Radio Promotions

[radioprofessor]

The Spring ratings book is on and I am surprised by the inherent lack of marketing of radio stations in this market. I notice the KUBE and MOVin are promoting by putting
their plastic valance up on light polls and noticed KBKS covered them all up today. Made me wonder. Do Seattle programmers consider that promotion? Most people ignore them and the rest think it is littering at best. Stations are not on bus-sides, billboards or television with any great frequency. I notice KIRO Radio doing some television advertising and a music commercial for WARM and STAR during mid-days. For the most part Seattle radio has gone quiet. The biggest error, in my humble opinion, is the lack of advertising on the internet search engines and targeted sites. Other markets are using this new media to grab new audience. How does the medium expect to grow when advertising is missing? You can show up at events and put signs on polls and do morning show stunts but at some point you have to recruit new listeners and remind old ones you still exist. Data base marketing like email alerts and hipcricket texts do little to expand your cume and new studies indicate these methods have become irritants.

KISS in LA is the prime example for how to do it right in my view. They don't waste money or time hanging up valance or showing up a concerts. They buy lots of TV and lots of search engine ads with yahoo, google, netflicks and more. They don't go to concerts unless it is one they are putting on and the tickets are free. These kind of promotions take work and the dollars are relative to the market size. It may cost five million to pull all the above off in LA it would cost one million in Seattle. The parameter of music radio is the three H's: hits, hot talent and hype. Seattle radio stations with some notable exceptions play the format parameter hits most have mid-level talent and most think a music tv spot or a valance on a phone poll is hype. It is my view the medium needs some marketing. In my humble view the following stations do the best job at reaching out:

KIRO: solid ad campaign, web campaign and bus campaign. Ratings reflect growth
KWJZ: Good TV and listener club campaign. Taking away the "jazz" could violate the hit music parameter of the HHH.
KCMS: Good ad campaign and very solid internet search campaign on key Christian sites. This station gets it.


Even the best businesses like McDonalds, Coke, Microsoft need to advertise and market in new and inventive ways. Telephone poles and music tv spots when no one is watching doesn't get it done in my humble view.

 

[TakeItFromMe]

"In my humble view." Hey cowboy, you are rarely humble but in this case you are right :-\
Notice that the big boys like Clear Channel, Infinity and Entercom are the ones not spendin the dollars :'(
This time last year THE WOLF and JACK and MOVIN owned the TV and the ratings. Now I see no one. Seems the economy has caught up with radio

 

[Mamaknowsbreast]

Radioprofessor,

In my opinion, there are a number of reasons why we don't see better promotions and it all has to do with money. Alot of these big corporations are happy with mediocrity and will avoid spending the advertising dollars if they can get away with it. Secondly, with budgets cut nowadays, most talented promotion coordinators have moved on to other more rewarding industries, leaving a handful of un-qualified former interns that have since been promoted to minimum wage who think hanging banners on a highway overpass and showing up at a fair shows creativity. Then when it comes to a promotions team, most are left shorthanded and with limitations on how many hours each individual can work. While a few meetings a week would be ideal to brainstorm and come up with great campaigns to advertise a station, what do you do when corporate has agreed to allow a part-timer to work a max of 15 hours a week and that is maxed out with one Saturday shift at a grocery store and 2 weekday mornings of hanging station banners on overpasses.

It's very sad it has come to this and I agree with you that the industry continues to decline because of it.

 

[radioprofessor]

I agree with your analysis at all levels TU1. Well said.

 

[chaajoad]

I've been in radio a long time - still am - and promotions have nearly always been lame. One very successful promotion I was part of years ago was really the result of some happy accidents. The vast majority were of the card table and a banner variety. To be honest, I've worked for a lot of major market signals and I've almost always been embarrassed by the lack of promotion.

Radio could get away with it in the days when we were the only musical game in town. Well now listeners can get music from a dizzying array of sources and we're still in the mall parking lot with a van, a card table, a banner and some key chains.

Pathetic, really.

 

[AQH]

Believe it or not, there are several different purposes for a TV campaign.

Look at KBSG back about 15 years ago. Many people accused them of buying books with the constant TV spots. And you know what? They were right, because it worked.

KUBE's TV spots of late aren't the greatest ones in terms of creativity. But with Movin' not on TV right now, KUBE's spot essentially says "Hi, remember us? Now that you've listened to the other guys, come back to the one you know and trust." There's a big history in Seattle radio of it working that way (with KMPS being the latest example).

About three years ago, there were nearly a dozen radio stations on TV. That could be some of the worst dollars spent right there. And when the economy comes back, the cycle will come around again.

Fact of the matter is, some of the best marketing and promotional dollars are spent in a stealth and targeted fashion.

 

[DangerousDan]

If you're watching local network TV you're not going to see KISS or KUBE except perhaps for special programming like the Grammys (occasionally American Idol). It's just not efficient in the 12-34 demo. On MTV, BET, Comedy Central you might see ROS spots. Targeted cable shows like WWE or UFC? You'll see spots there too.

Wake up, old farts! This is the age of text message marketing and banners on MySpace. Putting up banners in Pioneer Square? I'll bet it's a stronger ROI than billboards in their target demo.

Being innovative in going where the demo is what it takes.

Dangerous Dan

 

[radioprofessor]

For KUBE and KISS targeted cable, TV, Billboards and busses are a complete waste of money in my humble opinion. For WARM, STAR, KZOK, KJR-FM, KBSG, KWJZ, KIRO,KOMO and others these mainstream marketing outlets provide good exposure in every perceptual study I have seen. As I stated earlier for younger stations you must be on myspace, fb, purevolume, google, yahoo, apple, interface, fandango, and every student base search engine you can find. KISS and KUBE and KQMV and KNDD do little or none of this. Targeted text and integrated cell-phone telemarketing are the bread and butter of KISS in LA, KISS in Boston, KISS in Dallas. This costs money and I can say with some authority that none of the Seattle stations has adopted this integrated approach primarily due to budget freezes at Clear Channel and Infinity. Older demographics need to be reached with established marketing and that is not happening either with a couple of notable exceptions. Where are the TV campaigns seen last year fpr KMPS, THE WOLF, JACK? TV is the prime medium for this demographic. for young demos if you truly think banners on light poles is better than an integrated web, cell-phone, text and demo specific search engine campaign you can probably work promotions at any Seattle station. You live in a parameter of "street promotions" that died two decades ago. Every valid study on the subject shows it is a waste of time and money. I would venture to say the average promotion director in this market has no clue about what these new approaches are. They are too busy buying valance and driving vans to shopping malls. It is sad. Radio used to be on the leading edge of marketing but outside of the top ten markets it hasn't trickled down.

 

[fgarvin]

There are still good promotions that are happening out there. The industry is just in a dryspell of crappy cliche contesting. The best promotions don't play to the 2%; they play to the 98% who are waiting to hear their favorite song. They draw you in. They get you emotionally participating. There's theater and fun and a good tease as a lead in.

In terms of the TV spots and the internet marketing? That's great. It's part of the pie. It's not the whole pie. A TV spot or a billboard or a spam email to the database will never, ever, in a 1000 years, be as effective as the personal touch of shaking hands.

Radio used to be really good at that. KUBE built it's dynasty on street marketing. They were EVERYWHERE. The CC theory of not going to things and focusing on JUST the internet strategies is not based on research or a grand concept; it's based on cost. And there are many many of their managers who are aghast at the prospect of "pulling the goalie" and taking their stations off the streets.

It would be like me calling McCain or Clinton or Obama and saying, "You know those 10,000 volunteers canvassing the streets and knocking on doors and all those rallies you have planned? Cancel them. Go and lock yourself in your office and send people emails that say 'Vote me!'." They'd laugh me out the door. We run for election four times a year. Four times a year someone is sitting at a kitchen table and trying to remember who they listened to. The personal touch of going out and meeting the audience can never be replaced.

 

[mammaknowsbest]

Amen sister!~ Radio has to get back to street to win. No one looks at busses or tv or cares about a stupid internet banner. Touching peopple where they live adds the ya ya factor to radio. banners everywhere with big events and street teams made radio what it is today. That is the ya ya factor that put kube on top and MOVIN in Portland and Seattle. Mamma agrees with the fgarvin.

 

[kentuckymedia]

fgarvin and mama got it right.

The best way to get known is to "SHAKE HANDS AND KISS BABIES". It gets politicians elected, it brings in ratings.

I cant stress that enough. If your car is labeled, just take a Saturday and drive it around. Seriously, just hit the main roads in the market and drive it up and down the streets. Stop at the DQ and if you have a couple t-shirts, walk up to those in line, shake their hand and give them a shirt. Its really that easy!

People will remember what station took time out of their day to come over and spend time with that listener, even if its only for 10 seconds.

 

[dunno]

Maybe it works that way in 1-DQ town Kentucky. Last time I checked, politicians were spendin a truck load of cash on mostly TV, radio, billboards, direct mail and internet. No doubt a extensive and large street team helps, but not close to the impact of good TV ads with a large budget can do! But then again, what do I know?

 

[kentuckymedia]

I also agreed that TV, Billboards are a part of the pie! But good ole fashion hitting the streets is very important, and something that most companies have gotten away from doing. Do you disagree?

 

[fgarvin]

I don't know a lot of stations that have the budget for TV. I've worked in nothing but Large or major markets since 1983 and the last station I was at that had TV was in 1990. But we never missed an event, or a concert or a fair or a festival. That's just common sense.

Radio used to have fans. Now we're lucky to even have listeners. And you get fans (loyalty) not by being part of the outblur of the landscape; you get them one at a time. It's work. I've always seen TV as a crutch.

 

[rw]

I don't know a lot of stations that have the budget for TV. I've worked in nothing but Large or major markets since 1983 and the last station I was at that had TV was in 1990. But we never missed an event, or a concert or a fair or a festival. That's just common sense.

That's a good observation, however, television is still the best method to invite new ADULT cume to sample a station. Fairs, festivals and concerts can help to provide a tangible, personal touch, but like any other form of marketing, events must be combined with the other tools in your bag to provide the mix of messages that will best get your name out there. And by the way, I've been in the majors for a while myself, and every station in a Top 25 market that I've programmed has has at least some budget for a Television presence.

Now, we haven't talked about the message that those TV spots contain. If you've got the wrong message in your spot ... for example, promoting tactical contesting when the best use of the available funds should be spent on image exposure for your brand to increase the available sample... well, then you're just throwing money away.

I've always seen TV as a crutch.

Not a crutch. More a solid tool when used properly. When not, it's simply a black hole that sucks up your valuable cash.

 

[TowerLamp]

That is the ya ya factor that put kube on top and MOVIN in Portland and Seattle. Mamma agrees with the fgarvin.

Huh? RiIGHT... MOViN in Rose city is doing so great it's been format flipped.