JacoBlog - Jacobs Media's Blog

Shuffling The Deck

As we become more attuned to analyzing PPM numbers, it's looking more and more that well-branded and well-positioned Classic Rock stations should do very well in a metered world.  Of course, many operators of Classic Rock stations have experienced two decades of pretty consistent success, playing the best rock from the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

But there are some stations that do an especially good job of repackaging the music to create memorable special programming.  I call this "shuffling the deck" because it involves playing many of the same songs but in a different format.  The now-famous "Classic Rock A-to-Z" is a good example, as is the ubiquitous "Top 500 Countdown," typically scheduled over Memorial Day Weekends.

One station that always seems to come up with clever specials is Entercom's Eagle in Sacramento.  Curtiss Johnson, Brian Lopez, and their veteran staff have become experts at melding Classic Rock with a little old school theater of the mind.  This week, they're taking another "Classic Rock Road Trip," cruising across the country (forget those high gas prices) to feature music from many different cities and towns.

Maybe this all sounds simple, but the reality of putting together something like this (and doing it well) is that it takes several staff meetings and brainstorms, storyboards, show/prep scripts for each state and city on the tour, and a great bit of writing and production that makes "Classic Rock Road Trip" come alive.  The feature generates a huge audience reaction, fueled by the fact that many Eagle listeners moved to Sacramento from somewhere else.

My favorite Eagle stunt, however, is "Woodsquawk," a virtual/fantasy music festival that is always entertaining, colorful, and enhanced by great personalities like Bob Keller, Tom Nakashima, Charlie Thomas, Kat Maudru, and even syndicated hosts, Mark & Brian.

Download an Mp3 Of The "Woodsquawk" Aircheck

If you ever wonder about the value of having knowledgeable, respected local jocks, look no further than Entercom Sacramento.

The Classic Rock Community

  This week, I was honored that R&R named our creation of the Classic Rock format one of the 35 pivotal radio events in their long history.  It is moments like this where I feel a great sense of thanks to my old partner, Tom Bender, and the many programmers, managers, and owners that supported the format back in the '80s.  (There's a neat tribute to the format's 20th anniversary on our site - that is fittingly nostalgic.)

The large group of radio pros who continue to work with the format and help evolve it - and even reimagine it - reminded me of the "other community" - the listeners who have so passionately supported it for more than two decades.  As Bender always reminded me, the key to Classic Rock (and any format) is to hold up the mirror to the audience and simply reflect back their level of enthusiasm.

We see this in every focus group and L.A.B. we conduct for our clients.  A dozen people from varied backgrounds and socio-economic groups get together in a conference room to talk about the music and the station.  Ninety minutes later, there's always a group of them in the parking lot arguing about concerts, albums, and other facets of the Classic Rock genre.  The one thing they have in common is their passion for the music and what it represents in their lives.

That's why I love the Classic Rock stations that find unique - and even digital ways - to reflect that passion.  KLH's Bob Bellini developed some great Classic Rock stunts that are widely being done by hundreds of stations today.  When Buzz Knight was at ZLX, he regularly gave away those pieces of Classic Rock - cool memorabilia that music fans die for.  Scott Segelbaum's Classic Rock Art Show showcases that vibe in a clever way that allows stations to create a unique in-person experience.  KSEG's Curtiss Johnson is a master at reshuffling the deck, by creating musical stunts, special weekends, and other events that could only happen in Sacramento.  In the '90s, Dave Richards also produced a lot of those groundbreaking BIG events and specials, back in the day at KZOK (before he became the Mayor of KISW).

And today, using some of the new tools, 97Rock's John Hager continues to use his website as a gathering place for Classic Rock fans.  Just this week, listeners could leave Bob Seger birthday wishes online, or they could write reviews of the recent Police concert.  The Internet in general, and station websites specifically, afford radio programmers and their listeners a unique way to share their Classic Rock love with one another.

There's your social networking.

Coincidence?

We think not.

(As seen in New York City.  Photo credit:  Greg Strassell.  Thanks to Bob Harper for noticing.)

Rock Story

Today, it's a guest blog from our client, Virgil Thompson, VP/GM of the legendary KISS in San Antonio.  It's a memo that Virgil wrote to his sales staff last week, and we thought you'd find it interesting.  We couldn't have said it better.

Last Week Emmis flipped their jazz station to “WRXP The New York Rock Experience.”  It is a very broad mix and features a variety of genres.  Some of these styles have been a part of KISS since we returned to Rock 16 years ago — listen to the audio of the flip and you’ll hear what I mean.  Although much of the music is not part of KISS — that’s not the purpose for this note.

One reason I’m sending you this information is because it is another market (the biggest by population — LA leads in revenue) to have a major station switch TO rock.  This further validates what we’ve experienced for years in San Antonio — the rock audience, while being the most fragmented, is much larger than first thought.  The PPM indicates the CUME of rock stations (as well as AC and Country) is much, much larger when compared to the diary methodology.

Of course the diary has been pretty good to KISS over the years.  The PPM will be as well.  The second reason I’m sending you this info is that it validates, in yet another high profile market, how desirable the rock audience is — we’ve fought for this for decades and I hope the bias never completely goes away (it won’t), but it is important for us to know how “undeniable” this issue has become in our industry.

As markets get closer and closer to PPM rollouts, we will see more stations changing to various forms of rock.  This is good news for “terrestrial” radio and may even bring back some folks to radio who may have become disenfranchised with the limited rock choices in some markets.

Super Bowl Hero

It wasn't the offenses.  And sure wasn't the commercials.

It would have to be Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.  Once again, the NFL turns to another legendary Classic Rocker for the game of the year.  And sales people for the format have trouble establishing the mass appeal popularity of the format?  Geesh!

Michael Jordan Still Lighting 'Em Up

Jacobs Media's Bill Jacobs provides insight on how Nike plans on reaching young male consumers:

Even though Michael Jordan hasn't scored a point in an NBA game since April 16, 2003, he, along with Nike, is still scoring bigtime.  As a result of the phenomenal success of Air Jordans starting way back in the mid-'90s, Nike established "Nike's Jordan Brand," tying in younger athletes such as Carmelo Anthony and Richard Hamilton.  Now Nike is set to roll out the Air Jordan XX3 and the Air Jordan Retro 1 in 2008.  Substitute the word "retro" with "classic" and you can see the connection, and how it's going to be packaged.

However, how do you get young males to buy into the Air Jordan brand when many of them barely remember who Michael Jordan even is?  Today's teen target Nike customer was only 5 or 6 years old when Michael and the Bulls won their last championship in 1998.

Thus, you'd think that marketing to this group would be a tough putt.  But it isn't because the same concept applies to Classic Rock artists like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Jimi Hendrix who are all revered by many teenage males who never saw them play.  When you look at it that way, it's easy to see why the Jordan brand remains so popular.  But it takes more than just producing the shoes (playing the songs).

What else is Nike doing to reach young male consumers?  The kinds of things any Rock radio station should be doing.  According to Roman Vega, manager for the Jordan Brand, the formula is rather simple:

"We're excited about our web site, jumpman23.com, which we continue to make more interactive.  With House Of Hoops by Foot Locker, Nike is building a closer connection with consumers on the street level.  And we have the Jordan Brand 'Breakfast Club' where we send athletes into communities to meet with young players."

Hmmm... so all it takes is a solid interactive web site, strong street presence, and sending your stars (jocks) into the community.  None of this is rocket science but it takes a plan, it takes vision, and it takes bonding with shoe buyers (listeners) on the streets and in communities -- things that do not cost a boatload of money.  It's not simply selling shoes (playing songs), sitting back and hoping for results.  We all know how well that works.

Zep: Opportunity Lost Or Found?

This past week provided us with another "radio petri dish" in the form of the Led Zeppelin reunion show at the O2 arena in London.  Agree or disagree, but I would submit this was the biggest event in Rock n' Roll in at least the last two decades.

So how did Rock/Classic Rock radio deal with this once-in-a-lifetime concert?  Did stations step up, work hard, and enjoy the halo effect this event provided?  Or did they simply mail it in by just barely acknowledging the concert with just pedestrian on-air features?

Well, a number of stations and personalities took advantage of this opportunity, and did some incredible things.  The Bone in San Francisco sent listeners to the concert.  And notably, the station used its website as a social networking tool to evoke the emotion of the Zep reunion in the form of listener memories of the band.

97Rock in Buffalo was all over the event, utilizing the heritage and knowledge of their veteran airstaff to virtually take listeners to London (yes, a little "theater of the mind"), including a "concert echo" broadcast of the show's set list in very close to real time.  Their website also contained Zep videos - under the banner of "I Can't Quit YouTube."  Yes, there are great alternatives, even if you don't have tickets to give away.

WCSX here in Detroit took a different approach, sending their morning show - J.J. & Lynne - to the show, providing their audience with two great shows from London (interviews with everyone from Ann Wilson to Paul Rodgers to Steve Winwood), along with atmospheric video blogs.  It was great radio to finish off the fall book.

Finally, KISW programmer Dave Richards made the trek to London himself.  Below is a link to his story of his love affair with Zeppelin and Rock n' Roll, and his sojourn to the O2 Arena in search of the Zeppelin "holy grail."  Dave's passion, energy, and imagination are on display here, speaking volumes about the mega-impact of this event.  If you were ambivalent about this concert before Monday, you won't be after reading Dave's journal.

But on the other side, many stations simply missed this incredible opportunity.  Incidentally, it all occurred during the last week of the last month of perhaps the most important ratings book of the year.  Yet, as an industry friend of mine noted, many stations didn't even acknowledge the event on their websites, and barely on the air.  In other cases, Classic Rockers sent listeners to the show, but failed to update their sites as the events unfolded.  As he noted from perusing Mediabase on Monday, many music logs looked like they might have been scheduled two weeks before.  There simply wasn't any extra Zeppelin content.  As he pointed out to me, a new definition of "In Through The Out Door" may as well have been "Out The Door At 5."

Let's face it - a major problem/challenge facing Classic Rock stations is the ongoing need to keep these stations sounding current.  While there's no denying the greatness of the music, the reality is that these stations can become stale if they aren't nurtured, and energized on a regular basis.

But the good news is that there's no shortage of high-profile ways to do this - if stations are aggressive and smart enough to seize the opportunities.  Yes, Zeppelin was the mega-event of the year, but what about everything else?  Like the new movie featuring the many faces of Bob Dylan, I'm Not There.  Or involving the audience to discuss what song Tom Petty will lead off during the Super Bowl halftime show next year.  Or perhaps it's a flyaway to the Clapton/Winwood - Blind Faith reunion concert in New York.

I won't bore you with more, but suffice it to say, there are plenty of "classic currents."  But are there enough stations with the imagination, the energy, and the balls to take advantage of them? 

Classic Rock & The NFL

Buffalo's John Hager talks about how Led Zeppelin was essentially the "bumper music" for Monday night's great NFL game between the undefeated Patriots and the upstart Ravens.  It's a testament to the timeliness of the upcoming Zep show and the power of Classic Rock.

And if that wasn't enough, the NFL announced that Tom Petty will be doing the halftime show at Super Bowl XLII in February.  That means that since the Janet Jackson debacle, three of the four Super Bowls have featured Paul McCartney, the Stones here in Detroit, and now Petty.

Maybe that's a little something all of you Classic Rock sales managers might want to mention in the next get-together with your reps.  Or a little tidbit to toss out at the next media buyer who tells you the format's getting stale.

There's no better marketing/music vehicle than Classic Rock.  Just ask the NFL.

Peaceful Profitable Feeling

The new Eagles album, Long Road Out Of Eden, vaults to the top of the album sales charts, trouncing Britney Spears' new release.  All told, the Eagles' new effort sold 711,000 copies, outdoing Britney by more than 400,000.   This event absolutely shatters more of the recording industry's conventional wisdom.

First, there's no record label to share the profits with.  (Of course, that also means no promo people, no radio tie-ins, and no contesting - all the trappings that seemingly drove airplay and ostensibly, sales.)

Second, there's only one retailer - Wal-Mart.  And given these monster sales, the nation's largest retailer is sharing its Nielsen Soundscan with Billboard, thus generating rank positions.

Third, there's been minimal airplay for the single in Rock, but tons of spins in Country radio.  It's interesting that less than 7% of the airplay to date (33,000+ spins for "How Long") has come from Rock/Classic Rock stations.  But a decent percentage of sales of Eden are probably attributable to factors beyond traditional radio airplay.  Irving Azoff, mastermind of this marketing effort, knows only too well the power of "Mt. Rushmore" artists.  The Eagles have a massive fan base, cultivated over the past three decades, and these consumers will trek to Wal-Mart, as well as pay $100+ for concert tickets when the band performs live.

Fourth, the band is moving away from those convenient format boxes that we in radio love so much (see #3). While some in the Rock community think the single/album is "too Country" (weren't "Take It Easy" and "Desperado" and all those '70s hits Country Rock songs in the first place?), it's noteworthy that the band could obviously care less about its prior images.  The Eagles performed at The Country Music Association's award show last week for the first time.

So, once again, the old models and "givens" are eroding.  Classic bands and classic brands don't need the traditional tools to expose and market their efforts.  They are finding new ways to reach fans that provide them with more control and more revenue.

Radio has to figure out these new realities, and build creative partnerships that play a major role in new releases, ticket sales and artist marketing.  If radio wants to get something from music, radio must also commit resources and talent.  The free lunches and swag days are long gone.  It's time to go to work.

I'll show you a great new example in tomorrow's blog.

Whole Lotta Phone

In the latest marriage of Classic Rock and digital technology, Verizon and Led Zeppelin are now offering wallpapers, ringtones, and full-song downloads of the band's catalog.

Check out this quote from the director of digital music at Verizon Wireless, Ed Ruth:  "Verizon Wireless is proud to be the exclusive over-the-air retailer of digital downloads from Led Zeppelin.  We are thrilled to deliver this anxiously-awaited catalog to existing Led Zeppelin fans, while also helping a whole new generation to discover this classic rock for the very first time.  All of this on the one device people never leave home without -- their mobile phones."

In Jacobs Media's Tech Poll 3, conducted earlier this year, we learned that downloading ringtones and wallpaper are popular mobile phone activities - yet another way to monetize these versatile devices:

We saw it up close and personal in "The Bedroom Project" - cell phones aren't just cool gadgets; they are fashion statements.  And now Classic Rock continues to extend its influence to its original fan base, as well as younger Zep fanatics, too.