Ink Tank

Resurrecting Radio

When invited to participate on a panel at the NAB Radio Show, I was asked for my 10-point plan to resurrect radio. Though I declined participation in the panel, I’ve given some thought to what can be done to help radio rebound. Of course it’s easy to be an armchair quarterback, but execution isn’t easy — nor is buy-in from all the people who influence the decisions. Here are my thoughts:

1. Return Autonomy: Though McRadio may be popular for maintaining control over numerous properties, I believe success starts with local autonomy. Empower local market managers to make their own decisions about formats, content, air personalities, promotions, and spending. Yes, spending. Even with tight budget constraints and required margins, local managers will perform if allowed to fully manage without corporate interference.

2. Hyper-Localism On Air and Online: The station that has the deepest relationship with the local community, wins. If listeners feel they will miss something by not tuning in to your station, you have the golden ring.

3. Hyper-Promotion: Advertising works. We recommend it, but we don’t practice it. By being seen everywhere, we not only increase listener interest, we sow seeds with potential local advertisers.

4. Deep Listener Engagement: Though this involves localism, it goes deeper. Many stations have abandoned costly personalities who were considered “old friends” by listeners for decades. Whether established or fresh on the scene, personalities who are truly engaging and entertaining create better radio.

5. Reinvent Sales: Seller turnover is high. In many situations, new sellers are given short ropes to succeed and veterans are feeling abused, inundated with paperwork, and pressured. Sales work best when relationships with clients are deep and when success incentives are in place. Sellers need to be respected and loved, but they also need to be challenged and to have fun. We may not be attracting the best of breed people because other industries offer better packages and less negative pressure. New compensation systems must be developed, along with new online sales components and new ways to engage clients.

6. Reinstitute Training: We wonder why sellers cannot execute the basics, but maybe no one has shown them how. Great sellers need constant growth and stimulation. Training works, but few receive it.

7. Invest in Creative: Perhaps this sounds old school (and it is), but British broadcasters showed us that a creative lead sell works. A creative team meeting with clients and a produced spec spot are often enough to get a local advertiser on the air.

8. Reinvent advertising: Ads don’t work, campaigns do. Put the weight of your radio station behind every advertiser to make them successful. Seek new strategies and new interactive options to enhance success for advertisers.

9. Invest in New Media: It’s hard to concentrate on things that may not generate immediate dollars, but you will regret not doing so. It’s better to lead than to follow, and digital is where your listeners are spending most of their lives. Every radio station must become a new media property that hyper-involves the target audience. Radio must truly become a convergence of all existing media: video, audio, texting, the written word, social networking, streaming, podcasting, etc.

10. Open your mind. Some 23-year-old has a plan that will bring you more listeners and more revenue than anything you’ve done before. If you catch yourself saying, “That will never work,” or “That’s not the way we do things” — think twice. Be willing to experiment, or that 23-year-old will eventually be your competitor.

Though many of my suggestions are rooted in the past, it appears that the only people succeeding today are following these proven practices. Sometimes repair is as simple as returning to the basics.

Validation, Apple Style

A Message from Radio Ink's Eric Rhoads

The big news out of the 9-9-09 Apple announcements seems to be the FM radio on the iPod nano. People always expect great things from Apple, but today no one knew what to expect. Though some other items were revealed, the radio seems to be catching the most attention.

Oh, it's not just any radio. It’s a radio with a DVR. You can pause it, rewind it, and listen to what you missed. Though the concept isn’t new (you can buy special DVD radios), it’s never really hit the mainstream before. How cool.

Though this is a baby step. A radio on an Apple product (and yes, leave it to Apple to innovate by adding some DVR functions) is a toe in the water. Recent research indicated that a radio is the #1 wanted accessory for the iPod, iPhone, etc., and it’s a top seller. I have a little add-on radio that plugs into my iPhone and is a pain -- just something more to carry. This places a radio in potentially millions of hands, and if Apple sees it drive success, you can bet this radio will become a part of every iPhone and iPod. Or let's hope so.

We as an industry have been saying that a radio on an iPod is a great idea. Nearly all MP3 players have FM tuners, and Microsoft has put HD Radio on its upcoming Zune HD, due September 15. Maybe that got Apple’s attention because when I asked Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak about an iPhone with a radio at our Convergence conference, he said, “Fat chance.”

Of course, the effort led by Jeff Smulyan at Emmis (hear a podcast interview here) to put an FM radio on every phone (it's already built in to all Nokia phones but not activated in U.S. models) for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) makes a lot of sense because it solves a problem for the cell phone industry, which has to develop an alert system, which of course would be hard to use when the cell towers fail. A radio is a natural alternative that can trigger a message on the phone to tune in.

Of course, many will say, “Yeah, but you can listen to the radio with streaming anyway. Who needs a radio anymore?” True. But meetings with cell phone providers are fraught with issues about how to provide enough bandwidth if everyone decides to listen at once (as they would in a national emergency). They simply cannot carry the load.

It’s funny. My wife can tell me something repeatedly for years, but sometimes it takes a third party telling me the same thing to get my attention. Maybe radio people asking Apple to put a radio in the iPod did not get their attention. Maybe Microsoft's Zune HD got their attention. In any case, it's important validation because Apple recognizing radio by putting it in their product is simply great for radio.

Eric Rhoads

RADIO INK

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It’s About Face (Time)

“In all my years this is the first time the publisher of a magazine has ever visited me,” said one of my advertising prospects. It was clear that my showing up sent a positive message to this client. But I was bugged that I had not done it sooner.
 
Like you, I run a business and I get pulled in to every detail of the operation — from finance to marketing, employees, and production. As a business owner or operator, we each wear 20 different hats. Everything has to get done and nothing can slide. But if you’re worried about which is more important, remember: Your product (content) helps your business appeal to the client or the sales effort. Stop trying to decide. One begets the other, and both are critical.
 
Today I spent time on the phone with a new seller for one of my businesses. She’s been on the payroll for about two months, and my call was a stark realization that she had not been well informed. It’s not her fault, it’s mine. I have to take responsibility even if someone else dropped the ball in training her, because I’ve obviously not made it as important as it should have been.
 
I can easily spend an entire day just answering e-mails and taking phone calls without doing anything else. I’m exhausted at the end of most days, and, like you, I work more hours than my family would like me to work. And I still cannot get everything done. How on earth am I to find time for the salespeople and clients? After all, I have people who do that, right?
 
Delegation is the key to our ability to touch a lot of areas and move a lot of business, yet as managers we must find time for our salespeople and our clients. No one can tell your story better than you can. No one knows the level of detail better than you. And no one can help you understand the map, the bumps in the road, and the opportunities better than your clients and salespeople.
 
I can’t spend more time with my salespeople, sales management, and clients. Yet I must. You must. Not only do our clients need to feel the love and know that someone at a higher level in the company is truly concerned about their needs, but you may be the only person who will clearly see or understand a new opportunity.
 
Often someone will tell me something that really gets my attention. My wife Laurie will say, “I’ve been telling you that for months. Why aren’t you listening to me?” Familiarity breeds contempt, right? The same is true of your salespeople. They have been trying to tell you things that you aren’t hearing, and you probably won’t pay attention until you hear it from a client.
 
Nothing is more important than time with clients and salespeople. I know there are demands on your time from every corner of your office, but if you and I can increase our face time with clients and salespeople, we will see increases in business — and chances are they will transform our businesses in ways we never thought possible.