MARKETING?

[MikeShannon914]

Where are radio stations advertising these days? Except for Spanish stations, you just don't see many radio station bumper stickers anymore, or that many billboards, or even ads on TV. Before the hecklers join in again, sure, perhaps there's some marketing I'm missing or haven't seen, but the quantity is far less than it's ever been. How are they getting the word out, or is this just another fatality at the hands of corporate radio? I remember getting the quarterly mailings faithfully for years from KVIL (the "Prize Catalog," for one,) and WBAP, but nothing in a very long time. I just wonder how upstarts like KSKY and 1160 and all the 990 incarnations and anyone else who's done something new in the last few years is even getting any notice. You'd think they'd be buying up banner ads on local websites, or newspaper ads in the "Weekend Guide" or something...is this just passe thinking? Except for 97.9, there's really been no mass ad blitz for a new (English-speaking) station or new format in (my) recent memory. Sure, I realize we all don't like stickers on our painted bumpers (chrome used to be a better place for them, of course) but I'd bet a generation of "K-Luv My Oldies" people would gladly plaster their station preference on their cars...same for Wolf listeners.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Mike I see plenty of stickers for "The Beat' "K104""The wolf".'I still see some Billboards for The Edge,Kiss,Mix and a mailing from KZPS.

I agree though,the "Southwest weekend end giveaways","A Datsun a day give away"etc. type promotions are gone and now its all vanilla. No imagination,no creativity, and little or no budget. 1-800 national contest has killed those staples of radio. It used to be radio,now its just a real estate market and the mortgage are slipping. There is no excitement anymore and no enthusiasm fired up to make it happen once more. Its just sheer complacency. The owners know people will listen to the radio,and scan the dial then figure they will land on their station and stay. Its been pointed out radio is dying,the listenership decreases with each year. Your CONsultant, sales groupies will argue against that,seeing as how they dominant a once vibrant landscape and turned it into a mire of dust. SHOW THE BOOK SPIN THE NUMBERS, MAKE A SALE. Thats it. Quality entertainment is retired to the dictionary.

 

[adguy]

I agree with you Mike. Radio station promotion is getting rather scarce. I buy some radio time every now and then and I always have the station show me their current promotional efforts. I also have them prove their statements. There's a lot of BS going around these days from too young and inexperienced reps that are poorly trained. And that is coming from their inexperienced and poorly trained managers. Back to point, I will NEVER buy a new station unless they are promoting with at least two forms of significant promotion, which I count as TV, Billboard, Mainstream Print and Dedicated Direct Mail. If they're not promoting, there's no way they'll generate an audience in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

We agree adguy. There is a lot of "fluff" but no substance. I only cited a few stations where I saw something ,but no newspaper or tv ads, a key component. The owners are being cheap and hope word of mouth alone will draw in the listeners.

 

[VERITAS DE VOCE]

Please, oh please, don't let me sound like DE but... there is a reason that billboards are no longer the point of reference they used to be. Web sites. Have you really looked at a radio Web site lately? There are so many stupid ad buttons, web banners and exterior links on those things that it proves why advertise externally like that when you are getting 800,000 hits a month (like KISS does)?

If the sales brigade that Bass has been having so much fun talking about recently ( ;D) is making all of their Ferrari payments through selling Web banners, why worry about promotions and marketing finding a billboard. Because after all, THAT is why "just another animal" boards exist anyway. Not to drive listeners to the dial, but to drive sponsors to do the same.

Something to think about laddies.

 

[RADIOGM]

It is still the same old question in radio. What comes first? - We make budget, then we can spend it - or, lets spend some dollars to market this property so we can get better ratings and better sales.

I once had an owner ask me, "OK, if I give you a million dollars to spend this Fall book on marketing and promotion - you will never ask me for money again"?


RGM

 

[adguy]

It is still the same old question in radio. What comes first? - We make budget, then we can spend it - or, lets spend some dollars to market this property so we can get better ratings and better sales.

RGM

Quick answer: If your a large corporate conglomerate (i.e. CC, Cox, CBS, etc...) make budget first, then put in your external promotional budget the next year. If your a small, smart entrepeneurial owner you'll find and spend the money on promotion right now knowing that if it's done smart it will pay off. That pretty much tells you the current state of radio today.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

The old saying, you got to spend money to make money" is corny,but so damn true. You got to reinvest or it will go to seed. VOICE, I agree with the website,BUT how many people are driving in their cars looking at a desk top? If you know of any ,please keep them away from where I drive. A large portion of radio's audience are driving their cars when they tune in, thus the billboards are effective. IF done right. The best one ever? KVIL's in front of the KNUS "Top bananna " Billboard on Stemmons in 1977.

 

[Talktalk]

why in the world would you advertise a popular radio station unless you are changing format, adding a new feature or giving away a boat load of money? TV has to advertise during sweeps, they have no choice...you don't spend money to make money...you save the money on CONsultants, fire the ADguy, and focus your product, upgrade the stick or the talent...GM's shouldn't spend a cent on anything but revenue or ratings and buying billboards or those TERRIBLE TV spots (MOVin comes to mind).

 

[Robert Bass]

why in the world would you advertise a popular radio station unless you are changing format, adding a new feature or giving away a boat load of money?

TT is clueless, as usual. :

R

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Actually "Talk" makes some good points. talent should be paid better,and therefore they will have an incentive to step up better. Yeah the movin ad would be great for Preperation H..not for a station. Local ads on TVare far mor creative and attention getting ( at least they used to be). Now its Homoginized crud. Talk is right ,too much is being spent on "CONsultants ,who usually dont live in the marketplace ,and dont have an real feel for the marketplace just their assembly line free sandwiches and luke warm soda research pits.

 

[little1]

why in the world would you advertise a popular radio station unless you are changing format, adding a new feature or giving away a boat load of money?

TT is clueless, as usual. :

R

Except that the inclusion of the word popular completely changes the dynamics of the statement.

WBAP and KTCK are the 2 stations that are arguably the most succesful in the whole darn market (decent ratings w/highest billing) i don't think either one are currently running billboards. Which last time I looked were running a couple of grand a month minimum (and that's not even the 'best' boards...)

Why should stations like those spend thousands and thousands of dollars a month when there's much more cost effective ways to market to the listeners you already have....

Robert Bass- if you were running one of the top 5-10 stations in the market, not suffering from any cume loss and making good billing, do you really think it would be necessary to spend 25-50-75-100K a month on billboards?

 

[Robert Bass]

Robert Bass- if you were running one of the top 5-10 stations in the market, not suffering from any cume loss and making good billing, do you really think it would be necessary to spend 25-50-75-100K a month on billboards?

Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't some of the best stations in this market, taken that route? There's nothing wrong with saturating the market with your billboard, even if the station doesn't appear to need it.

Keep in mind, people do travel. What's wrong with wanting to reach a traveler's attention with a billboard? Sure they may be temporarily in the market, why not grab 'em while you can?

R

 

[Talktalk]

Hey Cowardly Lion, a few thoughts for you:

How can you edit my posts and then make inflamatory statements of your own...you are a hipocrite. Also, just because you see boards doesn't mean they were paid for...CC, CBS both use remnant boards to promote their stations...a lot of good that has done for Lex and Terry...

Radio stations also use trade deals for remnant boards, so you have no idea if any cash, or how much is really exchanged. AND, once again Lion, since you are not responsible for ratings OR revenue, you are talking out of your Lyin DONKEY!

Little 1, let me answer Roberts question, since he can't...if I ran a top 5 station in a market like Dallas...I would use the marketing budget to secure exclusive agreements with all the major lifestyle events, year round...Wild Flower, Artfest, ST. Patty's Day Parade, etc...let the event promoters buy the advertising on TV, Print and Cable...then Market the heck out of my stations at these events and touch my listeners...personally, that is the key to hearts and minds...that leads to loyalty....THAT improves BOTH Ratings and Revenue!

 

[adguy]

Hey Cowardly Lion, a few thoughts for you:

Little 1, let me answer Roberts question, since he can't...if I ran a top 5 station in a market like Dallas...I would use the marketing budget to secure exclusive agreements with all the major lifestyle events, year round...Wild Flower, Artfest, ST. Patty's Day Parade, etc...let the event promoters buy the advertising on TV, Print and Cable...then Market the heck out of my stations at these events and touch my listeners...personally, that is the key to hearts and minds...that leads to loyalty....THAT improves BOTH Ratings and Revenue!

Talk, that is why you are not running a station in a top 5 or any other market. Those advertisers are so cheap and generally have too small of budgets for EFFECTIVE

 

[Talktalk]

adguy, your ignorance is showing again...get one of your reps, er frinds, to pull MK for the year and SEE what they are spending....I have it, but I think you should work for it, perhaps you will learn something...and the reason I am not running a station is because I don't want to accept a pay cut.

 

[adguy]

Hey Cowardly Lion, a few thoughts for you:

Little 1, let me answer Roberts question, since he can't...if I ran a top 5 station in a market like Dallas...I would use the marketing budget to secure exclusive agreements with all the major lifestyle events, year round...Wild Flower, Artfest, ST. Patty's Day Parade, etc...let the event promoters buy the advertising on TV, Print and Cable...then Market the heck out of my stations at these events and touch my listeners...personally, that is the key to hearts and minds...that leads to loyalty....THAT improves BOTH Ratings and Revenue!

Talk, that is why you are not running a station in a top 5 or any other market. Those advertisers are so cheap and generally have too small of budgets for EFFECTIVE

Talk, that is why you are not running a station in a top 5 or any other market. Those advertisers are so cheap and generally have too small of budgets for EFFECTIVE spot TV. Plus, are you expecting them to promote you in audio in their TV spot? or give you prominence in any print ads above and beyond what you see on others you see where the radio station logos are numerous and very small at the bottom of the ad?

 

[Talktalk]

it is all a matter of opportunity and vision. some have it, some don't...

 

[little1]

Robert Bass- if you were running one of the top 5-10 stations in the market, not suffering from any cume loss and making good billing, do you really think it would be necessary to spend 25-50-75-100K a month on billboards?

Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't some of the best stations in this market, taken that route? There's nothing wrong with saturating the market with your billboard, even if the station doesn't appear to need it.

Keep in mind, people do travel. What's wrong with wanting to reach a traveler's attention with a billboard? Sure they may be temporarily in the market, why not grab 'em while you can?

R

Because the traveler doesn't have an arbitron diary for the market. Why waste money getting listeners that aren't goingto show up in your ratings? Liek I said, there's better ways to market than billboards these days...

 

[Talktalk]

little1, you are absolutely right. Here is the contrarian point of view...once the PPM goes active, the thought is, PPM carriers see a board and flip the station...since boards are passive, and they rarely, if ever do anything but show a jock picture and call letters, I still believe it is a waste of money...Unless, they are remnant boards or co-oped through another partner...