Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! The JacoBLOG will return with an update on January 2nd.
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« November 2007 | Main | January 2008 »
Happy New Year! The JacoBLOG will return with an update on January 2nd.
Rock music promoter Paul Yeskel passed away a few days ago. I did not know Paul very well, but all of the programmers we work with always spoke highly of him. Long-time Rock programmer Ted Edwards provides us with some nice words about Paul.
I got the news about Paul on Sunday like all of you and have been sitting on this message and a chance to reply since. I tired to compose something a number of times but got so thoughtful I just couldn't write anything that said what I really wanted to until now. Paul and I go way back, almost to the very beginning and since that time he has been a constant in my life as we had both managed to stay in this ever changing business. He had been able to persist and thrive as he possessed everything necessary to do so when so many of our friends had not or had chosen to move to other adventures. A sharp intellect, experience, attention to detail, passion, knowledge, curiosity, willingness to change as the times did with a unique ability to see where things were going and to accept them, great communication and networking skills, courage and above all friends. He had many, many friends and I think the primary reason was he was genuine. Genuine in all the right ways. Honest, sincere, caring, consistent, loyal and compassionate. I have found that genuine is a quality that is all to rare in our related fields. I have had the valued experience in my career to have lost jobs that made me of great importance to business associates and saw way to many of these "friends" disappear as soon as the job did, and then come back with great enthusiasm when the next job showed up. But not Paul. No matter where I was, what I was doing or not doing Paul was always a friend. Always took my call. Always asked how I was doing... and meant it. Always sought me out when new opportunities to work together came along. I miss him today and will, in no matter how many days are yet to come. It is times like these that remind me how fragile and wonderful life can be and how rare truly genuine people are. Paul was rare and if one's life can be summed up by how many friends they had at their passing then Paul was a huge success in this life. I have no idea what happens once we pass from this life but whatever or wherever it is I hope I get to see Paul there and tell him what his friendship meant to me. I hope he knew that and I like to think he did. God bless the life that was Paul Yeskel. It was a privilege to have been part of it.
Arbitron's preliminary release from RADAR 95 will make you think. All told, 233 million Americans listen to radio weekly. And 95% of Adults 18-49 with a college degree and a yearly household income of $50,000+ still tune in.
So how can a medium with this kind of reach be struggling so mightily? Just asking.
The Onion does it again. You've no doubt seen their satires and parodies of everything from politics to sports. Now it's radio. Check out their recent send-up of a typical DJ break, and then contrast it with our Keith Cunningham's recent piece in R&R about how jocks will need to modify their approaches in a PPM world.
Clearly, there are aspects of PPM that will unfortunately lead programmers down the path of eliminating interruptions and content in the hope of creating a seamless listening environment. But at what point does consistency begat predictability which begats boredom which begats turnout?
Here's Keith Cunningham's article from R&R:
Jacobs Media morning show and talent development specialist Keith Cunningham, who works in the trenches with jocks every day, isn’t sure that air talent jobs have changed all that much with the Portable People Meter. While “jocks need to be more ‘sticky’ than they ever have been,” he says, the “PPM, as we all know, is showing us a lot of things, but at the root of it—as it pertains to jocks—it’s an extremely strong reminder that the role of a jock is critical. And as boring as it sounds, the triedand-true fundamentals need to be better than ever in a PPM world. I know that’s not breaking new ground or exciting to anyone, but that’s the truth.” That said, Cunningham offers three fundamentals that he says should be top-of-mind with on-air personalities, whether or not they continue to be in a diary market for the next several years or have joined the PPM world.
Forwarding Audience To The Next Quarter Hour
“Saying things like ‘Green Day is next’ or ‘We’ll be right back’ is the kind of crap that is just not going to cut it. It’s been a lazy crutch for many years, but there are still an awful lot of jocks that are not effectively forwarding or recycling the audience to the next quarter-hour or next hour. PPM will show that it’s all about what is coming up next. It’s not about what has already happened or what some people may have missed. “If you’re a jock on a music station and you say, ‘I’ve got Nirvana and Pearl Jam coming up next; don’t go anywhere,’ that is old-school, clichéd, uninteresting radio. There’s nothing compelling or unique about that. There are a lot of sources out there that have Nirvana and Pearl Jam, not the least of which are personal MP3 players. So a jock would be better off saying something like this: ‘Hey, you want the new Radiohead music for free? I’ll give you the URL and all of the details in a few minutes.’ At least in that regard, the jock is trying to set an appointment for a few minutes from now, and they’ll be giving the audience some information that they can use.”Better Show Prep
“PPM will clearly punish those that aren’t prepared. And while that may sound harsh, every second of airtime should count in these days of endless choices. Jocks can’t think they can just wing it all day long or lose grasp of the big picture. They need to realize that radio is truly entertainment and they’re disrespecting the listener’s time. “Even if it’s just a speed break, jocks should be scrutinizing themselves by asking ahead of time if they can say something in a more compelling manner.”More Effective Marketing
“PPM loves listening events. In order to create them, where there is a critical mass of audience, stations and jocks need to more effectively market their events. If there is a big guest coming up on tomorrow’s morning show, it has to be promoted with enormous frequency to really turn it into a listening event. A lot of stations think they can just promote their morning show every other hour. But think about when you’re watching your favorite prime-time TV show. How many promos do you see for the news coming up at 11 o’clock? “Another tip: If there is a special weekend coming up, don’t start promoting the old way: late on a Thursday or early Friday. Do it farther out and make it an event and start promoting it on Monday or even the weekend prior. If listening is as truly passive as PPM makes it out to be, our frequency of mentions needs to increase to get someone to act.”
What do you do when you're a venerable old brand, being bombarded with stiff competition from just about every front? That's what Kraft Foods is faced with as they continually have to remind consumers about their legendary Maxwell House brand, in the face of Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, and McDonald's, all trying to out-coffee the market?
You go retail. That's how Kraft put together a great promotion for Maxwell House over Thanksgiving weekend. To launch their new reformulated java (now with 100% Arabica beans, whatever that means), they paid tolls on some of America's busiest highways, as well as set up kiosks in high-profile malls around the country for free sampling. And best of all, they did it over a weekend where they were bound to generate some buzz and media coverage.
Radio often finds itself in a similar situation. We are perceived and re-positioned as "old media," up against everything from satellite radio to iPods. Yet, radio has the power within its own geographies to hit the streets and do grassroots listener campaigns. Just as the big-name politicians know, as they run around the corn fields and diners throughout Iowa, you get to make some big-time impressions by just pressing the flesh.
Of course, Maxwell House ads are running on TV, but in the midst of all those other commercials, this retail approach is another great example of how smart street marketing leads to great word of mouth. Drink up.
The JacoBLOG will return with an update on December 26th. Merry Christmas!
Today's blog was guest written by L.A. consultant and fashion guru Dave Beasing.
It’s often said that new trends start on the coasts and move inland. If so, you’ll be interested to know that holiday shopping here in LA has taken on a decidedly Rock 'N' Roll feel. New stores in my mainstream, middle class neighborhood include chain outlets for Urban Outfitters and Royal Dutchess, plus boutiques carrying tight-fitting Rock & Republic and True Religion jeans, gritty Ed Hardy and Monarchy T-shirts, and blink 182 drummer Travis Barker’s Stars and Straps clothing line. One store here even sells duplicate reprints of T-shirts worn by iconic Rock stars during their concerts in the '60s and '70s (photographic proof included with purchase). Dr. Marten’s, the work boots of choice in Seattle during the Grunge explosion, were recently spotted on the catwalk at LA Fashion Week.
Does fashion’s Rock look mean the music is on an upswing? Maybe, maybe not. Consider that The Ramones have now sold more T-shirts with their name on it than records. Arturo Vega, who designed their logo and still gets about 10 licensing requests a week, admits to an Australian newspaper that “the people buying the shirt don’t know the band. It’s sad.” Or, as the Stanford Daily puts it, “If you are wearing a T-shirt that says ‘rock star’ or ‘punk,’ you aren’t one.”
Whether music and fashion influence the other – a “chicken or egg” issue – is never certain. But with Guitar Hero III and Rock Band video games flying off the shelves, plenty of pop culture trends are encouraging to Rockers. Sure beats another Christmas of baggy jeans and bling.
I would love to see HD Radio work. I really would.
But in order to "break" a new medium/gadget in this new millennium, it's going to take clever tactics, brilliant strategy, and on-target execution. These are qualities that have been in short supply since the Alliance was formed. Another Christmas comes and goes, and the celebration over a half million radios sold is about as meaningless as a big defensive lineman celebrating after a sack in a game his team is losing by five touchdowns.
And the newest campaign that evidently launches on Alliance stations on New Year's Eve - and set to run for all of first quarter - stunned me. You can go to the HD Radio Alliance web page, and check it out for yourself. Just click "Commercials" from the home page, scroll down to "Click On Your Contract Name" and sample the 10 different spots they have posted. Or, if you're an Alliance station, walk down to your Traffic department and take a listen.
In a sort of snarky approach, the campaign features a humanized radio talking to his owner about why HD Radio product is so attractive and not worth the bother. But in the process, traditional radio is repositioned as old-fashioned, repetitive, and lame.
Why does the Alliance feel they have to market HD Radio by selling against AM/FM Radio? (Of course, those are the same stations that are expected to invest millions of dollars of their precious air time running these commercials.) On top of that, it's questionable whether this campaign clearly extols the benefits of HD Radio, especially to those who are already confused. You have to hear these commercials a few times before you really get a basic understanding of what they're trying to accomplish, while they throw AM/FM Radio under the bus.
Why isn't HD Radio positioning against the subscription model of satellite radio or the 99 cents a song iPod? That would make sense because HD Radio could potentially be postioning its variety and free attributes. Instead, like everyone else these days, these ads take shots at traditional AM/FM broadcast radio. If I heard David Rehr's "2020" initiative correctly, I thought it was all about combatting trash talking radio, and being proud of what the medium has to offer.
Hopefully, Alliance stations will hear these commercials, just say "no," and go with last year's campaign. Or perhaps they can do better on their own.
Listen to them yourself and tell me I'm wrong.
One of the key philosophies here at Jacobs is encouraging clients to use their databases to better understand and serve their audiences - whether it's listeners or advertisers. As we've learned in the past decade, web polling is a great tool for doing just that, and part of the basic idea behind the NeoRadio concept was giving listeners a seat at the table.
As a part of that process, a great tool is something that we refer to as "Research as marketing." The idea is to survey listeners, determine their preferences, show them the research that leads you to making a programming change/improvement, and then making it happen. In this way, programmers aren't mysteriously or unilaterally changing up the station. They make it clear the audience is very much involved in the process.
Case in point: Buffalo's 97Rock and Christmas music. Of course, this is always a tricky issue for Rock stations, and we are bombarded with the same questions, year in and year out. What are the best songs? When should I start playing them? How many holiday songs should I play an hour? What about on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
Not that he doesn't trust our opinion, but programmer John Hager takes matters into his own hands, by giving his loyal listenership a starring role in the process. For the second consecutive year, he literally tested all those great (and not-so-great) holiday favorites. And he included several questions about how much and when these songs would be most desired on 97Rock.
But the key to getting the most out of this process is that he shows the results of the survey on the station's website, allowing the audience the opportunity to see the findings and buy into 97Rock's course of action with Christmas music. It's a great way to learn more about the audience, answer important programming questions, and make the audience feel very important in the process. Check out the results by clicking here.
In Tom Taylor's great daily emails (Taylor on Radio-Info), he makes the point that all of radio may end up paying for "the perceived sins of Clear Channel." All of that negative press about voicetracking, pay for play, corporate playlists, and macho corporate behavior have probably led to this new FCC proposal that will force full-time live staffing.
A couple of key points. First, Clear Channel was tone deaf to the criticism - for years. This is how negative perceptions are allowed to form, grow, and fester - when you're not in touch with your brand, and the actions of your executives. By the time Clear Channel figured out they had a PR problem, the perceptual toothpaste was well out of the tube. Even today, consumers and Congressmen alike refer to the "Clear Channelization" of radio.
Second, is having to staff radio stations on a full-time basis such a bad thing? Of course, everyone inside radio is horrified by the prospects of having to actually pay for night and overnight DJs. (Given the hundreds and hundreds of blowouts in this month alone, voicetracking during middays and afternoons has gone up as well.) Perhaps if broadcasters are forced to staff their stations around the clock, they will finally have to integrate younger people into the mix - an element that is so sorely lacking at most stations today. And as radio veterans know, some of them will have good ideas, some of them will go on to program stations, and some of them may actually invent new formats, new web applications, and new business models.
Jeff Smulyan stated in Tom's same edition that radio will need to reinvent itself. Finally, the veil of denial is being lifted and CEO's are beginning to start talking the talk. But to walk that walk, the industry needs new blood. There will not be a successful reinvention if radio's plan is to simply slash staff and expenses as its main antidote. For a change, the FCC may actually be doing radio a favor it never intended to do.
