The Grammy Awards tonight are obviously focused on Whitney Houston and honoring her life. Adele with all of her new Grammy hardware is grabbing a lot of the spotlight, as well (how will she carry all of those trophies home?), but I hope broadcasters heard Dave Grohl when he accepted his award for best rock performance.
The LA Times characterized his comments as a ‘sneer’ to electronic music. What Grohl was essentially saying is CONNECT with your audience…don’t hide behind technology. Nothing can replace human interaction. Here is the LA Times blog post mentioning it.
As you start your week and consider your battle against Ipods, Spotify, Pandora, and others, remember how your station engages with your listeners. Winning stations have what other technologies only dream of – an emotional link.
How are you pursuing your Listener Engagement Strategy this week?
Have you seen the AMC series the Walking Dead? If not, do yourself a favor and set your DVR immediately. The show is a… – here comes the pun — …monster hit. Literally. The WD is quickly growing in popularity as the show gets ready to launch into the second part of season 2 this week. As cliché as I find the zombie-genre, this show is different and swept me, and a whole lot of others, into the audience from the first episode. The stories are gripping, and the characters are credible, and 3-dimensional. It is easy to go through all the fingernails on one hand before the end of the hour.
Usually, I tune these types of shows out and have easily fallen asleep to many of the vampire and super-natural TV show offerings available in prime time. But there is something special about the Walking Dead. I have become a flag waving P1, and apparently there are many, many WD P1’s. The Walking Dead have a fanatically vocal group of fans and this zombie epidemic is breaking cable television records for audience viewing.
How are they doing this? Can Zombies really be all that exciting? Despite huge road blocks that come with first season start-ups, plus budget cuts, the loss of their leader, and an “unnerved” their cast, the show has overcome obstacles and gets better and better.
In an article by LA journalist Susan Karlin, she gets to the bottom of how they do it and the message is clear: research, research, research. The producers pay close attention to what they put out there and pull data from the fans, the cast, the crew. Among many sources for data, they have panels, blogs, and discussions via email and twitter, after-show and an adventure game on their website. Karlin finds their winning formula fits in 4 main area:
Lego Man has gone into Space! In early January, two Canadian students launched a Lego Man into space using a weather balloon and a small video camera. The Lego Man holds the Canadian flag all the way through the mission. It is captivating video! In 5 days since it was posted on youtube.com the video has been watched 2,032,000+ times. Lego Man has gone viral! The students received a lot of TV news coverage and interviews and it is one of the biggest trending stories this week.
What a novel new idea these kids had. Or, is it really all that new? Digging around on Youtube.com there are a lot of things that have been launched into space by hobbyists via weather balloon. In November 2011, before Legos conquered space, a team did the exact same thing with a toy robot as the star in a video of a balloon ride into space. This video has only received 230,000+ views on Youtube.com (Check out: “Toy Robot in Space!”). Interesting enough, it is almost identical to the Canadian’s triumph.
A little more digging and there are lots of things that have made the trip to space using a balloon. There is an iPad (166,000+ views) , a Twinkie (36,000+ views - which was eaten upon return), a plate of Sushi (38,500+ views – not eaten as best I can tell), and even a Bobble-head doll (41,000+ views).
So, it is not a new idea, and not very interesting in most cases until we see the Lego Man. Why did the Lego Man go viral and the others barely move the interest needle? Look at the parts:
1) Legos: We can relate to Legos. We’ve all had them and played with them and they are a well-loved brand. A Lego Man is an extension of the brand; He is the personification of a man (not a robot); he is like Luke Skywalker – a farm boy who goes into space. The consistency of his stoic semi-smile, unchanged through the flight, is beautiful. (In what ways is your brand relatable?)
2) The Canadian Flag: Or maybe better to say, the flag. Doesn’t matter if we are Canadian or not, there is a lot to say about representing something bigger than ones-self and still being inclusive of others. It is a nation’s flag – not some elite corp of weather balloon snobs, these Lego builders are wearing a team jersey! Backing a team is why we love the Olympics, sports, and our favorite teams. This flight has meaning. (What flag are you flying? Are you elitist or inclusive?)
3) The Conquest: This is space! Who gets to go to space? That is BIG time. We are GLUED to this.
4) The Students Behind it: Unlike the other efforts (and videos), the Lego Man was conceived by 2 boys – not adults (as best can be determined by the news stories). The others videos have a team of adults, or causes (which can means deep-pockets) behind them, and turn us off. This shows big thinking and innocence. Plus, kids and Legos go together.
5) The Message: (if there is one, or call it ‘for fun’) If this were a talk-set for a morning show it would get an A+. It is straight to the point, topical, stays on message, and concludes in a timely manner. Plus, right now there are a million kids looking to get a weather balloon, and a million more thinking where they can send their own version on Lego Man and get him on Youtube.com. (How can we be this motivating with what we do and say on the air?)
6) The Media: Youtube.com drives this because it is the perfect media for topical images. (Are you embracing what your media represents?)
Lego Man has arrived. Flat Stanley, eat your heart out!
Google Trends is mana from research heaven. It might be addictive fun for research types, but for radio, in the all-important daily ritual of remaining relevant and topical it is a great health check for content programming. Whether you do Newscasts, or content throughout the morning or day, finding what is engaging to media consumers is the business we are all in. Do some research: google.com/trends
Take a look at what your morning show was talking about this morning and compare it to what people are searching for online. How well do these match up? Now, take a look at what your talent talks about in pop culture news and search for trends on that. Is it relevant? Are they talking about the most relevant artists / topics / ideas? Are they posting comments about these things on Twitter or Facebook? As a talent coach and advocate for your team, turn them on to connecting with what is “trending” and making that their playbook for developing content.
There are so many interesting topics being searched online that I am amazed many more shows don’t put their ‘finger on the pulse’ of what information people are consuming and turning this into fodder and PPM ratings!
Betty White Trend Leading up to her 90th Birthday.
Getting into the heads of media consumers to see the fluxuations in their interest over time let’s you surf the bigger waves. Imagine the graph above being reflective of a PPM or a diary…. Powerful stuff! Once you get totally hooked on trends, dig in a little deeper with Google Insights and you will be amazed how you can fine tune the info you want to see.
Clear Channel is on the move. They announced today that they are rebranding the company name from Clear Channel RADIO, to CLEAR CHANNEL MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT.
CEO Bob Pittman says, “I’ve watched as CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO has pushed beyond the traditional boundaries of radio to reach more Americans every month … through an unmatched combination of broadcast, satellite, online and mobile assets. The new CLEAR CHANNEL MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT brand underscores that we are taking our brands and content wherever our listeners expect to find it. And, in the future, as new places emerge where people want to access our powerful brands and content, we’ll be there, too.”
Look below on my earlier post (Circle the Wagons) about CC’s iHeartradio platform welcoming Cumulus and Greater Media stations to the fold, I mentioned that, “savvy programmers know that the business is (today)…about ALLTHE CONDUITS available to us that disseminate the product we manufacture.” Webcasts, Podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, Apps… et. al. Importantly for us, the CC re-brand underlines the importance this year that we should all be thinking in bigger, more global ways to reach our audience. We should always looking for and asking ourselves, what are the new ways that we can connect with our audience?
Look for more companies to make similiar distinctions this year on how they postion their “Radio” brand.
Encouraging news that Clear Channel’s iHeartradio platform has accepted broadcast competitors Cumulus, and most recently this week Greater Media stations to the listening choices. The list of stations on iHeartradio is rapidly growing and is making strides to become a more unified platform for listening. As of yesterday one other nugget came from the Clear Channel camp: CC announced that it is releasing a Developer Program that will allow iHeart to be plugged in to other websites and applications. Could that mean future access to non-broadcast audio content like podcasts from Adam Carolla or Tom Leykis all under one app?
Today the savvy programmers know that the business is not about the conduit of the airwaves, but about all the conduits available to us that disseminate the product we manufacture. This new model suggests that partnering-up stations is a vote for listening and symbolizes a new era of relationships — beyond the obvious choices such as putting up a fan-page on Facebook (partnering with FB) as we did over the last few years.
And now stations teaming up with broadcast competitors is a bold move that might become soon be as common place as duets on a Santana or Pitbull record. Our industry is really wising up to the fact that radio is really about delivering content — by any means — a fact that most of us realize, but don’t really KNOW. This ‘circling of the wagons’ partnership is good for the industry and hopefully the start of bigger things.
Competition makes us better. Partnerships make us stronger.
While RIM fights to remain relevant in the smartphone war, it made a great move that should pump some life back into their brand — BlackBerry 7.1 in the Curve models 9360 & 9370 will have the FM chip so you can listen to the radio on your speaker phone.
If you already have either BB model you can update your software to 7.1 and it will unlock the FM radio chip already built-in to your phone. Users who update will automatically see a new radio app on their phone. Now, you’re just a click away from listening to the radio at anytime with these models.
With the apps of iheartradio – which already gives access to a growing list of broadcast station, as well as Pandora, and Google Music apps preloaded on many brands, will the public think that an FM app is even necessary?
U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain has jumped in the polls from single-digits to a leader with nearly 30%. His ‘9-9-9’ tax code proposal has been the fuel in his rocket and virtually the only issue he discusses. It is a simple proposed solution to one of the hot issues on voters’ minds. No matter what you think of Cain or his idea (now that his proposal is getting scrutiny, he could fall out of the race just as quickly as he rose), but the lesson to take away is a message is powerful when it can be communicated simply and clearly.
Consumers need a clear message based in a key benefit area.
Legendary adman David Ogilvy said it best, “Big Ideas are usually simple ones.”
The next time you are doing something as big as devising your positioning strategy or something as tactical as writing a promo, remember David Ogilvy and think simple.
Mary Meeker, partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is a masterful analyst of Internet trends.
At the 2011 Web 2.0 Summit last week, Meeker lays out a list of 10 trends based upon many data points.
What do these trends mean for radio?
Mobile Usage of Radio will Rise: Mobile subscriber growth is exploding as internet adoption had in the last decade. Smartphone shipments have surpassed feature phone shipments in the U.S. and Europe. Specifically, iPhones, iPads and Androids sales have exploded. Obviously, your station needs to have aps in place, readily available for listeners, and radio needs to work with ratings providers to accurately measure usage of radio via web and apps, and in PPM markets, how we deal with usage with headphones.
Data. Data. Data. There is an immense amount of data at our fingertips. Advertisers want more certainty in calculating ROI and effectiveness. Radio stations can measure clicks on its websites. Ad effectiveness research will prove to be a critical component of what radio stations offer advertisers.
User Interface: Meeker points out that Steve Jobs was the man who transformed computers from utilitarian boxes to “beautiful objects we could use in thousands of ways to aim to make life better.” Thanks to Jobs, consumers expect an easy-to-use interface. Is your website easy to navigate?
Meeker predicts that voice recognition, sound creation and sharing will grow rapidly. Considering the amount of usage of radio that currently and will occur on smartphones and in-car, voice recognition features would be critical for radio.
Commerce: E-commerce now represents 8% of retail commerce. There is huge smartphone usage by shoppers using apps to find the best deal. Imagine how powerful a radio station partnership would be with a tie-in with ShopSavvy or other ecommerce tools.
Advertising: Meeker profiles the mediums who enjoy a much higher proportion of spending compared to consumer usage (print).
Content Creation: Meeker says content has become commoditized. Newspaper revenue has been declining while Google revenue has been rising. Radio stations need to provide LOCAL content…but the real winners will be those radio outlets who combine proprietary content with aggregated content that is focused on target listeners, so radio station sites and Facebook pages become entertainment and information destination points. Radio has tremendous up-side in this area.
Mobile devices are Empowering People: Over 200 million farmers in India receive payments via mobile devices. Meeker pointed out how instrumental mobile devices are when news happens. Listener-driven content is one way radio completes a 360-degree loop relationship with consumers.
Here is her presentation that you can view or download:
The Grammy Awards tonight are obviously focused on Whitney Houston and honoring her life. Adele with all of her new Grammy hardware is grabbing a lot of the spotlight, as well (how will she carry all of those trophies home?), but I hope broadcasters heard Dave Grohl when he accepted his award for best rock performance.
Strategic Radio Solutions
Hal Rood
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