JacoBlog - Jacobs Media's Blog

From Worst To First: A Lesson In Talent

Today's guest blog from Keith Cunningham teaches us a lesson about great talent:

Some may not know the Boston Celtics had the worst record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference last season.  Yes, the worst record.  The press was calling for coach Doc Rivers' head, the fans were booing, and some fans even wore bags on their heads.  It was getting ugly in Beantown.  Yet the most storied franchise in NBA history went on to win the championship this year.  From worst to first, overnight.  How’d they do that?

By acquiring great talent.

Radio can learn from the Celtics.  We find many struggling radio stations hoping that a few Selector tweaks or the tightening of DJ execution will make the difference.  It usually doesn’t.  The NBA equivalent would be running more sprints in practice or trying out a new defensive scheme.  Do you think that would have dramatically changed the tide for the Celtics?

By making two key talent moves, the addition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Boston created “The Big 3” and it made all the difference in the world.  They ripped through the NBA on their way to the league’s best record, and a blowout victory over the Lakers (and arguably the best player in the world right now, Kobe Bryant).

If a radio station wants game changing results, as the Celtics did, they'll need to make game changing moves.  This might entail a PD change, music testing, perceptual research, and marketing.  But if a station is really looking to change the game, they may need to get honest with themselves and agree to invest in hiring great talent.  The right mix of music can’t be overlooked – but take a cue from some of Radio’s iconic brands that many emulate – they have big talent.

It’s also worth noting that The Bone in Tampa (Cox) went from a mid-pack player to virtually #1 across the board with men, almost immediately, by adding Bubba the Love Sponge to morning drive back in January.  The Bone’s music mix was right all along, but there’s no substitute for big talent.

Whether it's radio or the NBA, talent wins.  Just ask anyone who lives in Boston.

Seizing the Moment

What goes up on your home page when your hometown team wins the big championship?  If you're WRIF, you play it up big, provide great resources, and make it the big deal of the day - because that's what the Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup means in Detroit.

It's this flexibility and understanding "What's The Digital Application" that radio stations need if they want their web efforts to be timely, relevant, and worth the audience's time.

(Don't even talk to me about the Tigers.)

High-Priced Talent

You tune in sports talk radio, and you're bound to hear that cliché debate about whether professional athletes are overpaid.  When a team is winning - like the Celtics - it's rarely much of an argument.  But when we're talking about the cellar-dwelling Miami Heat, it's a different conversation.  Consider the 2007-08 salaries of these players:

Dwane Wade            $13 million

Shawn Marion           $16.4 million

Udonis Haslem         $6 million

Alonzo Mourning       $2.7 million

Jason Williams         $8.9 million

That's a lot of green for a team that was 13-62 when this blog was written.

So when I read about a recent promotion the hapless Heat put together with their star-salaried roster, I couldn't help but be impressed.  To sell season tickets for next year (not an easy sale, to be sure), the players manned the phones at halftime of a recent game.  It was a great use of their marquis power, and a clever way to give new fans a celebrity brush with fame.  It also earned them media coverage in a number of news outlets.

Most radio stations don't use their big names as effectively.  Yes, many well-paid jocks have gotten the economic message in the past few years.  They need to make a greater contribution than their 4-5 hours shows.  As a result, many have stepped up, are spending more time at the station, while showing up for more outside events (with no talent fee).

But stations could utilize their big brands in a more compelling way.  A number of years ago, we talked about the jocks making live, unsolicited calls to members of the email database.  Imagine getting one of those out-of-the-blue calls from your favorite DJ, thanking you for listening, taking a request, and just spending a couple of minutes to schmooze with a station fan.  It's a lasting impression, very buzz-worthy, and something that can cement a listener's loyalty for years.

Additionally, it is ironic that clients often pay premium dollars for live reads by big-name jocks, but stations would rather use their anonymous Mr. Big Voice on most (if not all) key promos and positioners.  If your airstaff can effectively sell dog food, cars, and new windows for advertisers, why wouldn't you regularly use the power and influence of their voices to highlight what's really important - your station and your brand?

The sobering economic realities of radio, coupled with the rapidly changing technology environment, have forced radio programmers and managers to rethink many things.  The way we generate maximum value from our unique, proprietary personalities should be one of them.

Carpe Diem

Inspired perhaps by Bob Rivers and the famous Orioles "stay on the air until they win" stunt in '88, Kevin Matthews (WLAV/Grand Rapids) spoke for all Michiganders this week when he personally took the Detroit Tigers' 0-7 start on his shoulders.  If you know baseball, the Tigers have been picked by many experts to get to the World Series this season, after picking up some big-name all-stars over the winter.  But their April collapse had the entire state of Michigan losing its collective sanity.

So, starting this past Tuesday morning after the Tigers had dropped their first six games at home to the Royals and White Sox, Kevin committed to stay on the air until the Tigers finally bagged a victory.  He survived a loss to the Red Sox that afternoon, and finally brought home the winner late Wednesday night.

Kevin's efforts were chronicled throughout by the Grand Rapids Press (front page story with picture), as well as extensive television coverage. 

Kevin Matthews stays on the air until the Tigers win.

While mavens like the "Wizard of Ads" Roy Williams may make statements that local morning radio will be replaced by syndicated shows in a decade or so (or so he told Mark Ramsey), he obviously hasn't visited Grand Rapids lately.

These are the kinds of "reflective" bits and content that are truly emblematic of the community vibe, and Kev clearly got this one right.  By the way, the budget for this stunt?  $0.  Just hard work on Kev's part, dedication to his show, his station, and his audience.  And the value of his efforts media-wise?  What is front page coverage and continuous television worth to an FM station in the first month of the spring book?  And the value of this promotion in Kevin's "storyline" at LAV?  Yes, priceless.

Any station, DJ, or morning show can do this.  But not many are.  It requires effort, commitment, and the energy and instinct to grab the moment and run with it.  And if the emphasis of our business ever re-focuses on programming content, radio can recapture its mojo.  Because you're not going to get this kind of radio from the syndicated show from Indianapolis down the dial, from your iPod, or from 200 commercial-free satellite radio channels.

Seize the moment.  Seize the content.

Gee 4

Comcast isn't just talking about the young guy media usage problem - they're attacking it head-on.  In order to ensure their G4 Network is on-target and appealing, they have initiated a full-year research program to get at Male 18-34 tastes and habits.

Taking no prisoners, the program is called "Hunting with Lightsabers," and it's a full-scale, multi-tiered research effort that focuses on 1,200 well-targeted guys.  They'll survey them online, as well as launch an ethnographic study in three markets to gain a better, grassroots understanding of how these guys think, entertain themselves, and use their growing media and gadgetry options.  We learned the power of ethnography with "The Bedroom Project," the study we conducted with Arbitron last year.  Taking a page from Wayne Gretzky, these studies don't just tell you the status quo, they can clearly show you where the puck is going.  Comcast is clearly thinking along these same lines.

Already, G4 has invested in programming for the network (reruns of Heroes and Lost), and is seeing some ratings gains.  But with this new research program, Comcast is getting serious about targeting and attracting young men.  It's something that would make a great initiative for radio, given the challenges to keeping our medium fresh, current, and healthy amidst technological upheaval and innovation.  Why couldn't the RAB and NAB collaborate on a youth initiative as a part of the latter's "2020" program?  Radio needs to send the right message - to advertisers and consumers - about the future of its audience.  Comcast is clearly taking the right steps.

March Gladness

This is one of my favorite times of the year.  Spring training is going strong, with the promise of Opening Day just around the corner.  After a winter like the one we've endured here in the Midwest, March is the transition month where good things lie ahead.

But it's also the time when a number of great radio stations pull out all the stops, and do their own unique versions of "March Madness."  Here are a few of the better ones:

• The "new" 92-3 K-Rock in NYC has one of the best brackets I've seen.  PD Mike Tierney, along with web guys, Christian Conte and Joe Cingrana, worked with web designer, Bluefuse, to create a very cool, interactive bracket for "March Bracket Brawl." 

• Over to Chicago, Q101 has its very cool "March Music Madness," engineered by PD Marc Young, as well as Rey Mena and the Emmis Interactive team, who always do nice work in the digital department.
• There's always the gang at KSHE who puts everything into "March Bandness" - one of the better inside and outside versions of this stunt.  Every employee at KSHE is playing along with the audience, trying to make the best possible picks.  They have "retired" Sammy Hagar and Rush this year, claiming "tour exhaustion."  Rick Balis and the staff always do a great job here.
• Of course, 97Rock and John Hager in Buffalo always run a class tournament.  This year, Led Zeppelin has been elevated to naming rights on the championship trophy.  (Wonder what Lord Stanley would think?)
• But the bracket that got my attention this year comes out of Seattle.  KISW's afternoon show, "The Men's Room," has their "Alco-Hall of Fame."  It's warped, it's demented, and it's that show's lifestyle.  Miles & Thrill have created a bracket that is....well, unique.  Dave Richards enables this juvenile behavior.  If you participate, bring a designated driver.

These promotions are great because they stir up passion - for music and other stuff.  Excuse me while I fill out my brackets.

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.

PPM's Been Berry Berry Good To Me

You may remember Garrett Morris' "Chico Escuela" character on the original Saturday Night Live shows, exhorting the benefits of baseball.  Well, now that the Philadelphia Phillies have signed up for custom PPM reports, they will be pretty happy, too.

As we've already seen in various presentations, PPM rewards standout programming.  Of course, this includes sporting events, especially individual baseball or football games - which rarely show up in the diary.  And that's probably a big reason why the Phillies are so interested in seeing how their games score in PPM.  How much higher will the numbers be when they play the Mets, a game goes into extra innings, day games versus night games, etc.?  Based on last season's PPM numbers, they are confident that if they field a reasonably good team, the ratings will be very solid.

I'm including a couple of Arbitron slides here that illustrate the "sports effect" in PPM, for both the Phillies and Eagles.

The one thing we do know is that PPM is a quantum leap over the diary in measuring all these things, and sports ratings will most definitely be more robust with electronic measurement.  And so knowing what we know, it would sure make sense for Radio to start signing more long-term deals with their local sports franchises before PPM comes to town.

Listening

Amidst all the hype about the ads during the Super Bowl (which seem to be getting less spectacular every year), Chrysler has done a quiet marketing relaunch that is worthy of attention.  No longer a member of the Big 3, as their overall share and impact diminishes, it is interesting to watch how the company intends to reinvent itself up against the massive Toyota, General Motors, and other competitors.

While Chrysler didn't buy the big ticket Super Bowl spots, they instead cherry-picked 55 key markets for their campaign.  While Doritos may get all the attention for their consumer-generated ads, Chrylser appears to be using customers (or at least actors playing customers) to suggest that they're listening to real people, which is helping them improve their cars and feature packages.

Declaring "It's A New Day," a spot shows an animated little boy who designs the perfect car company.  In others, actors "suggest" improvements, followed-up by Chrylser reinforcing they've listened to consumers, and are now offering new features at regular prices (bigger engines, free GPS, etc.).

A good idea, perhaps, especially up against all their competition, but where's the authenticity?  Where are the real consumers?  While they've created a website - www.chryslerlistens.com - there's no identified place for people to write comments and suggestions.  And while there's a blog of sorts, it tends to be self-serving messages from Chrysler execs.  A few comments are coming in - and they're not all complimentary - but if Chrysler is truly serious about integrating consumer ideas into their product and marketing strategies, they'll need to be more genuine in their efforts.

We've seen radio go through some of these motions, too, over the years.  It's one thing to open up the PD Line, and take suggestions for improvements for a couple of weeks.  It's entirely another to air some complaints, listen to listeners, and make bona fide changes for the better.  The stations that have been truly committed to these initiatives tend to see returns, in terms of listener loyalty and long-term ratings growth and stability.  But this is another case where "walking the walk" is critical in making "We listen to you" campaigns successful, rather than be the source of consumer derision and skepticism.  If Chrysler is truly serious about reinventing itself, truly listening to consumers can be both scary and rewarding.

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!