Hubbard's Marc Kaye: "We need to talk about radio's listeners as real people and not available rating points."

When it comes to the current perception of radio, what are the biggest opportunities?

Marc: Radio has suffered, not from bad press, but no press. Our competitors have done a much better job of providing media outlets with lots of information regarding their forward momentum. While all this is going on, radio has just sat back way too often.

Jacobs Media, Nielsen and others have continually provided information about the continued strength of radio and although other media has grown, over the air radio is more than holding its own and is still the most important and most often used media for the general public.

We need to do a better job of continuing to praise the job radio does in reaching households and cars on the road. The demise of radio has been greatly exaggerated and it is our job through things like “Share of Ear” to make the case that we have not gone anywhere.

As your team makes the case for radio, what message/approach has allowed you to flip the perception and “get on the buy”?

Marc: We are not trying to flip the perception to get on the buy, we are trying to flip the perception to make sure radio continues to be top of mind when ad campaigns are being conceived. This information must get into the hands of agencies at the highest levels.

Before the RFP comes in, what are top sellers doing to make the case for more dollars coming into radio?

Marc: If you are reacting to RFP’s, the horse has left the barn. Radio managers and sellers need to be proactive with everyone at the agencies and of course every one of their direct accounts. Nielsen and the Katz group for example have done wonderful things by meeting with large accounts and making sure they do not suffer from a severe case of a lack of information. Promoting the creativity of radio, the major benefit of tying in with radio’s live and local personalities are keys to gaining new dollars.

Along those lines, how does a seller make the case higher up the decision making food chain without stepping on the buyer’s toes?

Marc: Buyers know what they do, they buy. They are o.k. with that and we should be more active at other levels inside the agency. Owners and planners are always seeking new and innovative approaches to help their clients gain market share or new and innovative ways to launch new products.

If you are calling on an agency and have concentrated your effort to the buyer or buyers, shame on you. You must grow the relationship on all levels by proving that you are a great resource for all kinds of information. Get creative with your information and present it in a professional way that is time sensitive to everyone’s busy schedule.

If you create this kind of relationship, you will become so much more than another AE peddling radio. The opportunity is there because most of your competition as an AE will not go to the great lengths it takes to create this kind of relationship.

With radio consumption dominated by employed persons, who have money to spend with advertisers, what’s the best opportunity for radio to accelerate its momentum?

Marc: We have so much information these days as to who radio’s listeners are. Whether you’re using all the tools Nielsen has to offer or an X Ray report or even your station’s database, we need to talk about radio’s listeners as real people and not available rating points.

Radio sellers must add to their satchel of information, notice I specifically stayed away from the phrase “bag of tricks”, recent success stories and a list of references that have had great success by incorporating all that we have to offer, all that help clients achieve success.

How have digital platforms raised the bar for radio, especially in regards to client expectations?

Marc: Attribution has become an area of extreme priority for radio. The digital world has pushed radio into learning more and creating systems that can track radio’s success stories. There are a number of companies out there that have some pretty impressive products. If you have not already done so, get on the RAB web site and take a look at this very interesting article; Reporting from The Attribution Accelerator - What You Need to Know.

The radio industry has been dealing with this issue for a while now and I hope against all odds that as an industry we can come together and work together to come up with a universally accepted standard by which we can compete on an even playing field with the digital industry.

20 years ago, the yellow pages got a lot of credit. Today that belongs to digital. How does radio articulate its prominent position in the customer journey?

Marc: We must start taking advantage of and credit for the many opportunities we as an industry have that cannot be matched by other advertising vehicles. We need to invest time with our clients to make them aware of opportunities like High-Impact Media programs, Streaming Listener Rewards tie ins, Social Media integration opportunities, Podcasts that our stations create and can provide additional ways to reach our clients customers, Custom Video, Cause Marketing, Traffic Driving Campaign Enhancements, Influencer marketing, Sampling Programs and even Contests & Sweepstakes. How’s that for a satchel of opportunities?

With Nielsen adding radio data to local and national planning tools, how does radio fully utilize this opportunity?

Marc: Regardless of what Nielsen provides, and they provide some fine tools, the most disturbing fact coming out of Nielsen is the lower rating points markets are suffering. This is certainly true for some markets even more than others. If I was selling against radio, this just might be my single most important piece of information. The truth of the matter, however, is that this deterioration is not being felt in all major markets and that radio’s reach continues to be unprecedented.

After a 45 year career in radio, what are the fundamentals that guided you along the way that, as an industry, we should continue to emphasize in the decades ahead?

Marc: This is and will always be a people business. Thanks to great broadcasters like Hubbard and Cox and so many others, they get that it’s all about being live and local. AS WE CONTINUE TO EVOLVE AS AN INDUSTRY, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE CONTINUE TO BRING IN THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST MINDS TO RADIO.

We need to make a concerted effort to support local schools that continue to have communications programs. At the same time we need to go out and secure new employees from other areas as well in order to continue to grow our digital effort. Today’s radio stations are so much more than just the over the air part and we need to introduce that part to the next generation of radio freaks.

Want to connect with Marc and wish him well before he starts umpire school in January, drop him a line mmarc@juno.com.

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