A Better ‘Why’

Remember "Radio Heard Here"?

Oh, sure you do. It was all over the NAB Show in Las Vegas back in 2008, with the Las Vegas Convention Center draped in garish orange ads showing "the kids" rocking out to their transistor radios. It was the answer to the people saying that all radio really needed was a strong marketing campaign to remind people why they love radio. But it was a lame campaign and it quietly disappeared. Go to the Radio Heard Here website and you'll find an Indonesian lifestyle blog that hasn't been updated for a year. (And check @RadioHeardHere on Twitter and you'll see that they never tweeted, not once. Impressive outreach.)

Oh, wait, I almost forgot. You surely remember "Radio Rocks My Phone," don't you? That was big in 2011, one of the slightly more than one zillion attempts to convince people that they don't just want but NEED FM tuner chips in cell phones. Once again, radio devoted a ton of free spots to a tin-eared marketing campaign, and once again, it didn't do the job.

Which brings us to the 2017 NAB Show and the continuing perception that all radio needs is a little marketing push, a way to... okay, let's borrow something from the @RadioHeardHere Twitter bio: the industry just needs a way of "reminding listeners and advertisers that radio is more relevant than ever before."

What's interesting to me is that this is partially correct. Marketing is important. Reminding people you exist is important. But just marketing the industry is a sure way to flush money down the toilet. It's not about getting the word out about radio anymore. And it's not even about reminding people what radio offers, or, especially, its virtues in emergencies or its public service. People know about that, but they EXPECT that. They ASSUME radio will have tornado warnings, do charity fundraisers, and be good citizens. That's not really ever been a marketing issue as an industry. Plus, people aren't stupid; they know there are other alternatives for all of that. Trying to appeal to people on the basis of being there in an emergency is not exactly going to motivate anyone to suddenly dump other forms of entertainment and information. Maybe they'll buy a hand-cranked AM/FM/Flashlight radio for the earthquake kit.

No, the marketing issue is something different, something the industry leaders should be addressing right now but aren't. The marketing should be about the content, and the content should be better than any alternative. As radio's strategic advantage over streaming and podcasting -- ease of use and ubiquity -- wanes, and people increasingly have access to every audio source everywhere at all times merely by issuing a command to Alexa or Siri, radio will have to justify why people will want to ask for its product over the others.

And that means first that the content has to be better, but that's a separate issue we'll discuss in another column. There IS great content on radio, of course. But it has to be top of mind in the new voice-controlled age, so top of mind that when someone gets in their car or walks into a room and wants to hear something, he or she says "Alexa, play me...." Well, what will they say? Your brand? The name of your show? Your name? Will you be there and ready? You need to make sure Alexa and Siri and Google Home and Bixby know what you are and how to access you, so look into creating skills for all the platforms.

But even so, you also have to give people a reason to say your name. Even if you've ensured that "Alexa, play me H108" launches your skill and your stream, do you have a clear idea of why they'd do that? Because if someone wants to listen to, say, Ed Sheeran, they're more likely to say "Alexa, play me Ed Sheeran." They don't need you for that. Same for "Alexa, play me talk radio." Are people gonna do that, or are they going to name a show? Will they name YOUR show? What are you doing to command that loyalty?

See, the industry knew it was facing a problem a decade ago, but the response was too rooted in traditional thinking. They were marketing a utility and selling things on which people didn't need to be sold. What they should have been doing then and what they should be doing now is concentrating on selling the content you can't get from other sources, whether it's talk radio that's better than podcasts, or podcasts that are better than other podcasts, or music framed by entertaining and unique personalities people like. They know what radio is. They know how to get it. They still use it. The goal should be to serve them what they want on all platforms, not to remind them, and advertisers, that radio exists or, worse, that it's "cool" (or "hep," or "boss," or "ginchy").

I don't expect to see that in action at the NAB Show next week, but I also don't expect yet another slogan and another marketing campaign to be unveiled. It's telling that the radio panel program for this show involves two long series of sessions, one on "Digital Strategies" and one on podcasting. Perhaps a change is in the wind. I'm hoping it is.

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Speaking of marketing, let's go right to the plug for All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics, with show prep material that will come in handy when you need something to talk about and which is available for the low, low price of free by clicking here and/or by following the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item. And there's the Podcasting section at AllAccess.com/podcasts, and this week, there's a great "10 Questions With..." Jon Pole, who has the unique perspective of someone who hosts a major market talk show AND owns a chain of radio staitons -- he's the co-owner and co-founder of My Broadcasting Corp,, which has several stations across Ontario surrounding and in between the major cities, and he's the evening host at CJAD/Montreal and a regular fill-in at CFRB/Toronto. He has a lot of insight into the radio business that's applicable to the U.S. as well as Canada, and once you read it, you'll want to go out and buy yourself a bunch of small market stations.

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If you're going to be in Las Vegas for the NAB Show, you'll find me in the back of those radio sessions as per usual, looking annoyed and furiously tapping on my computer. I'll also be hovering around the LVCC and other venues doing Lord knows what, so feel free to say hi. I rarely bite.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
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