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Sure looks like fun... and a great celebration of Classic Rock!

A Little Bit Country

It was just a matter of time before Country wised up, and saw that the Rock and Classic Rock genres were dominating play-along video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.  There's just something about seeing a 12 year-old play "Search and Destroy" by Iggy and the Stooges that has to get you wondering why Country has been MIA in these games.

To meet this need (just in time for Christmas), a new Rock Band 5-pack containing Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, and Dixie Chicks (obviously recovered from their Bush bashing) is about to be released.  As R&R's Mike Stern asks, is this trend brand extension or "band extension?"

Actually, it's both.  Making music available to fan-participant applications like Rock Band is just plain smart, especially when video games are outselling music downloads and CD sales by a wide margin.  And we know from our Tech Polls that these games sell music, while exposing whole new audiences to music they've never heard before.  

What's next for Rock Band - a classical version where older listeners can play everything from a cello to a French horn along with a Beethoven symphony?  Or multiple mics for a CeCe Winans gospel hit?  Don't laugh.  The music industry - while making gargantuan mistakes since the advent of digital - is moving toward a multi-access philosophy, and video games is their killer app.

In radio, we face the same pressures - how to move our best brands to multiple platforms - computers, iPhones, and anywhere that consumers access entertainment and information.  Why not have KROQ or WMMR branded versions of Guitar Hero, made available in L.A. or Philly so that locals can enjoy the best music on their favorite stations?  We continue to watch the video explosion from the sidelines, as Guitar Hero and Rock Band feature our best songs in new ways that fans can enjoy them.  It's time for radio to step up and share in the gaming industry's success.

Game Theory

As video gaming becomes an even more significant part of the overall entertainment economy, think about the deal that Rock Band creators cut with Viacom back in '06.  The company paid Harmonix $175 million, but an earnout agreement earned them a $150 million bonus.

It was based on the success of the game.  And by the looks of that bonus, Rock Band has been a huge success for Viacom.  

But wait, there's more - Harmonix founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy have another bonus coming in '09, which is expected to exceed this year's windfall. 

The math is simple - a $190 game that sold 7 million copies last year, plus 26 million downloads from the game (at about $5.49 for a typical 3-song bundle).  That's some serious revenue.

Getting Mad(den)

A recent Nielsen "Consumer Insight" report does a great job of exploring the growth of Electronic Arts' Madden NFL game, from its debut in 1988 up to today.  When the game was first released, former coach John Madden was a lot bigger than Electronic Arts, and he was hired to give some credibility to a new video game created around the NFL.  Today, it's a total flip-flop, as the game has dwarfed the color analyst, and has a life all its own.  To give you some perspective, two weeks after Madden '09 was released, EA reported sales of $133.5 million, topping the previous year's release by 6% at the same time. 

The way that EA has grown and nurtured Madden NFL is a fascinating lesson about marketing, and growing a brand.  There are some great applications to radio, even in these difficult times.  Here are some of the ways that EA has taken steps to ensure that Madden NFL is the industry's top video game, followed by ways that radio can respond in kind:

The online reality - EA moved Madden from the video screen to the computer screen by taking the game online.  Last month, Microsoft announced that more than 14 million users subscribe to XBox Live, a way to connect their systems to the Internet, allowing gamers to play against friends and fans from around the country.  

This creates the type of social networking experience that radio is still trying to get its arms around.  It is not just a good idea anymore for stations to have an online presence and to create digital brand extensions - it is essential to growing radio's brands.

Fantasy - Realizing the power of fantasy football, EA created a new "Fantasy Football Phenomenon," allowing gamers to participate in a fantasy draft, and import their fantasy teams in Madden '09.  

As we've seen in our Tech Polls, fantasy leagues are a part of the online experience for about a quarter of our sample.  This is why bracket contests, online voting, and providing station fantasy football leagues are smart ideas for radio.

Mobile applications - Gamers can now play Madden on their phones, a version that has now cracked the top ten mobile downloads list.  At more than $4 per download, this is another profit center for EA, and gives the game presence in the most important digital location.

For radio, mobile devices are what it's all about.  This is another reason why we're offering radio stations the chance to create their own "stationalized" icon for iPhones, while encouraging stations to incorporate texting applications in their programming and marketing strategies. 

Steady improvements - Every year, EA brings more realism to the action with better graphics, cooler replays, and even situations that reflect the changing reality of the NFL (salary holdouts, injuries, etc.). 

In radio, we are often too comfortable creating evergreen events that are essentially the same year after year.  The Madden story should encourage radio to make each year's listener experience better than last year's model.  It takes work to make a better, improved concert festival, for example, but that's what will keep attendance strong, and discourage listeners from taking stations and their events for granted.

Personalization - To make the game more individualized, users can take a Madden IQ test that assesses their talent level, and then the game makes the proper adjustment.  Additionally, the user can become more involved by playing the part of the owner (setting ticket prices, for example), the GM (player drafts, etc.), and of course, the coach (play calls, depth charts, etc.).

Radio stations can bring the listener into the experience with playlist features, and even contests like "Owner For A Day," thus giving the audience a chance to actually participate with the station.  Online voting for features, special weekends, and other programming features is another way to empower the listener to make him/her feel more a part of the station.

Partnerships - Realizing they had a good thing going with Madden, EA forged alliances with the NFL and ESPN.  Thus, a hugely popular game combined forces with the biggest sports league and the pre-eminent media sports authority.  This also works for the NFL as regular gamers become savvier viewers.  And for ESPN, EA has worked with the network to create a reality TV show, Madden Nation, as well as using Madden '09 graphics to diagram plays, and produce game simulations as a part of their reporting, sportscasts, and analysis.  

Radio often benefits when it gets out of its comfort zone, and creates strategic partnerships to better promote and market its programming.  A great case in point was many of the original "Rock Girls" campaigns that were co-presented with Comcast.  Radio can now use its monster PPM cumes to attract strategic alliances with other media outlets (newspapers, television) that are also looking to expand their reach during tough economic times.

Sponsorship opportunities - EA doesn't hesitate to integrate sponsors into the games (including NFL sponsors), making it easier to reach young males.  Sprint, Snickers, and Under Armour are very visible in Madden, and are also league sponsors.  There's a synergy in Madden partnerships that allows EA and the NFL to both benefit from advertiser exposure.

Radio needs to better integrate advertisers and sponsors into its best events, and do so in more creative, non-traditional ways.  The days of simply turning over events for the sales reps to sell are long gone.  Today, events that can be created around sponsors - while still supporting the strategic values of the station - are where it's headed.

Flexibility - EA has made the cover of Madden a media event.  This year's game came with some controversy, as Madden '09 featured a retired player, Brett Favre.  When Favre "unretired" and became a Jet, EA could have had a disaster on its hands, as he was pictured in a Packers uniform.  Instead, EA released a downloadable roster patch that placed Favre on the Jets roster, and thus generated even more buzz and interest in Madden '09.

Radio stations need to do a better job of integrating "what's going on" in the world, the U.S., and in local markets more a part of its programming, features, and marketing.  Whether it's building promotions around the Presidential election or the Super Bowl, Radio could sound less static and predictable, while adding a more current feel to its programming and promotions. 

Mass appeal - Madden is a "big tent" experience, with appeal from first-time gamers to adults with families.  In fact, EA reports that seven of every console owners are married.  The game also crosses racial lines, and is especially appealing to African-Americans.  The game also now has a Spanish-speaking version. 

Especially given PPM-sized cumes, many radio stations have the ability to expand their appeal, play the hits, and become more mass-appeal entities in their markets.  Too often, programmers overly-niche and narrowly focus their stations, thus ensuring "specialty shop" sized audiences.

Marketing - In spite of the success of the game, EA aggressively continues to market it, and does so in a very targeted way.  There are two dozen different television spots, for example, that are designed to reach advertising expenditures in the past year.

Like a lot of big brands (Apple included), EA realizes that its most popular game needs to be marketed.  In radio, companies often spend ad dollars only on startups or weak stations, rather than support some of the biggest stations in the country.  Of course, the current economic environment makes it virtually impossible to market at this time, but when the recovery occurs, radio would do well to put some support behind its biggest and best brands.

It is always fascinating to watch how some of the best marketers in the world treat their most successful products.  There are lots of lessons to be learned from EA's Madden strategies and tactics. 

 

 

Digital Mystery Tour

While you're trying to determine what the hot got-to-have toy/gadget will be this holiday season, I'm thinking that the '09 award will go hands-down to the Beatles' new game, which MTV and Harmonix (who makes Rock Band) announced last week.  It's not just that the Beatles have finally committed to a video game (and you have to wonder what Activision/Guitar Hero will do next - the Stones?).  It's that their music will finally be digitally distributed. 

The folks at MTV say this won't be the usual music/video game, and will contain more interactive features that go well beyond Rock Band.  In fact, the game apparently won't even use that brand, but will be positioned as a new model that Harmonix's Alex Rigopulos says will be "built from the ground up."  For the Beatles, that's the way it should be. 

More good news - George Martin's son, Giles, will be the project's music producer.  Giles is the creative force behind the Beatles' Cirque du Soleil show, "Love." 

If you've seen it, you know that this MTV/Harmonix video game will be something special, and not just an "expansion pack."

For the Beatles and their heirs, this is a major moment because it represents the band foray into the digital world.  There is no telling how huge this will be, but given the success of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises, this "game" promises to be something special.  And for Beatles fans - and those who have not yet discovered the Fab Four - this will be yet another way to enjoy their music.

My favorite quote of the last decade comes from Jon Stewart, who when asked how people will enjoy "The Daily Show" years from now commented:

                                    "We make the donuts.  We don't drive the trucks." 

Exactly.  If the content is there - and there's no question that the Beatles' catalogue will live on forever - distribution outlets of the future - like video games - will support it.  This is yet another reason why radio broadcasters simply have to focus on proprietary content that consumers cannot get anywhere else.  Whether it's transmitters, mp3 players, video games, or technologies of the future that we don't know about, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" will live on.

Utilities

Remember playing Monopoly with your friends and family?  The two holdings that were of the least value on the board were always the utilities - Water Works and Electric Company.  This was because you couldn't build on them, no one ever seemed to land on them, and frankly, they were boring.

That's what utilities tend to be.  Yes, they're there when you need them, but they're easy to overlook, so you take them for granted.  That's why these past few tumultuous weeks in the world, I've noticed that same emotion (or lack thereof) coming from my iPod, whenever I go to Pandora, or even satellite radio.  They always sound the same - whether the stock market is dropping 500 points, when the Presidential race is heating up, as the Red Wings are about to begin their quest for the next Stanley Cup, or when we have a beautiful weekend in October as the colors change here in Michigan.

That doesn't make these "new media" entertainment services bad, but it does subtly communicate to the consumer that like Water Works or Electric Company, these media are typically inert, and not reflective of what's going on around them.

Too often, broadcast radio is emulating this same quality - and it's a mistake.  It's not uncommon to listen to music radio and get that "everyday's the same day" feeling.  Once you get beyond the morning show, music shows have that mechanical, rote sound aren't doing themselves any favors. 

To some degree, misinterpreting the "secret sauce" of PPM is part of the issue.  There's a new conventional wisdom forming that the way you win with meters is to bland out your station, install more segues in the clock, shut up the jocks, and just play highly-testing (OK, these days, what everyone else is playing according to Mediabase) songs.  In fact, the thinking is that we no longer have to identify our stations like we did with diaries.  Our brand names - which are marketing gold - can be left out of more and more breaks.

But there are other ways to win in PPM, too.  And in the process, your station can succeed within this new ratings methodology, while you fight the larger battle against new media, and additional sources of competition for your listeners' time.

First, of course, there's personality - something that is devoid in services like the iPod or Pandora, and only nationalized in satellite radio.  A local team or talk host who is reflecting what listeners care about at home is a great formula for PPM success.  This is why personalities like John DeBella and Preston & Steve in Philly continue to score well for WMGK and WMMR, respectively, no matter the ratings methodology.

But the other secret sauce of PPM - and competing against new media - is making stations interesting, programming an unexpected feature, reflecting a big event (the Vice Presidential debate, the Olympics, the release of an AC/DC album, Halloween), and simply not sounding the exact same, day in and day out.  These features and specials print in PPM.  You put together a great day, a well-promoted feature, a contest that captivates the audience, and a few weeks later, you're more than likely to see a positive result in that PPM weekly. 

Consumers get bored by their iPods, even if they have thousands of songs to choose from.  Having an infinite number of streams to choose from on your phone is all well and good, but the "decision stress" of not knowing where to go sets in.  (I don't want to listen to 500 stations on AOL radio - just tell me which are the good ones. 

We're living in an ADD world, where listeners continue to ask "What's new?"  They don't want to hear the same songs and the same jocks saying the same things everyday.  They want to hear differences, they crave something new, and they desire content that can shake them up a bit.

When you TiVo "Grey's Anatomy," you don't want to see the same plot each week.  When you check out one of the baseball playoff games, you're hoping to see a new and exciting way to win a ball game.  When you plunk down $9 on a movie, you don't want to see the same rehashed film you saw last month.  But in radio, we continue to crave "utility programming," ensuring that we sound the same, everyday.  Back in the day, our consistency and reliability was a strength.  Today - given all the media and technology choice - it could be a big part of what's hurting us. 

Against some of the new media "sameness," radio can, and should be actively competing, and not just when hurricanes and natural disasters strike.  It's not what stations do when there's a crisis that counts - it's about what we're programming the other 360 days of the year that matters. 

A viable programming department, that pushes itself to actually program, day-in-and-day-out, is what keeps listeners coming back for more, and in the process, keeps new media and their gadgets in P2 positions.  Radio cannot compete against Zunes, streaming radio, Music Choice, and other interruption-free music sources head-to-head.  Mike McVay, one of our Presidents of Radio last month at Summit 13, said it best as he emotionally outlined one of his campaign planks:

"I will stop competing with the iPod.  How many programmers say 'We need to compete with the iPod'?   What are you smoking!?  The minute commercials come up, you lose!  We will make it mandatory to have compelling, entertaining radio."

In their haste to slash their way to financial respectability, too many radio CEOs are cutting the hearts out of their companies.  By laying off programmers, placing one PD over multiple stations, and removing staff resources, we're going to end up sounding like bad iPods, unfortunately with stopsets, live spots, and remotes. 

A few years back, Les Moonves referred to this strategy as "burning the furniture."  It won't work.

At the same time, however, companies need to start demanding that their programmers step up, and live up to their titles. On a weekly basis, Jacobs Media sends out programming ideas that are designed to help make stations get away from the "utility sound."  Too often, only a handful of PDs get the message, and find a way to make them happen.  Cranking out great Selector logs isn't programming.  Creating compelling content on an every day basis, reflecting their local markets and the world around them, and giving their audiences something new and different is what programming is all about. 

So, ask yourself whether your station is being programmed like the Electric Company or whether you're thinking more like The Daily Show.  Are you creating content - on the air and online - that can move the needle in PPM and in your audience's hearts and minds?

At the same President of Radio session, master programmer John Gehron, now working for one of the greatest entertainers of all time - Oprah - summed it up nicely:

"Program Directors are spread so thin there is no time to develop new ideas.  Active formats need active programming.  In the PPM world we’re finding out that little things make a difference, but today’s PDs don’t have the time to worry about little things."

So how do we change this?  We have to change our behavior.  We have to create a vision for content.  We must have a massive re-investment in product and people, people who would create new content that will energize our listeners and builds excitement and passion for radio again.  We have to re-build our content infrastructure just like this country has to rebuild its roads and bridges; we have to rebuild our programming and content."

If you're a GM or market manager, you should be asking more from your programmers, while letting the moguls in the home office know that your station simply cannot produce great content without the proper tools.  If you're a programmer, are you focused on making your stations sound compelling, using your time well, and utilizing the staff that you have left?  And, if you're an owner, CEO, or RVP reading this, do you really think that "less is more" when it comes to programming experts and resources is a winning formula for building great companies and great brands?

Game On

The changing tides in music discovery and consumption continue to lead back to video games.  Viacom, emboldened by the success of Rock Band, is pouring it on.  Last week, they announced the AC/DC version of the game, AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack.  Going to that next step, this game lets players experiment with 18 masters from AC/DC's live vault.  It will sell right next to the band's new CD, Black Ice, and Wal-Mart's going all-out with the album, the game, and clothing to round out the entire package.  Five years ago, none of this was possible.

And there's certainly precedence.  Aerosmith's Guitar Hero game, which was released in the summer, outpaced the release of any of the band's albums.  Think about that, and why bands are forming a line to be sure they share in this techno-interactive pie.

So, if you're a Rock station trying to capitalize on one of the bigger new albums of 2008, isn't it a no-brainer at this point to embrace the game, rather than to do the same old promotion when an album is released?  Like touch tones, the 9th caller, and 5-4-3-2-1 concert giveaways, listeners aren't excited by the same promotions that stations have been running for decades.

If we think differently about embracing a band, aren't there more interactive possibilities for stations, their personalities, and their listeners?  How about playing the AC/DC game in the studio, perhaps even shown via webcam to an audience that would love to watch this stuff, not to mention giving away the game in lieu of the album?

We've been tracking the video game phenomenon for four years in our Tech Polls, and those results, coupled with sales of these games don't lie.  But beyond that, Rock Band and Guitar Hero allow the audience to have a role, to be players, and to interact - with the game, the music, and perhaps your station personalities.  While many of the tech outlets and new media sources have passed radio by, or simply aren't accessible, the explosion of interest in Rock music through these games dovetails perfectly with the enthusiasm that radio needs right now.

Radio needs to get in the game.

Get In The Game

Inside Radio's Mike Kinosian was kind enough to interview me recently about the impact of video games on music sales and exposure.  We have also devoted a number of blogs to this topic, particularly as it relates to how radio can/should/needs to be involved in this process.  There's more to the Rock lifestyle than listening to CDs or mp3s, and gaming continues to become a bigger player.

Case in point: Viacom is putting even more emphasis on Rock Band, a sector that is showing real growth for the mega-media company.  Like Guitar Hero, Rock Band allows players to choose guitar, drums, or vocals.  The game will now be integral in an upcoming Rock Band Live tour featuring Panic! At The Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's, and The Cab - all acts that are featured in the game.

And the final "performer" is the gamer.  Fans will compete with each other for the chance to actually play the game on the main stage in between acts.  Once again, it's another logical integration of gaming, music, live performance, and the consumer.  These are the types of promotions that radio needs to be a part of, especially as it relates to the process of finding local contestants.

But in the bigger picture, it's yet another indicator of how powerful video games have become in the Rock lifestyle, and how stations need to think beyond pure music consumption, and more about how lifestyle and this type of "Reality TV" component can intermesh.

"Email Is For Old People"

It's amazing how accurate a sample of 31 people can be.  The name of today's entry is a quote from "The Bedroom Project" - and we were surprised to hear it back in February of last year.

I frequently reference that ethnographic study in this blog, and recently, a JupiterResearch study confirms a key finding from "Bedroom."

The rise of social networking activity, coupled with texting and incessant cell phone use, has created a notable decrease in the use of email.  That's what our Bedroomers told us.  For many of them, key communication took place on MySpace, Facebook, and on their phones.  Email was rapidly becoming a place where they conducted business and/or communicated with adults.

What does this mean for radio?  As happy as stations may be when their listener database cracks a certain threshold, it is becoming more difficult to reach consumers with email.  According to the JupiterResearch study, "The Social and Portable Inbox: Optimizing E-mail Marketing in the New Era of Communication Tools," nearly one-fourth of respondents report that social networking sites have replaced email.

David Schatsky, the president of JupiterResearch, notes that "marketers need to be aware that consumers are using other forms of communication and must ensure their strategy adapts to consumers' changing behavior."

This is another reason why stations need to go beyond email, and work on initiatives like text messaging, building their own social networking modules, blogs, video streaming, and other conduits with listeners.  This is especially true among younger-targeted stations.  And as we've seen with just about every other technology, these trends typically start with teens and work their way older.

Today, as a fiftysomething consumer, I have a Facebook site, I text constantly, and I play Guitar Hero - all activities that were off my radar screen just a few short years ago.  So, keep building your email database, but keep in mind that trends are rapidly moving in different communication directions.

Discovering Music

With all the research and web marketing flying into our email boxes every day, it's no wonder we sometimes get confused.  Oftentimes, these news alerts seem to contradict one another.  It's as bad as finding out that red wine is good for your heart one day, and will kill you the next.

A case in point was two emails that showed up the other day, within an hour of each another:

The first: "Radio still main music driver" - quotes a new JupiterResearch study that finds that despite all the other music discovery media and methods, radio is still #1.  Overall, nearly six in ten online music users rely on the radio - and many of these groups are quite tech savvy.  Radio was top dog among paying downloaders and also performed very well even among music aficionados.  As analyst Sonal Gandhi notes, "For the general population as well as music influencers, you can see that radio is the most important way of discovering new music - and it has been the most important way of discovering new music in the last few years that we've surveyed."

(Did you read that musicFIRST?)

So much for the good news about red wine.

The second:  The next email trumpets the fact that the "new" single from the long-awaited "new" CD, Chinese Democracy by Guns 'N Roses - "Shackler's Revenge" - will NOT be released to radio first.

Instead, Anthem Records and Universal Music Enterprises say that it will show up in September in a video game, Rock Band 2.  As Mike Davis of Universal tells the New York Times, "These games absolutely have an impact because the opportunity to hear these songs on radio is dwindling."

Really.  I know of several hundred radio stations that would be (or perhaps "would have been") pretty jazzed about the chance to (finally) break this new single.  In fact, if you look at the checkered history of this band, radio has been in the forefront of exposing America to their music, through all of Axl Rose's trials and tribulations.  Not to mention all those free promos for concert tours and all the other attendant "marketing" that the record industry has taken for granted from radio all these years.

I think I'm going to have a glass of red wine and stop worrying about it.