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Beating The Competition At Their Own Game
October 15, 2019
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Because of station clusters, personnel turnover, radio boards, music monitors, and old fashion gossip, it’s harder to keep secrets from the competition. A casual conversation with the shared 6th man (listener/groupie) could give you a heads up on the opposition.
You Just Never Know...
Years ago, I stumbled upon an insomniac female listener who loved talking to my competitor's overnight air personality. Fortunately, she also happened to be a huge fan of our station and a friend of our receptionist. One day she dropped in and I thought it was my duty as the OM to make her acquaintance. Counting on impeccable manners, I stopped by the reception desk to ask a question and the receptionist introduced us to one another.
Out of Character ...
Our receptionist looked at me oddly because she had never seen me chit chat with someone who could have been picking up a prize. During our conversation I discovered she would call the other station's overnight personality and talk to him for hours. One day during one of her visits I overheard her tell our receptionist about a contest my competitor was going to start airing.
Please Come to My Office ...
As soon as I got back to my desk, I called the receptionist and asked her to bring me the winner sheets from the previous day. She knew something was up as soon as she walked into my office. She said, “okay, why did you really ask me to come to your office?” I told her I had overheard her friend talking about the other station’s contest and I wanted to know everything about it.
A Done Deal ...
Like a loyal soldier, our receptionist casually pumped her listening friend for details and reported back to me. I rewarded the receptionist with 50-dollar restaurant voucher and put our direct competitor’s contest on our airwaves before he could. A short time after, a source told me that the crosstown programmer got so paranoid he stopped handing out contest detail memos to his staff. Afraid the radio Gods would subject me to Karmic payback, for a long time I also resorted to verbally explaining contests to my air talent too.
Everyone Thought They Copied Us ...
During our annual perceptual study, many of the respondents thought our direct competitor had copied the promotion after hearing it on our station. I think the reason for that was because you couldn’t turn us on without hearing about the contest. We had 5 second live position liners for every open mic, recorded liner drops, and 30 second recorded promos. We simply out promoted them.
If It Makes Sense ...
I only pulled the promotional pirating thing twice; they were inherited situations with my station behind in the ratings of the direct competitor. It worked each time and allowed us to pull even with the competition. A word of warning --If you are ever tempted to do this, tell the Market Manager/GM, Sales Manager and promotions what you are going to do and why. Also, check with the company's lawyers or legal department (making sure the promotion isn’t trademarked).
Out-Think Them ...
One of my favorite quotes, "If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." - General George S. Patton. It’s all about one-up-man-ship. Be careful who you share information with because it might come back to haunt you.
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