From the Corner Office
This
Month's Topic:
Radio's New Mission
Hello,
This month in my on-line column, I would like to discuss "Radio's New Mission".
During the past several years, when radio was getting beat up in the press, people would ask me over and over again, "why doesn't radio hire a PR firm to combat this stuff?" Perhaps we could have, and maybe it would have helped, but I doubt it. Why? Because all of the PR firms in the world can't solve our perceptual problems if we don't believe in our own effectiveness.
Those of us who work in radio need to step back for a moment and recognize the true value of our medium for what it is worth. It has always amazed me that we allow ourselves to be devalued, every day. How? By not being able to intelligently and forcefully respond to the assertions and accusations of the marketplace. Who was responsible for allowing people to believe that satellite radio was taking over?
Everyone in the radio industry knew (or should have known) the numbers: Radio has 260 million listeners nationwide each week; satellite is stuck at 11 million. Simple; clear; declarative. But we didn't get that truth into the marketplace and make it stick. It is we who have let radio be reduced to a secondary medium in the eyes of agencies of all sizes across this nation, and it is we who now have work to do.
We have the tools, we have the arguments, and we have the truth on our side. We have an army of people whose livelihood is based on selling radio but who spend too much of their time selling time. In the past several years, the Radio Advertising Effectiveness Lab has given us even more concrete research - proof that radio functions as a primary medium for millions of consumers - but still the advertising marketplace is ill-informed. Not uninformed, but ill-informed.
We are the only ones who are going to drive home the facts:
*Radio continues to be the prime outlet where people hear about new music.
*Radio will always be the medium of choice in an emergency situation.
*Listeners' relationships with their home town stations are uniquely personal and credible.
*The radio industry is cooperating as never before to bring HD multicasting to a reality in a digital age.
*Radio stations web streams are gaining listenership well beyond the rest of the internet streams.
*Radio station websites and streams are presenting advertisers with an integrated marketing solution on the local level, where their customers are.
*And the vast majority of listeners expect their radio consumption to remain steady or increase, even with the explosion of new media, in the next 5 years.
We can talk amongst ourselves about all the technological change and work hard to adapt our medium for the future, but if we do not tell the power brokers from Madison Avenue to Main Street, it doesn't mean a thing. In radio, we all know the value of perception, yet we ignore the very act that will change the perception: a reasoned argument, grounded in the truth, supported by facts, told to the right audiences, over and over.
We continue to spend so much time debating things like 30, 60, or 90 second spots that we have shunted aside the very work that is needed for us to prosper. We continue to focus more time and energy on cannibalizing ourselves than on growing our business. Many walk around like Chicken Little, believing that the sky is falling on radio's head. And we wonder why our clients don't have faith in our medium? Radio is the medium of imagination; let's use ours.
Advertisers also need to trust that we are going to do the job for them, and that means that we have to focus on accountability. We're on the verge of a new age of electronic measurement and we should welcome the increased accuracy. The damage we do to ourselves and our industry is immeasurable when we produce excuses instead of results. We have to grow up and move radio salesmanship into the 21st century.
We also have to realize that the day of the quick, one-time sale is over. The only way to move forward is to do the right thing: walk away from the bad deals, find the better prospects, and start building lasting relationships. Is it hard? Yes. But it's not impossible. It has to begin in every sales manager's office, regardless of the near-term pressure, with the fortitude to just say no.
We need to reeducate every seller in our country to be able to defend our medium and to have the courage and spirit to take the fight to decision-makers of all sizes. Whether it's the owner of a small business or the CEO of a major ad agency, each one needs to hear clearly and repeatedly that a new spirit and voice has taken root in the radio industry.
It is also incumbent on the leaders of our industry to set the example, and visit with companies like Wal-Mart to make our case and show radio's worth as a viable advertising vehicle.
In the radio industry, we seem to be very good at announcements and new initiatives. This has to be different. This must be a sustained, multi-year education and selling program that reaches each and every station in our company and our nation. There's no good reason not to do this; we need only the courage to see it through.
Please feel free to e-mail me by clicking on the "Ask Peter" icon posted below. I would love to hear your feedback or answer any questions you may have.
Have a great month!
Best regards,
Peter October 2006