DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

The radio industry has a long tradition of hating the competition — especially on the programming side.

Why?

Why, because….They’re the competition! Of course we hate them. They’re a bunch of no-talent jerks.

What other profession is like that?

I’m pretty sure that when a dentist attends a social gathering and discovers another of the party guests also is a dentist, he doesn’t respond by yelling, “You bastard!”

You love radio and you work for Station X (or Cluster X).

Somebody else loves radio and works for Station Y (or Cluster Y).

You despise them for loving the same thing as you?

I don’t get it.

(Actually, I do understand the temptation: Radio ratings are a zero sum game. You’re fighting for the same turf. But there’s a difference between being competitive and being stupid.)

And mark my words: Stick around in this game long enough and one day one of those “bastards” will be in a position to offer you a job…

…perhaps at the very moment that you really need one.

Let’s give the ad agency the benefit of the doubt: Let’s assume the client instructed them, “Create a radio commercial that won’t do us any good in the marketplace but which will make our dealers feel good about themselves.”

Let’s assume the ad agency knows that otherwise this is worthless and did its best to talk the client into doing something other than wasting its advertising dollars.

The spot begins by listing three “firsts” achieved by BMW, thereby leading listeners to assume they now are about to hear about another BMW automotive “first.”

What a letdown. This advertisement isn’t about automotive innovation (and how it can improve the lives of consumers). It’s a bragging message. It has nothing to do with the audience and offers no value to listeners.

Because they have nothing to say other than “look at us!” they say it twice:

“The BMW 3 series is the only car ever to have won Car & Driver’s 10 Best 22 years in a row”

is followed by:

“The legendary BMW 3 series has done it again, winning Car & Driver’s 10 Best award an unprecedented 22 years in a row.”

Yes, presumably someone got paid for writing that.

This radio ad campaign is an embarrassing waste of money that actually does more good for Car & Driver magazine (by publicizing its 10 Best list) than it does for the automobile manufacturer whose name listeners won’t be able to recall 10 minutes later.
   (“Which car was that, the one on the 10 Best list a bunch of years in a row? Mercedes? BMW? Lexus? Volvo?”)

If you’re not sure what the goal of a particular radio commercial is, you look at its Call To Action. The Call To Action tells you what action the advertiser wants the targeted consumer to take.

This spot’s Call To Action?

“For complete details on BMW Ultimate Service, visit (Web address).”

1.  We’ll brag about how many years in a row one of our cars has made a magazine’s Top 10 list.

2.  We’ll brag about it some more.

3.  We’ll tell people to go to our website to learn about our new car service plan.

Uh-huh. That’s gonna happen.

Don’t ask how I obtained this video, but it was recorded at a Radio Advertising Bureau conference a few years ago.

I was scheduled to speak.

For 90 minutes.

Just before I went onstage, an RAB official grabbed a microphone and announced that due to scheduling conflicts, my presentation would need to be reduced to just 45 minutes.

The audience’s outrage was…Well, take a look for yourself.

View this Radio Advertising Bureau video on YouTube.

I cannot offer a more valuable piece of advice than this to a radio personality:

Surprise your listeners.

One surprising break can go a long way with your audience.

Most radio people do the same things in the same ways every single day.

That makes it easy for the radio people but boring for the listeners.

Listeners are dying to be surprised. They don’t want you to be predictable.

But what about the cherished old radio axiom of “consistency”?

In radio, consistency is good. Predictability is bad.

Consistency means they know what kind of a show to expect from you. If they have to come expect a lighthearted, humorous program, that’s what they will hear when they turn you on. That is consistency.

Predictability means they know what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. And in radio, being predictable means being dead.

Here is the secret to surprising your listeners:

Before you do anything on the air, ask yourself, “What are my listeners expecting to do right now…and how can I do it differently, yep appropriately for them and for me and for my station?”

The reason listeners love being surprised is that most radio people do the obvious thing. There’s some big news story that everyone is interested in. The jock thinks for a moment and then says the first thing that pops into his mind.

The problem with that is all the other jocks in the market have that same first thought, and they all go on the air and say the same things.

I’m not insisting that your initial reaction be different from everyone else’s. I’m suggesting that you allow yourself to have that first, reflexive response…and put it aside.

Don’t put it on the air. Put it aside and look for other equally real responses that wouldn’t otherwise see the light of day…because they weren’t the most obvious, first thought.

It actually is quite easy to stand out from the rest of the crowd of radio hosts. Just ask yourself, “What will every other jock in the world do with this item?” — and then do something different.

By default, you will look like a creative genius, simply because you did something other than the most obvious.