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Platinum marketing budget already surpassed

M

MikeShannon914

Guest
Saw it today...a billboard on I-30 in East Dallas, proclaiming, "WBAP-820AM, 96.7FM." That's 1000x more exposure than Platinum EVER got. Anyone remember ANY promotion of Platinum in any shape or form? (Plugging their own shows on their own station does not count.) Looking at things now, why didn't WBAP ever do some cross-promotion of Platinum? "When you've heard enough talk for the day and just want to relax, try our sister station, the new Platinum 96.7..." Platinum could have tipped its hat to WBAP as well.

Then again, the station that's supposedly propping up the entire corporation right now can rightfully act like the Center of the Universe.

Oh, that's right. "Word of Mouth" must have been the Platinum marketing plan. It's free, and it GUARANTEES success. ::) Really, it's a wonder the station ever got ANY attention at all...but it still eked out a 2.0 anyway. Or, maybe people were supposed to accidentally come across the station on their own? How many other stations have we seen killed that way?

Platinum was never treated as anything more than a Citadel stepchild...and that's a poor way to treat the vets that put time and energy into TRYING to make it succeed.
 
Bankrupt company with a Bankruptcy of ideas...this was purely a financial move...takes too much work to hire, pay staff, promote, train special sales staff.....amazing there isn't anyone in the Citadel family that couldn't make something...anything of an fm(sometimes marginal in some areas) but otherwise a decent fm signal that could pull in the desired audience in a market this size, without simulcasting a station doing reasonably well on its own. Some of these so called programming hotshots....only real claim they have to any success in the DFW market....100,000 watts, fm, cedar hill....take that away from any of the top ten fm's and they're toast. Now dfw listeners are without another option...crank up the xmsirius!
 
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Platinum had transit signs at the train stops and bus stops, plus signs on busses and trains, some taxis, and a few billboards. You may not have seen them, but they had decidely picked the "golden triangle" of the Park Cities to market.
 
MikeShannon914 said:
Saw it today...a billboard on I-30 in East Dallas, proclaiming, "WBAP-820AM, 96.7FM." That's 1000x more exposure than Platinum EVER got. Anyone remember ANY promotion of Platinum in any shape or form? (Plugging their own shows on their own station does not count.) Looking at things now, why didn't WBAP ever do some cross-promotion of Platinum? "When you've heard enough talk for the day and just want to relax, try our sister station, the new Platinum 96.7..." Platinum could have tipped its hat to WBAP as well.

Then again, the station that's supposedly propping up the entire corporation right now can rightfully act like the Center of the Universe.

Oh, that's right. "Word of Mouth" must have been the Platinum marketing plan. It's free, and it GUARANTEES success. ::) Really, it's a wonder the station ever got ANY attention at all...but it still eked out a 2.0 anyway. Or, maybe people were supposed to accidentally come across the station on their own? How many other stations have we seen killed that way?

Platinum was never treated as anything more than a Citadel stepchild...and that's a poor way to treat the vets that put time and energy into TRYING to make it succeed.
Click to expand...

There were a lot of Platinum ads on the side of DART buses driving around...since it launched and through the start of the year. When it launched, it got tons of free press in the local papers, TV stations, etc. on the return of Chapman, etc.

All those articles and news stories when KPMZ was launched was about how Farid Suleman really loved the soft oldies format on his "Love 105" outlet in Minneapolis and wanted his "longtime buddy" Ron Chapman to set up the same format in Dallas...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...N-Peppard_06-30gl.State.Edition1.1060f73.html

I'm not sure what was described by Chapman in those articles as essentially a pet project of the CEO would qualify it as a "step-child." All the recent articles on KPMZ's demise have Chapman saying he had a couple of months advanced notice from the CEO the end was going to come given the performance of the station. Again, that seems like special treatment than the typical corporate edict...
 
What I Found Really Sad About The Whole Thing Is That Platinum Was Actually Starting To Sound Really Good. They Finally Made A Great Mix OF The Softies And The Rock And Roll Songs. It Was Nearly Perfect. I Bet If Citadel Had Waited Platinum Would Probably Have Continued To Raise In Ratings.
 
For me personally, as a listener, I'm lost. I don't really hear anything like "Platinum".
 
When Platinum existed, spending any money on Platinum would be like putting the cart before the horse. They wouldn't spend money on any real djs. Why spend money on promotion for a station that was a glorified automation system?
 
I have to say that Peter is right. In fact I have a recording of Ron talking to Gary Cogill on Ch 8 Good Morning Texas promoting the station on the day it signed on with the format! I personally think they should have expanded their weekend with different shows some syndi like KLUV does. I tried to get them to pick up Air Britannia and Drake promised to smoke their phone lins but Vic never returned his calls.

-BGH
 
OK, I guess I wasn't paying enough attention. But what you all are mentioning sounds like an INITIAL marketing blitz...I don't see where it lasted or was an ongoing thing. I'm sure when the Citadel bankruptcy was looming in the distance (which was for most of 2009,) every Citadel station's marketing budget was cut or compromised. GMT is fine, but are those really your core listeners, stay-at-home folks who actually have time (and/or are near a TV set, AND like the show) to watch?

RadioTruth, I'm sorry that Fagreed wasn't able to bring in YOUR personal favorites. (Aren't all of your favorites DEAD, anyway?) But Ron, Larry, Gail and Debi are LOCAL institutions. (And I know how much you LOVE Debi.) Without an unlimited budget to work with, I think Ron did the best he could by bringing in familiar names who have and have had success and longevity in this market. Glorified automation? At least they were "live and local" from 5:30AM to 7PM daily. That's a LOT more than most stations can say these days.

Chip, I just don't know. I've pictured this from the get-go as a group of Citadel folks slobbering so much over the possibility of getting 96.7 for WBAP, that any attention to giving Platinum a real chance (which takes longer than 1.6 years, IMHO, to build something) was lost in the ether the last few months. Also, if you're Fagreed, how can you turn down FREE help from a legend like Chapman? That alone saved a ton in consultant fees, imaging and voicing...and you know Ron was the key to getting Larry back on the airwaves. I'm sure it can be said as well that, had Ron known the plug would be pulled that quickly, he wouldn't have even signed on to help...he surely had no intention of his last foray in broadcasting making him look like a Bill Parcells or something.
 
Hate to point out when you are wrong Mike (I just don't have that much time) but you mention the Platinum marketing was for an "INITIAL" (your caps) marketing blitz. Well....as far as I can tell....WBAP has been on the FM for only about 2 or 3 weeks....so all the advertising you are seeing now...would be an INITIAL marketing blitz? I'm just saying as a simple man....everyone might want to take a step back...before they put their foot in their mouths.
 
sayitaintsojoe said:
Hate to point out when you are wrong Mike (I just don't have that much time) but you mention the Platinum marketing was for an "INITIAL" (your caps) marketing blitz. Well....as far as I can tell....WBAP has been on the FM for only about 2 or 3 weeks....so all the advertising you are seeing now...would be an INITIAL marketing blitz? I'm just saying as a simple man....everyone might want to take a step back...before they put their foot in their mouths.
Click to expand...

The difference here is that KPMZ was a totally brand new station. WBAP-FM is a simulcast. So really its NOT an intial marketing blitz, but just telling folk that you can listen to WBAP on an AM stick and a FM stick.
 
First off...PPM is not kind to rimshot signals. Combine that with the fact that to survive, this format really needs Dallas at work (highrise office) penetration and you can see why it was doomed at the start. If radio was in a better place economically, it might of lasted awhile longer. But times being what they are...only the strong survive. So, Citadel was smart to try and make the mothership stronger and demographically more youthful.

Plus..am I the only one that thought the Platinum just sounded flat and uninteresting? I certainly didn't have that patented Chapman stamp of energy and fun.
 
To be clear, Mike...the Platinum campaign was not "initial". It went for multiple quarters...and some of it was there through fall of 09.
 
PeterZ said:
To be clear, Mike...the Platinum campaign was not "initial". It went for multiple quarters...and some of it was there through fall of 09.
Click to expand...

What are you some kind of freak?

Bringing facts to an internet argument?

That kind of behavior isn't acceptable young man. Start dealing in exxagerations, hyperbole, spin and outright lies, like everybody else on the "inner-nets"...
 
sayitaintsojoe said:
Hate to point out when you are wrong Mike (I just don't have that much time)
Click to expand...
A WBAP P-1, obviously, or else you work there. All I do is state the obvious, or my interpretation thereof. It's a BLOG, my neo-con friend. If I already knew the answer, why would I waste time posting questions? Did I not state that "I must not have been paying attention" in a post before your little jab? I have no beef with WBAP. Without the shackles on anymore, I'm free to talk about them, or any other station of my choosing. I saw a f******* billboard. I made some observations. I apparently was wrong. At least I can admit it. The idea here is that it generated some DISCUSSION. I've been enlightened. I learned something. And this board's not always the most interesting place, you know. Radio is boring. Cookie-cutter formats are boring. Rhetoric is boring. Radio "news" in this town is slim to none most of the time. I'll sniff out news just to get discussions going. And it's not my fault if some of you put me on a pedestal for whatever reason. I never asked for that. The Little faction here that delights in shutting me down, well, I just roll my eyes and move on. I've posted on this board for TEN years now, and, much to you all's consternation, I'll probably keep lurking around here as long as radio stays viable.

Back to 'BAP for a moment...let's set a few things straight. Ya know, I refrained from posting anything non-positive about the station the entire time I serviced that account with traffic. I hold no grudge against them or the people or anything. Many of them are still friends. I do have issues with the programming, but that's a personal preference. Conservative Talk is not everyone's piece of cake, and it's certainly not mine. However, I never let that get in the way of my job, or in my support of the station. I was there at all station events, on my own dime, waving the flag and being who I was 'supposed' to be. I remain disappointed with Tyler Cox's decision to change traffic vendors, and I'm disappointed as well that Traffic.com management was not as competitive as they should have been. That process hurt a lot of people, and many of us are still struggling. That's life, and I'm not asking for sympathy. But I'm not using/abusing this platform to purposely make Tyler look bad, or to discredit an operation that I depended on for many years. But if Citadel is in the news, I probably have an opinion to share. If one of their stations flips formats, I'll surely be talking about it. But I critique them all equally---from mom-and-pop's to corporate clusters. And yeah, even if the BMOC at (x) station is a friend.

And Little1...you're always so entertaining.
 
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