of which...

Unsubscribe problems - It's not easy to stop the email onslaught if you choose to opt out.  The Democrats force you to go to a web page to use a numeric code they email to you, creating a convoluted unsubscribe process (that often doesn't work).  McCain forces you to give a reason when you unsubscribe (Ex: "I'm no longer a McCain supporter").

Building a relationship - Ayan contends that rather than make a real connection with Americans, both campaigns are simply trying to get your vote.  He talks about the lack of welcome messages when signing up, and feels that no matter who wins in November, they probably won't use the power of their email database after the election.

In radio, "the election" takes place every week, whether it's PPM or the diary.  The importance of stations starting, building, and maintaining email relationships is paramount to radio's long-term future.  As we have said many times in this space, email databasing allows stations to create relationships that don't exist with other media or gadgets. 

Radio can learn from the candidates - both good and bad - and become more serious about relationship-building, connections, and engagement.

I'll Text You

Most of us get pretty insignificant texts throughout the day - where to meet for dinner, reminders to pick up milk on the way home, or notes about running late.  But starting early Saturday morning, a huge number of texts were sent by the Obama campaign to cell phones all over the world, heralding the decision to select Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential candidate.  It was a historic text message, and it suggests new and exciting applications for texting and digital communications moving forward.

To some, this was a cool idea that may have gotten a little botched in the execution.  Some people didn't receive a text even though they had signed up.  Most others received their text in the 3am-5am range - not exactly the time when you're going to call a friend or tell others about the decision.  For some unknown reason, Obama's people held the decision until after midnight, and of course, there were leaks earlier in the evening.

But the main takeaway from this event is that, for the first time in history, this type of momentous news was communicated via text to millions of cell phones.  Obama now has shown the country and the world that he knows how to utilize technology to his best advantage, and for greater connectivity with his minions.  In many ways, his campaign is answering the question: "What's the digital application?" Not every aspect of their execution was spot-on, but the contrast that he is developing with his opponent is obvious to anyone who uses email, sends and receives texts, likes to participate in a chat, or respond to a blog. 

And for radio stations out there that are still wary of starting a texting program, think about how the Obama campaign is breaking new ground, opening technology doors, and integrating fans into the process.  These are the same basic moves that stations can, and should, be making. 

It's why we're devoting a significant hunk of our Summit on Thursday afternoon, September 18th, to technology applications, featuring tech guru, Leo Laporte.  And why Leo, Tim Davis, and I will be participating in an NAB panel on Friday, September 19th called "60 Digital Applications in 60 Minutes." In fact, if you look at the collective agendas for the NAB, the R&R, and the Summit, you should come away thinking that there are some strong sessions worthy of your time and money.

And yes, if it was a radio programmer running the Obama campaign, that text would have gone out at 7:20 Thursday morning.  But, hey - it's a start.

Be Like Hillary

The big news from the Democratic campaign wars in Pennsylvania this week was Sen. Hillary Clinton's 10 point victory over Sen. Barack Obama.  But in the past couple of days, a story that was just as big surrounded Hillary's quick ability to raise a lot of money in a very short period of time.  In just 24 hours, an estimated $10 million in contributions were generated from her website.

How did she do it?  Simple:  one thought per break.

She didn't say, "Visit HillaryClinton.com.  There you'll find a whole list of my speeches, where I'm going to be appearing in the next couple weeks, some cool videos I've posted, my blog, how you can buy my hats and shirts, and where you can send me money to keep my campaign flush with money."

She did say, "Go to HillaryClinton.com right now and send me money to keep the momentum going."

And she built an opening splash page that simply and effectively tells you all you need to know.  The message is simple:  "Send in $5 (or more)."

That's why when you hear companies market their websites on the air, it's typically "kitchen sink" promos, mentioning many different features about the site.  And while radio taught us the old "one thought per break" rule, it is too often broken in marketing and advertising of digital properties.

What is it you want users to do when they visit your site?  Are you selling them products, encouraging them to interact with you during the work day, or are you trying to grow your database?   You can't do all three with the same promos.

Just like Hillary, you'll be more effective when you focus on one main mission with your on-air marketing.  And unlike the ratings, using analytics to measure page views and site traffic will provide you with all the proof you need.

Marketing Integration

Perhaps I'll get the collective "Duh" when this blog is posted, but the aftermath of all the expensive Super Bowl TV spots is the difference in web traffic that advertisers garnered.  The big Internet winners were Hyundai, Paramount, and GoDaddy.com.

And how did they do it?  It was driven primarily by adding a URL to these spots in order to stimulate web visitation.

The GoDaddy.com spot (the one that teased Danica Patrick) is at the top of the list. It was not well-rated in the popularity polls (#48 out of 55), but web traffic on their site was up more than 500%.

True ROI for advertising and marketing must now include multi-platform efforts.  And this is another area where radio can benefit, too.  When we actually get some marketing dollars, think about billboard and TV spots that aren't simply inert messages that hope to make an impression or stimulate tune-in.  Adding a URL - perhaps even a microsite that is connected to the main site - can motivate everything from voting to finding out more about the station.  And if the right content is on the site, it can actually generate buzz.

We are seeing great indicators of how great web content can have a life of its own.  The Obama "Yes We Can" video that was making the rounds last week is a case in point (I received it more than five times).  On YouTube alone, I counted more than 7 million views for a video that didn't cost the candidate a cent.

While the Obama video is very viral, radio can generate its own buzz by repurposing content, and getting it out to its databases.  A case in point was an email I received from NPR called "Rebuilding The Beatles."  It contained a link to a Morning Edition story about the Fab Four that I hadn't heard in "real time."  By giving me the chance to hear it for the first time online, they created a great integrated marketing effort that marries their programming with their website, powered by their listener database.  Total cost?  $0.

Anyone can do this.  Duh.