DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

A Loyal Reader Writes:

“We air some local radio imaging liners on some of our stations, i.e., ‘Radio X, Today’s Best Music.’ They air between two songs. One song ends, the liner starts and the next song starts underneath. 

“I’m being asked to air things other than image liners in that position, e.g., ‘Radio X: Listen for Today’s Newsmakers weekdays at 9.’

“I think you’ll agree that it’s wasting the listeners’ time to drop in this ‘program promo-type liner’ between songs instead of a quick image liner. If you agree, how would you defend my case? I’m having trouble finding words to articulate my position.”

Yes, I agree.

People listening to music on a music radio station don’t want to hear about your News programming — at least, not in the middle of the music.

That’s why when TV networks run promos for other shows within, say, a sitcom, the other shows they’re promoting also are comedies.

You won’t see CBS running a promo for The CBS Evening News in the middle of The Big Bang Theory. I wonder why that is?

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Yesterday I wrote about the folly of most radio stations that attack the competition in their on-air promos and imaging.

One reader responded:

“How do you contrast this (what you said above) with ‘positioning?’ example: 7up is the un-cola”

That 7-Up campaign didn’t attack Coke or Pepsi or the other, minor cola soft drinks.

Rather, the television and radio advertising campaign firmly staked out a clear position for 7-Up: “If you you want a soda that’s not a cola, we’re what you want.”

Implicit in that statement is, “If you want a soft drink without caffeine, we’re what you want.”

In fact, later they made that position explicit re: 7-Up and caffeine: “Never had it, never will.”

At no time did they denigrate the other soft drinks (including Mountain Dew, which also is not a cola but does contain caffeine).

They simply staked out a clearly defined position that differentiated from the competition.

Take a look…

There are three types of radio programmers who are going to read this.

1.  Program directors who insist on airing hostile “attack ad” positioning statements, because they’re not very smart.

2.  Program directors who know better.

3.  Younger PDs who haven’t yet had a chance to think about it.

If you’re in Group #1, you’ll dismiss what I’m about to say.

Group #2 will nod their heads in agreement.

But it’s Group #3 that I’m really aiming at.

You know all those positioning statements you hear in which one radio station ridicules another? It’s called “trashing the competition.”

98% of the time, it also deserves to be called “stupid.”

There have been a few very smart, very successful “attack campaigns” that were effective because they were strategic. They weren’t borne of animus or demo ego. They were part of a well conceived plan to beat the radio competition.

My favorite of that tiny minority of successes was Randy Michaels’ destruction of Q105/Tampa by “The Power Pig.”

Your city probably has a “restaurant row.” A bunch of good restaurants, all clustered together within 2 or 3 blocks.

They cluster together deliberately: Good restaurants profit by being close to other good restaurants. If you’re a diner, that’s a nice neighborhood to find yourself in.

Well, the radio dial = Restaurant Row. That’s your neighborhood.

When’s the last time you saw a sign over an establishment on Restaurant Row proclaiming, “All the other restaurants on this block will give you food poisoning”?

You already know the argument about “not using your airwaves to promote another radio station by attacking them.”

If you have a bigger audience than they do, that’s a valid argument.

But there’s another reason why publicly attacking them is a stupid thing to do:

If you’re going to the trouble of attacking them, undoubtedly it’s because you see them as a direct competitor for your audience.

If so, some of your listeners also listen to that other station.

Do you really want to tell your listeners that the other stations they like are lousy? That they’re idiots for listening to them?

Finally, if you need to attack a competitor to make yourself look good, what does that say about the quality of your radio station’s programming?

A Loyal Reader Writes:

“I’ve had a rash of radio advertising clients who listen to the MP3’s of their spots hundreds of times. Consequently, they become micromanagers, often calling or e-mailing 2 or 3 times a day with suggestions or changes to their spots.

“Of course, we’re expected to kiss their hineys and make sure they’re satisfied customers.

“At what point, though, am I allowed to put my foot down and say, ‘Now, you’re messing with my work. I’ve got X number of years doing this, and I know what’s going to work, and I will NOT make that ridiculous change’?”

At what point are you allowed to put your foot down?

That point should be determined by your station management, in a firm, consistently enforced policy.

Sadly, most radio stations adopt the policy of, “Whatever the client says, we do. Period. Our job is simply to take their money and follow their orders.”

Note that I said “most” stations.

Definitely not all.

Before the printing company that handles my brochures or catalogues prints them, they hand-deliver to me an “iris.” (Used to be a “blue line,” for you old-timers.)

The iris is an exact copy of what the finished brochure will look like.

The printer won’t run the 10,000 or 20,000 copies until I’ve approved the iris. That means I’ve signed & dated it and indicated one of the following:

A) “Approved as is, with no changes or corrections needed.”

B) “Approved pending changes as indicated.”

C) “Approved pending corrections as indicated.”

If I’ve made a typographical error in the copy I provided them, this is my chance to find and correct it.

If there’s something I don’t like about the iris, this is my chance to change it. (But: If the change requires substantial time & effort on their part, I will pay for the change to be made.)

If they’ve made some sort of error in their production, this is my opportunity to spot it and insist that they correct it (at their expense).

After I’ve signed off on the iris, I’ll have to pay for the privilege of implementing any last-second inspiration I might have.

Is The Printer’s Policy Unreasonable?

No reasonable person would think so.

Does It Occur To Me To Complain About This Policy?

No.

Personally, I’d rather have the freedom to change my mind repeatedly without incurring any additional charge. That way, I could engage in my usual habits of procrastination and indecisiveness.

My printer, however, doesn’t want to pay the price for my slothful inclinations.

I have the right to expect the highest quality of printing service from them.

But I can’t get that service solely by paying them.

I also have to play by their rules. Abide by their policies.

Most Importantly: What Effect Does Their Policy Have?

Because customers know that they will have to pay for their own errors or capriciousness, their customers give a lot of thought to what they want before they approve the iris.

Yes, But The Radio Station Also Creates The Original Material.

Most commercial printing companies offer in-house graphic arts services.

And while the graphic artist is happy to work with the client to develop a piece that pleases the client, the artist is not willing (actually, is not allowed) to fritter away his time by implementing dozens of the client’s “I just had an idea!” inspirations.

Some printers include a limited amount of graphic support at no extra charge. The key word there is “limited.”

Some quote a flat rate for providing the “creative.” But that flat rate does not include unlimited rewrites and redos.

Others simply charge by the hour. The client can change her mind as often as she wants — but she pays for the extra work caused by her “constant creativity.”

But If We Enforce Such A Policy, We’ll Lose Business!

“Yeah, all that sounds good in theory,” I hear some radio sales managers grumbling. “But if we try to enforce such a policy, our clients will desert us for a competing station that won’t object to making endless changes at no extra charge.”

If that’s true, then you don’t have clients; you have customers.

You’re not selling results; you’re selling a commodity.

The radio stations that don’t establish and adhere to reasonable policies but, instead, follow the advertiser’s every command and say “Yessir!” to the advertiser’s every whim are the same stations that are forced to sell on a “Cost Per Point” basis (what I call “buying radio by the pound”) and to “throw in” bonus spots and promotions and remote broadcasts in order to land the account.

The paragraph immediately above this one? It describes 90% of North American radio stations.

That’s the 90% that constantly scrabble for new business, because they don’t do a good enough job to maintain their current client base.

Meanwhile, the stations that have loyal clients, that command a premium in the ad marketplace, that have genuine respect for the services they offer?

Their clients perceive, react to and share that respect.

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