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Week of July 27, 2009
July 27, 2009
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Friday 7/31, 2009
Are you using your RDS to its full potential? Are you over-using it? Could we all agree that the most important thing on your RDS stream is the song title and artist?
Apparently some folks think it is more important to put catchy little phrases and station liners on while the song is playing, or the sales department has found a way to grab a few pennies by putting inane advertiser lines on during songs. Do you know how irritating that is to listeners who have come to depend on it for song/artist information?
At the same time, very few people have figured out what satellite radio ascertained years ago: Sponsor information like phone numbers and location can be valuable to the advertisers and listeners, but ONLY while the commercial is running.
Please, when dealing with listener-oriented items like RDS, think of the listener. Don't get too cute because the audience could care less about "cute."
Thursday 7/30, 2009Warning ... Warning ...Warning ... Danger, Will Robinson! Copyright infringement can cost you big bucks.
Who knows if this lawsuit will stick, but a photographer in Philadelphia is suing CBS for at least $150,000 alleging copyright infringement for the use of his photograph of the city's skyline at the top of the website of "The Big Talker" WPHT.
Like most of you, I know the drill. Person sues the company ... call in the company lawyers ... it drags out for months with the lawyer's clock ticking...station management gets the corporate bill monthly ... win or lose, you spend lots of your hard-earned revenue on a totally non-productive effort. Oh ... then Corporate wants to know why your bottom line is suffering and what you are going to cut to pay your legal fees!
All of that because someone might have missed checking the copyright on a photo you didn't need to use because a street teamer could have probably taken one as good or better with a $300 digital pocket camera.
Wednesday 7/29, 2009According to a Forester Research report, attitudes toward advertising showed improvement in 2008. Why? Because people believe ads have become more conversational and less disruptive. Because of this, they think the ads are more helpful through the purchase process. The real key to success is getting feedback from the audience prior to executing the ad. Forester Research calls it a customer-guided approach.
It's not a new idea, but who can afford to research ads? You can. But, realizing most of us would get laughed out of the conference room if we suggested to ownership that we wanted to spend a few tens of thousands of dollars on researching advertising, we have to get untraditional. Use your website and all your interactive/digital assets to build research. Is it as "blind" as you would like it to be? No. Is it better than sitting around lamenting your lack of funds? Yes!
Forester has found that by using the customer-guided approach, ad relevance is improved and advertisers can focus on brand equity rather than just discounts.
This is your weekly "get off your backside and do something" message. Don't waste time lamenting what you can't do; look for ways to use your assets to make the radio experience better for everyone ... your advertisers, your listeners, your employees and you.
Tuesday 7/28, 2009I just read a book you'll enjoy by Spencer Johnson, M.D. He is the author of 11 great books including "The One Minute Manager" and the classic book on change, "Who Moved My Cheese? An A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change." I'm sure you've read at least one of those.
His new, just-released book is "Peaks and Valleys, Making Good and Bad Times Work for You -- At Work and In Life." As the title suggests, it is a study of the highs and lows we all go through in life and it is an interesting, no-nonsense take on how to deal with them. It's written through the eyes of a young man who grows through life with the help of an older and wiser mentor.
Here is a quote from the book that will sound familiar to many of you:
"The young man thought back to the days when he first joined the prosperous company, and he wondered why things were so different now. He remembered when they used to feel excited about looking for ways to improve every aspect of the business. They often asked themselves questions and did not assume they already knew the answers. They took nothing for granted."
Hmm ... do you know someone who might be that young man? Is it you?
It's a short, 101-page book that details some remarkable principles and provides simple tools you can use in good and bad times to make your life more enjoyable and successful.
Here's another quote:
"Avoid believing things are better than they really are when you are on a peak. Or worse than they really are when you are in a valley. Make reality your friend."
The book will help you search for the truth about your past, current, and future situations both in your business and personal life.
Monday 7/27, 2009Studies show the most effective commercials are those that are the most interactive. We in radio can use our online assets to push interactive usage. Remember, you can run (with no additional licensing charges) the same ad on your stream as you are running on the air IF it meets certain criteria and does not contain voices or music that need additional payments. I am sure you are a creative thinker and can come up with a way to do some great interactive spots that will engage some of your audience and be interesting to the audience that doesn't interact.
How about a "contest" commercial looking for audio from the audience through your website selling the product? It took me about 10 seconds to come up with an idea. Put your best creative people on it and do some really compelling interactive work. It is a way for you to do a better job of the most important part of advertising ... selling your client's product.
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