Tag: promos

Industry Views

Monday Memo: The Irresistible Offer

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imHaving written thousands of commercials and promos, I’ve become a copy connoisseur. And, admittedly, a tough grader when it comes to delivery. Sell me and you’re good.

So, all four flight attendants caught my ear as I flew to/from a radio conference in Hawaii. The pitch came toward the end of 10+ hours each way nonstop Boston/Honolulu; and aboard the quick hops to/from Kauai.

They sounded neither sing-songy, as though they were reading; nor falsely enthusiastic. That alone impressed me. Thirty years ago, I scripted such announcements – and coached flight attendants – when I programmed 3 live USA Today Sky Radio channels aboard Delta, United, and Northwest Airlines. Back to the future…

They were hawking the Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard, which, already having a wallet full of plastic, I didn’t need. Each dollar spent earns a Hawaiian Mile (double miles for restaurant purchases), which would be tempting if I wanted to visit again. But I wasn’t sold… yet. I had been to Hawaii once before, on vacation, and only went this second time for business. Travelogue here recently explains that we East Coasters have quicker paths to paradise.

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Typically, these affinity cards come with a signing bonus. Another one I have awarded 20,000 points if I used it to make at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days. So, I smiled when these flight attendants emphasized that – using the promo code on applications they were handing out – I could quickly earn 80,000 miles, a bonus “you won’t see if you sign-up online.”

And as an announcement aficionado, I noted how all four recited this line verbatim: Unlike other cards that ask $1,000 or more purchases to qualify, “Just buy a cup of coffee or a pack of gum, and you’ve got 80,000 Hawaiian Miles.”

And they explained that 80K was enough for a free round trip from Boston or New York to Honolulu, or TWO round trips from a West Coast airport… DARN tempting… if I ever want to go back to Hawaii. Still not sold.

The clincher? I can also use those miles on JetBlue, which services my home airport, Providence, and flies to the Bahamas. SOLD. And my first purchase was indeed for a cup of coffee, and I did get the 80,000 miles. So, this is my restaurant card now.

Every time I’ve told this story in a client station sales meeting, at least one rep says, “Spell that all out again?” and starts writing. Successful sellers anticipate and address objections as well as that inflight announcement. Ditto commercial copy you craft for local retailers. Welcome aboard.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. He is the author of “The Local Radio Advantage: Your 4-Week Tune-In Tune-Up,” and “Close Like Crazy: Local Direct Leads, Pitches & Specs That Earned the Benjamins” and “Confidential: Negotiation Checklist for Weekend Talk Radio.” Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Are Your Weekend Promos Upside-down?

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imAvoid THE most-common mistake I hear in promos for talk stations’ weekend ask-the-expert shows: Opening with the Close.

I coach attorneys/real estate agents/personal finance advisors and other pay-for-play weekend hosts, both on-behalf of client stations, and working directly with these professionals in other markets. Done right, these shows ROI like crazy… but too often they’re well-kept secrets. So, it’s important that weekday promos invite weekend tune-in.

Tip: DON’T begin the promo with the host introducing him/herself and naming the show and when it airs. Instead: Like good commercial copy, the Close (asking for tune-in in this case) comes at the end of the promo.

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Open by stating the listener issues that tuning-in can help inform. Examples:

Attorney: “Have you been injured? Before you accept the insurance company’s offer…”

Real estate agent: “Are you shopping for your first home? Or downsizing?”

Money-talk host: “Is there too much month left at-the-end-of the money?”

Note The Two Magic Words: “you” and “your.”

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. He is the author of “Confidential: Negotiation Checklist for Weekend Talk Radio” and “Close Like Crazy: Local Direct Leads, Pitches & Specs That Earned the Benjamins.” Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: How Talk Radio Imitates Lunch

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imHere’s actual news copy, from Joe Connolly’s business report one morning on WCBS, NY: “One third of all domestic flights are now late, by an average of one hour.”

Note: That wasn’t the headline, it was the entire story. As-much-as half of Connolly’s script is one-sentence stories. Espresso, not latte. Just the factoids, ma’am. The essence. What the listener would likely retain (and quote later) from the story if copy were longer.

Here’s some HC lore – and promo language – that’ll be familiar to programmers and talent I work with:

The first 5 minutes of the hour are for facts.

The next 55 are for feelings.

Your news people, and/or your network, fuss to make 00-05 a handy digest of the-very-latest-about the stories they reckon to be relevant to your target listener. Your on-air imaging should promise accordingly. Invite busy, in-car listeners to make an hourly appointment, “THROUGHOUT YOUR BUSY DAY.”

The people with whom that benefit statement will resonate are high-TSL users who don’t want to feel “OUT-OF-THE-LOOP, WHEN YOU’RE OUT-AND-ABOUT.” And they’re the listeners your local direct retail advertisers want to meet the most. Every time they stop the car, they spend money.

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What happens at lunch is what should happen on-air

Picture Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer at that coffee shop on “Seinfeld.”

Suppose Jerry heard Connolly’s report earlier that morning and mentioned that story. Because ratings are a memory test, this is a home run, even if Jerry doesn’t say “WCBS” when he repeats what Joe reported. Joe made a deposit in Jerry’s memory bank. If Jerry does say “WCBS,” it’s a grand slam.

Then, George chimes in: “AN HOUR LATE???  THAT’S NOTHING!  WAIT’LL YOU HEAR WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY PARENTS TRIED TO FLY TO FLORIDA LAST WEEK!” Now Elaine and Kramer are engaged; and they too might have stories.

Jerry shared what he heard 00-05, information of interest, facts. George is that first caller you want the screener to put through. Elaine and Kramer are listeners who can relate, might contribute their feelings, and will at least remember.

Because ratings methodology can give you an entire Quarter Hour credit for as-little-as 5 minutes of actual listening, the-most-opportune topics are compelling stories listeners just heard on-hour, which you then offer callers your air to weigh-in-on.

Why? People believe your promos. They stopped-in for their on-hour update. Then, at 05, before an index finger can travel from the steering wheel to the “Kiss” or “Lite” or “Magic” button, engage them.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. He is the author of “Close Like Crazy: Local Direct Leads, Pitches & Specs That Earned the Benjamins” and “Confidential: Negotiation Checklist for Weekend Talk Radio.” Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Baseball Bonanza

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

As The Beatles sang, “It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter.” Baseball – even Spring Training while it’s still chilly in March – says “Here Comes the Sun.” That’s what baseball means… to listeners.

To local advertisers, it’s an opportunity for The Little Guy to sound big. In the words of one GM – who has made a pile of money selling baseball – “It’s ego and envy.”

Sales: It’s a thing, not a number

 The sponsorship package cannot be quantified on a-cost-per-ANYTHING basis. It’s not “efficient” in agency terms, but baseball is powerful “reputation appropriation.” Translation: Advertisers can tell the world they’re big-enough for baseball.

— The rapid-response plumber, the roofing repair guy, and the lumber yard or hardware store or any independent local retailer slugging-it-out against big box competitors can be part of the Astros or the Braves or the Cardinals or the Dodgers or the Rangers or the Giants brand.

— Low-hanging fruit: Prospects who are, personally, fans. For decades, we’ve been telling reps at conservative talk stations to pitch businesses that fly big American flags. So which local retailers do you know to be baseball fanatics?

— Milk the value-added stuff affiliates get. Include some tickets in the package. Take ‘em to a game and bring ‘em up to the broadcast booth for a selfie with the radio team. Can you rent a sky box for a game and throw a client party?

— Make a list of guys-who-own-guy-stuff businesses. Home improvement and auto repair have always been opportune.

— Second and third-generation retailers might family-feud about other things. But grandfather AND father AND son can agree on this expenditure lots quicker than you can get consensus about a ROS spot package on “Kiss” or “Lite” or “Magic.”

— Baseball is a high-affinity branding opportunity. I don’t know when I will need to buy a tire…because nails lurk. But I already know where I’ll buy it, because they advertise in Red Sox games. And get this! All year long, that particular advertiser says, in all his commercials, in a thick Boston accent, “You go, Red Saux!”

— Warm list: Who’s advertising on stadium signage? That’s an ego clue. But it’s just branding. Radio can add-value to that expense by “telling your story,” and adding a call-to-action.

— Baseball = beer, so prospect DUI defense attorneys, and auto body shops. 😉

— Reps: You’re not calling from KXXX. You’re calling from Padres Radio. The team logo is in your email and sales material.

— Way-back-when: As Mickey Mantle launched one into the cheap seats, Mel Allen would proclaim it “another Ballentine Blast!” Back to the future: I’ve been at games where everyone there got a free something because the team did such-and-such. Can you invent a cool feature for local sponsorship? Every listener who says they heard ___ gets free ____ the next day.

IMPORTANT: Update copy as the season progresses. This is a franchise, not plug-N-play programming that babysits nights and weekends. Nothing says auto-pilot and disserves clients like spots and promos that crow “Baseball is back!” in July.

I was the Motor-Mouth Manager

War story: I programmed WTOP, Washington in the 1980s, long before there were Washington Nationals. We were your Orioles Baseball Station; and I was managing a union shop…but I ended up joining AFTRA because our announcers were newscasters who couldn’t say “Mid-Atlantic Milk Marketing Association” as rapidly as I, an ex-1970s Top 40 DJ.

— So – believe it or not – the company paid my initiation fee. And every time there was a change in that 65 seconds-of-copy-crammed-into the 60-second opening billboard that ticked-off all the sponsors, I got ‘em all in, and I got $10-something in my Pension & Welfare Fund. Sweet. But I digress…

— To OUR ear, that whole word salad sounds hellishly rushed. But to ADVERTISERS, it’s like having your caricature on the wall at the see-and-be-seen steak house. Every business named there is a someone, associated with everyone else there. They’re part of a local Orioles or Mariners or Mets Baseball Who’s Who. And everyone who isn’t isn’t.

— I’ve been on calls with reps closing baseball packages because “It’s worth it just for the promos!” So, include sponsor mentions in ROS promos.

— That said, sell enough in-game frequency to be heard. Two or three spots per game won’t be.

Next week: Avoiding the most common error I hear baseball stations make.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. He is the author of “Multiply Your Podcast Subscribers, Without Buying Clicks,” available from Talkers books; and “Spot-On: Commercial Copy Points That Earned The Benjamins,” a FREE download; and the E-book and FREE on-air radio features “Inflation Hacks: Save Those Benjamins.” Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke

Advice

Monday Memo: Yes, You Need More Cume

By Editor | by Editor

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

 

BLOCK ISLAND, RI — “Cumulative Audience” is radio’s version of what newspapers called “Circulation,” back when there were newspapers. It’s the number of people who tune-into your station during the week. Listeners, not listening. How many, not how many “Average Quarter Hours” (AQH) consumed.

We can’t get someone who doesn’t listen at all to listen more

(more…)

Front Page News Industry News

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

By Editor | by Editor

MIW Reveals Gender Analysis Study Results. The Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio organization reveals the results of the 22nd MIW Gender Analysis Study that tracks the progress of female professionals holding general manager, sales manager, and program director/brand manager titles. MIW says the study reflects data from the calendar year 2021 and was accounted for by PrecisionTrak. In the general manager category, women hold the position at 20.79% of U.S. radio stations. This is an increase of almost a full percentage point from 2020, which was 19.9%. Notably, this number continues to show consistent growth from 2004, when the percentage of female general managers was only 14.9%. Looking at sales managers, 33.59% of stations had a woman in the position last year. MIW says the management position that poses the greatest challenge for women is program director/brand manager. Only 12.09% of U.S. stations had women in the position in 2021, versus 12.2% in 2020. MIW board president Ruth Presslaff says, “If the glass is half full we should celebrate any upward movement, even if it’s incremental, as jobs continue to be eliminated in the continuing pandemic. However, it’s disappointing that the glass isn’t filling faster for those in programming and MIW is paying close attention to this issue. We encourage you to register at radiomiw.com to learn about our multiple opportunities for mentoring and career development!”

iHeartMedia to Celebrate WOR, New York’s 100th Anniversary. WOR-AM, New York owner iHeartMedia is preparing to celebrate the news/talk station’s 100th anniversary of its first broadcast on February 22, 1922. Next Tuesday (2/22), “Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning” will kick off the tribute by interviewing on-air hosts from WOR’s history to share memories of their time at the station. WOR will also air audio of historic moments and invite listeners to call in with their favorite WOR recollections. On February 23, the Empire State Building will light up in the colors of the station’s logo beginning at 5:40 pm. WOR program director Tom Cuddy says, “A station broadcasting for over a century is truly incredible. 710 WOR has a strong connection with the communities we serve, and as the media landscape continues to evolve, it’s exciting to see our reach has continued to grow as WOR listeners adopt streaming on smart devices and the iHeartRadio app.” WOR was initially launched to sell radios and other merchandise at Bamberger’s department store in Newark, New Jersey.

Talk Host Mark Kaye Announces 15-Year-Old Sickle Cell Patient as New Voice of the Program. WOKV-FM, Jacksonville-based, syndicated radio talk show host Mark Kaye (left) names 15-year-old Quincy Chapman (right) the new voice of “The Mark Kaye Show.” Kaye met Chapman during his “Kaye’s Kids” charity event called “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Kaye says, “Every Christmas we surprise local children who are battling life-threatening illnesses with dream gifts. This past December, Quincy was one of those kids.” Chapman suffers from the painful Sickle Cell Disease that’s required several blood transfusions, spleen removal, and a recent hip transplant. “Quincy lives in constant pain,” says Kaye. “But you would never know it if you met him. He has an incredible personality, an amazing smile, and as soon as he spoke on the air we were blown away by the power of his voice. He sounds incredible!” After being at the station, Chapman posted a message on Instagram describing how much fun he had on the show and how he was “hooked” on radio. Kaye saw the post and came up with the idea of bringing him back into the studio to record elements for his show. Kaye says, “As soon as he walked in the studio you could tell by the look on his face how happy it made him. We asked him to record some liners and promos for us. Dude was a natural.”

Alpha Media’s Chris Schmidt Named NSMA’s Nebraska Sportscaster of the Year. Lincoln, Nebraska radio personality Chris Schmidt is named the National Sports Media Association’s 2021 Nebraska Sportscaster of the Year. Schmidt serves with Alpha Media’s news/talk KFOR-AM and sports talk KLMS-AM as play-by-play announcer, host of the “Hail Varsity” program, and cast member of the “KFOR Morning Show.” Alpha Media Lincoln market manager Katie Philipi says, “Chris is an exceptional broadcaster and his passion cannot be rivaled. He is so deserving of this award. The entire Alpha Lincoln family celebrates his achievement.” Schmidt comments, “I’m humbled and honored by this award. Thank you to the many folks I have worked with over the years and get to work with today. I have fun going to ‘work’ every day, talking about news and sports.”

Edison Research to Host Black Podcast Listener Report Networking Event. On February 28, Edison Research is hosting an online “networking” event to further the discussion of the results of the Black Podcast Listener Report it, SXM Media, and Mindshare released in October of 2021. Edison says the virtual event will give podcasters and other interested parties a chance to network and discuss various relevant podcast topics, such as key findings from the Black Podcast Listener Report, feedback for the next report, and other topics helpful to creators in the space.  The study participants consisted of over 2,500 Black Americans age 18+. It concluded that 36% of Black Americans now listen to podcasts monthly. Black listeners are closing the gap with the general market. In 2020, 17% of Black Americans were listening to podcasts weekly, compared with 24% of all Americans. Just a year later, the number of weekly Black listeners jumped to 26% (while the general market grew slightly to 28%). Also, 42% of Black monthly podcast listeners say they’ve been streaming shows for one year or less. You can read the report here and you can register for the networking event here.

Ukraine Tensions, COVID-19, Durham Probe, S.F. School Board Recall, Midterms/Trump & the GOP, Palin-NYTimes Case, Alec Baldwin Suit, and Beijing Winter Olympics Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (2/15). The threat of war over Russia’s military buildup at the Ukraine border; the rate of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., the planned relaxing of mask mandates in numerous states, and the truckers’ protests; special counsel John Durham’s investigation into allegations of Hillary Clinton’s digital spying on Donald Trump; the successful recall of three liberal San Francisco School Board members; the battle for control of Congress in November’s midterm elections and Donald Trump’s influence over the GOP; a judge tosses Sarah Palin’s defamation suit against The New York Times; Alec Baldwin is sued in connection with the shooting death on the Rust set; and the politics behind the Beijing Winter Olympics were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.