JacoBlog - Jacobs Media's Blog

Jacobs Media Summit 12 Recap

We've put the finishing touches on Summit 12 - something we're sure that many readers of this blog will be thankful for.  But the NAB/R&R Conventions - and the Summit - were a great experience for us this year.  And I wanted to thank a number of people, and give those of you couldn't make it a sense for how it came off.

Clockwise from top right: David Rehr, PPM Rocks Panelists (John Snyder, Charley Lake, John Fullam, Paul Blake), and Dave Beasing in the stylish hat.  Top left: Richard Laermer, and Fred Jacobs, center.

First, "The Bedroom Project."  All of us at Jacobs and Arbitron were thrilled with the receptions to both presentations - the Tech version at the NAB on Wednesday, and "Radio Uncovered" at the Summit on Thursday.  In that second presentation, a packed room saw Dave Beasing and Dr. Ed Cohen focus on radio's difficulties and opportunities with a young generation that is clearly media and entertainment focused.  And Dr. Ed's insights about how "Bedroom" has shed light on the difficulties of attracting young participation in research studies, as well as how PPM is developing because of studies like this one, was riveting.

These revealing video segments were put together by Paul Jacobs, Dave Beasing, and of course, Tim Davis, who once again designed the look of this project.  Video modules from these presentations will be available at a new site that Arbitron has launched, www.thebedroomstudy.com on October 8th.

NAB President/CEO David Rehr kicked off the Summit for the second consecutive year.  He talked about his new "Radio 2020" initiative, and candidly answered all my questions about satellite radio, the convention, and how the NAB is changing under his leadership.  David is truly an inspirational leader, and his presence at Summit 12 was an honor.  (And we also found out that he owned the 8-track, "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent.  How's that for a nugget?)

Our "PPM Rocks" panel truly rocked.  We were blessed to have three key players from Greater Media's Philadelphia team - John Fullam, Paul Blake, and Charley Lake - representing management, sales, and programming.  And Arbitron's John Snyder used his data, and his wit, to tell the room some important facts about PPM that most attendees had never seen.  It was a breakthrough session, and one that hopefully sets the tone for PPM and Rock Radio in the years to come.

And finally, Richard Laermer punked the room with his treatise on "Punk Marketing."  Using real-life advertising examples, as well as some marketing efforts from radio stations, Richard urged the room to get out of conventional marketing traps, be transparent and not be afraid to cede some control to the audience.  He's a great speaker, and we were glad to have him anchor this year's Summit.

Thanks go to Summit sponsors Mercury Research, ILG (Independent Label Group), CMI, The Bob & Tom Show, Arbitron, The John Boy & Billy Big Show, and of course, MusicMaster.  In fact, MusicMaster sponsored giveaways throughout the session, including a new Dell laptop loaded with their scheduling software.  The winner?  A great guy - Mark Hendrix from Entercom's Greenville/Spartanburg cluster.

Also, thanks to the entire Jacobs Media staff.  Paul Jacobs, Dave Beasing, Tim Davis, and Lisa Riker were big movers and shakers for Summit 12, along with Bill Jacobs, Keith Cunningham, Ralph Cipolla, Eric Holmes, and Elnora Lowe.

And to the Arbitron team - Dr. Ed, Barb O'Hare, Bill Rose, Jessica Benbow, Liz Bruen, Ron Rodrigues, and others.  And of course, our friends at R&R.

We will have streaming video of the Summit sessions posted on our website soon, and we'll send out an email alert when they're available.

Next year, see you in Austin.

Who's Getting Higher Rates?

Paul Jacobs offers his thoughts on strategies for increasing revenue:

Name this media CEO:

"There is no evidence that the economy is softening when it comes to advertising... Business is excellent right now..."

No, it's not Google's Sergey Brin.  It's NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, commenting about getting higher rates for his network's prime time shows following the spring "upfronts."  In fact, Zucker notes a positive for business clients on the "scatter market" - short-term buys.

When you produce and market great programming that gets people talking and watching, you can command higher rates - even for so-called "old media."  We saw this up close and personal in "The Bedroom Project" interviews, the ethnographic study we did for Arbitron.  As immersed in new media/gadgetry as they are, our 18-28 year-old respondents are rabid fans of network TV shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Dancing With The Stars."  They watch them in groups, chat about them the next day at work/school, and even visit network websites to watch video streams and to get more info about the shows themselves.

It's no wonder that the big networks are moving quickly to put together more Internet initiatives around their shows.  It was recently announced that NBC Universal has teamed with Amazon to show new pilots online.  They're also going to sell downloads of their fall TV shows on Amazon's Unbox, in addition to a new joint venture with News Corp. called Hulu.  Not to be outdone, ABC.com will now begin streaming four new Warner Bros. shows this fall for up to four weeks after they first air.

The big TV networks are continuing to pour money into their shows because quality programming is the fuel that drives their product.  Yet in radio, programming, marketing, and research are suffering, as budgets fall short and patience is frayed.  As has typically been the case, radio can learn a great deal from its big brothers in broadcast.  This is not the time to de-emphasize content.

Radio is looking for solutions for its flat revenue situation.  Here's the solution.

You can see the "Bedroom Project: Radio Uncovered" presentation at the Jacobs Media Sumit 12, which is part of the NAB/R&R Conventions in Charlotte.  Conceived by Arbitron and conducted by Jacobs Media, "The Bedroom Project" is an ethnography study about media, technology, and survey research.  The presentations is this afternoon at 2:15.

TV In "The Bedroom"

As regular readers of this blog are only too aware, our "Bedroom Project" presentations will be made this week at the NAB/R&R/Jacobs Media Summit gatherings in Charlotte.

All of us here at Jacobs Media and inside Arbitron have gotten to know our 31 young respondents on a very up-close-and-personal basis.  We have also watched recent Media Post emails, as well as observations by various media and entertainment columnists, pundits, and writers with keen interest, as America grapples with the rapidly changing tech environment.

Our conclusion?  Ethnography is a very effective research tool, despite the small numbers, our narrow demo, and two markets (LA and Columbus) as our interview pool.  The "data" we have been able to mine from these two-hour videotaped interviews has been spectacular, and we think predictive of where it's all headed.

A case in point was an article last weekend in the New York Times in a special "Television" section to herald the networks' Fall lineup of shows.  Titled "Television: You Are What You Watch," writer Alessandra Stanley makes some fascinating connections about the power of TV, the addition of control and choice with DVRs, and the social discourse that compelling programming creates.  This is precisely what we saw in "Bedroom," even among a very active, engaged tech-rich demographic.

Stanley goes further, suggesting that "a favorite show is a tip-off to personality, taste and sophistication the way music was before it became virtually free and consumed as much by individual song and artist." (Italics mine)

And that's precisely what is occurring here.  It is rare to hear that debate about music.  Do you remember, sitting around your dorm room, and arguing about who was the better band - the Beatles or the Stones?  Or more recently, "Is Coldplay a derivative of U2?"  Or "Is Silversun Pickups really the next big thing?" Or "What will the reunified Van Halen really sound like?"

Instead, the "action" is about the demise of CTU on this year's "24," who's doing who on "Grey's Anatomy," and can "American Idol" top itself once again?  Consumers who occupied their time trying to find that next underground, cult, indie band are now doing the same with TV shows, such as HBO's "Fight of the Conchords."

Television has reinvented itself, and technology (HD, plasma, DVR, streaming video, network websites) has enabled its re-ascension to the top of the entertainment heap.  As Proctor & Gamble's director of multicultural marketing Najoh Tita-Reid points out, radio is “almost irrelevant” for most campaigns.  The reason, she says, is that “it’s not as sexy” as TV.

There's a lot to be learned by what is happening socially, culturally, technically, and programmatically in TV Land.  And we're excited that "Bedroom" will help pull back the curtain and take us into the dormitories, bedrooms, and apartments so we can watch it all happen.

You can see both "Bedroom Project" presentations at the NAB/R&R Conventions in Charlotte.  Conceived by Arbitron and conducted by Jacobs Media, "The Bedroom Project" is an ethnography study about media, technology, and survey research.  The presentations are this afternoon at 3:45 at the NAB and tomorrow afternoon at 2:15 for the Jacobs Summit 12.

The Halo Effect

This morning's blog has been guest written by resident video game player/fan, Eric Holmes:

Kanye West and 50 Cent are the two biggest names in music right now and each had their new albums released on the same day Tuesday, September 11th.  Between the two of them, 1.6 million albums were sold in a week.

Linkin Park, arguably the biggest current rock band in the country, has sold a little over 1.6 million copies of their new CD which came out May 15th.

Halo 3 is out for the XBOX 360 today, and is already projected to sell over 3.5 million copies.  That’s 3.5 million copies in ONE DAY.

If you think that's overly optimistic, consider this:  Halo 2 sold 2.38 million on its first day.

Your male audience will be buying this game, talking about this game, and spending countless hours every day playing this game.  (Your female audience will be putting up with their male counterparts.)  As a listener, if your favorite rock station shows interest in one of your favorite past times, you’re going to listen.  Don’t let the opportunity of promotion with Halo 3 slip by.

AC/DC Rocks Your Phone

That's the headline on this quarter's Verizon Wireless magazine/catalogue and also a major focus of one of their TV spots.  It's another reminder about how critically important mobile phones and Classic Rock are in the new media scheme of things.

Of all the gadgets that respondents discussed in "The Bedroom Project," the mobile phone stood out as both a fashion statement and the most depended upon.  As we witnessed when Natalia in Columbus, Ohio, caressed her RAZR and cooed, "It's like my little pet," mobile phones are passion plays.

And it's where all content needs to be headed, especially AM/FM radio.

You can see both "Bedroom Project" presentations at the NAB/R&R Conventions in Charlotte next week.  Conceived by Arbitron and conducted by Jacobs Media, "The Bedroom Project" is an ethnography study about media, technology, and survey research.  The presentations are Wednesday afternoon at 3:45 at the NAB; Thursday afternoon at 2:15 for the Jacobs Summit 12.

Stop Marketing!

I was driving through San Francisco a few weeks ago, and couldn't help but notice the incessant iPod billboards all over their major freeways.  They were spectacularly large, and there were a lot of them.  It got me thinking - here's a product that is simply hotter than hot (as of April, over 100 million were sold), everybody knows about it, many people have bought more than one, and those who don't have one want one.

And yet, Apple continues to market them as if they're still new.

It took me back to one of those unpleasant moments when I visited a client station in the middle of a great spring book TV marketing campaign that appeared to be working.  I happened to be in the station on "trend day," and we popped a great April.  Everyone was feeling very optimistic.  I walked into the GM's office a few minutes later.  He was on the phone with the media buying service, canceling the last two weeks of the buy that was set to run in June.  When I asked what he was thinking, he explained that budgets were tight, it was looking like the spring book would be good, and that everyone had pretty much seen our campaign already, so let's save a little money based on that first good trend.

This is NOT how Steve Jobs thinks.  He knows he has the game changing device in the iPod - a media, technology, and pop culture icon.  Why NOT continue to promote it and market it?  The iPod is something to be proud of.  It's an incredible statement about Apple's success.  And there's room to grow because millions of people still don't own one, and new models are being released each year.

That's why it's hard to understand what radio is often thinking.  Yes, we're in the middle of a revolutionary change in our business, and there's a great deal of discomfort in the air.  But if you have that hot morning show, a great new format, the winning sports franchise, or a big contest, why wouldn't you want to let everyone in the market know about it?

In some ways, Mel Karmazin's genius may be at the root of radio's current philosophy about marketing.  His famous line - "Howard Stern is your marketing budget" - was a blunt statement about how Howard was a huge expense and his buzz would generate all the cume a station could ever want.  That way of thinking permeated radio throughout the '90s, and then consolidation sealed the deal.  When you own three Rock stations in town, why would you waste the money to market them?

Radio is a business that, on the one hand, tells its clients that advertising is necessary for brand building, awareness, and sales.  And on the other, often ignores those some tenets in marketing and advertising its own brands.  We are now competing with marketing / media / technology geniuses, whether it's Steve Jobs, the Google guys, Rupert Murdoch, or Bill Gates.  They're not bashful about singing their own products' praises.  And neither should we.

Terrestrial radio has some great stations, some incredible personalities, and other assets that shouldn't be buried, hidden, or taken for granted.  How many stations with the #1 morning show in town are actively singing the praises of their superstars?

With some great marketing, we could make radio bigger than life again.  Letting our customers - listeners and advertisers - know that we've got a hugely popular, buzz-worthy product isn't something we should shy away from.  We should be proudly promoting it, just like Steve Jobs does.

Has Mountain Dew seen "The Bedroom Project?"

Jacobs Media's Dave Beasing offer his thoughts on Mt. Dew's marketing strategy:

No, they haven't see it, but they're clearly learning a lot about their consumers' attitudes in their own research.  In the Arbitron/Jacobs "Bedroom Project," one of the many revelations is the motivation for playing videogames.  The folks at ad agency BBDO and Mountain Dew seem aware that videogamers are extremely competitive, enjoy the social aspects of videogaming, and try to avoid losing their cool during battle.  The creative result is this television commercial for Dew's new energy drink:

If the Dew Game Fuel marketing team had used traditional consumer research, they might have tried to sell that delicious cherry flavor.  Or they may not even have known that their target consumers play Halo and are beyond excited about the upcoming release of Halo 3.  But with ethnographic research, marketers see real people showing their real emotions in their natural habitats.

Fred Jacobs, Arbitron VP Ed Cohen and I invite you to witness real people using media and technology during our presentations at the NAB/R&R Conventions and Jacobs Summit 12 in Charlotte.  Sorry.  We won't be showing a single chart or graph, but you may actually learn more about today's young people than if we had.

You can see both "Bedroom Project" presentations at the NAB/R&R Conventions in Charlotte next week.  Conceived by Arbitron and conducted by Jacobs Media, "The Bedroom Project" is an ethnography study about media, technology, and survey research.  The presentations are Wednesday afternoon at 3:45 at the NAB; Thursday afternoon at 2:15 for the Jacobs Summit 12.

Just Kidding

There's been a great deal of controversy about the upcoming reality show, "Kid Nation." The show purportedly puts kids ranging from 8-15 years of age in an abandoned New Mexico town.  The concept behind this one is whether the kids are able to build a successful society without the aid of their "helicopter parents."

Of course, the controversy is all about whether CBS and the show's producers aren't in fact exploiting and even injuring these kids for the sake of ratings.  There's been lots of pre-hype for this show - in all media - as parent groups have complained, and pundits express outrage.  New Mexico's Attorney General has been all over the road, deciding whether or not to investigate the show.

The bottom line?  For a show that hasn't even aired (it debuts tonight), there's lot of buzz.  Whether this reality show is the next "Survivor" or not is almost secondary to all the hype.  The combination of controversy and talk (on local radio, of course) ought to at least generate some solid initial ratings.

And to CBS' credit, they have not backed down from the heat.  Often in radio, the first hint at a phone call from a listener - or a client - is enough to force the PD to pull the programming in question, or sanitize it.  But in many cases, word of mouth is a good thing, and TV networks and production companies understand that all too well.

As we saw in "The Bedroom Project," the ethnographic study we conducted for Arbitron earlier this year, television shows have become the focal points of discussion and even social discourse.  Thousands of viewers watch programs like "Dancing With the Stars" or "Lost" in groups, discuss them the next day at work or school, and even use websites to continue their debates or glean more information.

Terrestrial radio needs that type of buzz - and lots of it.  With the exodus of Howard Stern, and the firing of Don Imus, the medium desperately needs to be the focal point of talk and even some controversy.  This is why we were encouraged to see Fargo's Rock 102 continue to benefit from its ballsy and provocative billboard campaign that we lovingly refer to as "the gift that keeps on giving." Has the station received complaints?  Of course.  But they understand that always staying inside the white lines isn't very "purple," and it sure won't generate ratings and attention.

You can see both "Bedroom Project" presentations at the NAB/R&R Conventions in Charlotte this September.  Conceived by Arbitron and conducted by Jacobs Media, "The Bedroom Project" is an ethnography study about media, technology, and survey research.  The presentations are Wednesday afternoon at 3:45 at the NAB; Thursday afternoon at Jacobs Summit 12.

Supply & Demand

The next time you're sitting in a sales meeting with Classic Rock account executives, and you hear someone talk about how the music is stale, or that no one's listening, or that if they hear "Stairway to Heaven" one more time they're going to puke, ask them to consider this:

As of this past weekend, more than 25 million Zeppelin fans worldwide registered online to buy tickets for the band's reunion concert in London in November.

Let's put that in perspective with the populations of various countries and U.S. states:

Canada Afghanistan Venezuela Led Zeppelin ticket registrants Texas Australia Florida Austria Israel

33,099,000 31,057,000 25,730,000 25,000,000 23,507,783 20,264,000 17,790,000 8,193,000 6,352,000

OK, maybe it's a bit of a stretch (as I think a few people in our office may have registered more than once), but it makes a nice sales piece - and a great point.

Your Image Sucks

If you're the NFL, you're getting a little worried.  (Of course, there's MLB's steroid issue and the NBA's gambling referees, but that's for another blog!).  After the Michael Vick mess, how do you go about re-selling the perception that all NFL players aren't dog killers?  You run great PSAs (see sidebar with links below).

That's been the NFL's solution, using a host of star players from Matt Hasselbeck and newcomer Brady Quinn, to Braylon Edwards and Vince Young.  As obvious and cliché as this tactic may be, surrounding these players with children or talking about their families is smart marketing.  As Lisa Baird of the NFL's marketing department clearly points out, "It's as simple as this.  We're going to do everything necessary to protect the strength of our brand."

The N.F.L.'s new TV advertisements: Braylon Edwards Willie McGinest Brady Quinn Matt Hasselback Matt Hasselback and Children Vince Young

This tactic can be especially useful for personality jocks that occasionally cross one line or another.  I remember how well it worked back when the late Henry "The Bull" Del Toro was the bad boy of the FM99 show back in the '80s.  Henry did some pretty vile things at times, but always came back with a high profile charitable tactic, such as locking himself in a cage at the local SPCA to draw attention and money to help orphaned cats and dogs.

In our focus groups, it was fascinating to hear listeners literally argue about Henry.  Just when the group would get into that mob riot mode about something heinous that Henry had done, another listener would remind everybody about one of Henry's noteworthy civic activities.  The show was able to maintain a comfortable balance between good and evil, enabling it to remain successful for many years.

The NFL's tactics have application for morning and personality shows everywhere, especially those that sometimes cross that line.  For Michael Vick personally, it will be a long road back.  But for the NFL, they will indeed recover and prosper.