You know the story about The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg? It’s about, uh…a goose. And I guess it laid golden eggs, and people did stuff that caused the golden eggs not to be laid any more. The end.
Fine, go look it up if you want more details. But the moral has something to do with greed and ignorance and shortsightedness.
Gosh, why does that remind me of the way large companies are running U.S. radio stations?
Today a well-known, veteran radio salesperson who wishes not to be identified drew my attention to a Stupid Radio Trick I really hadn’t considered (because my focus usually is on the radio advertising message, not the radio sales system).
The Way Commercial Radio Used To Be. (You know, back when you had to try really hard to lose money operating a radio station? Back when we had news departments, live humans answering the phones, and actual, honest-to-goodness programming variety — vs. a vapid slogan that falsely claims variety?)
“Mr. Merchant, your commercial will air 40 times per week on our station, so people will hear it repeatedly. We call that ‘frequency,’ and it’s one of radio’s great strengths.
“Also, the commercial we air will be designed specifically for our listeners. That’s to make sure the message matches the audience. No sense in playing a rock ‘n’ roll commercial for listeners who prefer classical music, is there? Ha ha, of course not!”
The Way Corporate Commercial Radio Is Today. (But completely unrelated to the fact that stations are struggling to keep their heads above water.)
“Ms. Merchant, we’re going to spread your 40 weekly commercials across all six of our local stations. That way LOTS of people will hear your commercial…once. Or maybe even twice, if you’re lucky. We call that ‘selling a package to clients who don’t know better.’
“Plus, to minimize cost and maximize efficiency, your one commercial will run ‘as is’ on all six stations. Heck, if a commercial message works well with our Soft AC listeners, I can’t think of any reason it wouldn’t also communicate effectively to our Hip Hop audience.”
So let’s review our game plan: A (usually) lame commercial, heard not often enough by the wrong audience.
How could that not be working?
