Beat Them With Their Own Game ...

Radio companies are more secretive than ever. It's gotten to the point that many decision makers can't openly offer an opinion on a song without the okay of the C-suite. Some things never change. Based on recent conversations with air personalities, radio groupies are still a great way to stay ahead of the competition.

There, There ...
The groupie is still a sympathetic ear and cheaper than a therapist. But they're not bound to confidentiality rules like a therapist. However, like mental health professionals, they listen to a lot of people. The radio groupie is not necessarily loyal to one station or air talent, and that's where my story begins.

You Get Lucky Sometimes ...
Years ago, I stumbled upon an insomniac female listener who loved talking to my competitor's evening air personality. Fortunately, she also happened to be a huge fan of my station and friend of our receptionist. One day she dropped by the station and I happened to be in the reception area. The receptionist waved me over to meet her.

Oh Really ...
Our receptionist looked at me oddly because she'd never seen me talk that long with anyone not in the radio or music business. My curiosity had been piqued, because I'd overheard her tell our receptionist about some big contest the evening personality at our direct competition had told her about. So, before I was even waved over, I was coming over to say hi and find out what she was talking about.

Did I Hear Right? ...
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 that I hadn't heard anything about it. I monitored them all the time and there was nothing on the air over there.

Ah Hah ...
The receptionist told me that the woman was single with 2 kids, a neighbor, a fan of our station & the competitors, and the night talent at the other station was dating her sister. I gave her my patented stuck out bottom lip with sad eyes look and asked, "Is there any way you might talk to your friend now and then and see if she might mention anything else the other station might be doing on air?" She got it, she smiled at me and said, "I'll see what I can do."

All For One ...
Like a loyal soldier, the receptionist casually pumped her listening friend for more details and reported back to me. I rewarded her with a 50-dollar restaurant voucher and put our direct competitor’s contest on our airwaves before they could. I did it on a few other minor contests as well. A short time after, a source told me that the crosstown programmer had become so paranoid, he stopped handing out memos to his staff with contest details. On my part, just in case of karmic debt, for a long time after I only verbally explained a contest on the day it was scheduled to start.

Why Did They Copy You? ...
During our annual perceptual study, many of the respondents thought our competitor had copied some of our promotions. I think they thought that because we heavily promoted our contests. You couldn’t turn us on without hearing about a contest. Live liners, recorded drops, recorded promos. We simply out promoted the competition.

When The Situation Permits ...
A word of warning. If you're ever tempted to do what I did on occasion during my career, tell the Market Manager/General Manager, Sales Manager, and promotions what you're going to do and why. Also, check and make sure the competitions promotion isn’t trademarked.