When discussing Radio and marketing, there are a lot of valid political metaphors and analogies that get bandied ™ about. It is a lot like a campaign and when people are strapping on meters or filling out diaries they’re voting for or against you. Hopefully you shook their hand, made a case for your product and will get their vote.
There are also a LOT of football comparisons too. Especially when it comes to elements of the game.
The Minneapolis paper will, on a Sunday in the Fall, break down that day’s matchup of the Vikings and whoever is about to kick their ass.
They’ll have a little grid, a couple of team helmets and then a little check mark next to each “position” and who owns it. Like Offense, Defense, Coaching, Special Teams, Rushing, Passing, Punting and Kicking.
Usually whoever has the most little ticks in their column is going to win.
It’s the same with Radio. You rarely see a station that owns most of the promotional positions that’s getting beaten. So when we know we’re going to have a station launch on us, we pull out this exercise and ask everyone to be brutally honest on what the other station might be able to come in and steal away from us.
In the case of KDWB in 2003, they hadn’t had a competitor for 12 years when it was announced that a new CHR would be starting up in a month. (And by the way, who does that? STUPID.)
So we sat down, perused the landscape and thought like a station trying to take us down: what was vulnerable, what did we own completely and another station would be foolish to even attempt to try to take from us and what was up for grabs.
At the end of the first year, The Beat was only competitive in “Clubs”. That would be akin to fielding a football team where you were only able to compete with punting. We narrowed the field to a tiny corner of turf in the end zone and that’s all they ever had.
We do the same thing when we launch stations and want to go in and start plucking away parts of the other station’s game plan.
And as you wind up ’13, it wouldn’t be entirely stupid to evaluate your game. So here they are, all of the elements of Promotions that are within our control.
| US | VS | Them |
|---|---|---|
| CASH | ||
| TRIPS | ||
| CARS | ||
| MOVIES | ||
| MORNING SHOWS | ||
| CLUBS | ||
| CHARITY | ||
| HIGHSCHOOLS | ||
| COLLEGES | ||
| CONCERTS | ||
| STREETS | ||
| STICKERS | ||
| REMOTES | ||
| WEBSITE | ||
| SOCIAL MEDIA | ||
| TRADITIONAL MARKETING | ||
| WEEKEND CONTESTING |
Some explanations
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“Cash” isn’t who has the most, but who gets the most out of what they have? “Morning Shows” is about who makes the most of their show promotionally. “Movies”? We forget that in 2013, a free pair of movie tickets is a great prize for an average listener. “Remotes”? Remotes suck. But we have to do them so who does them best?
Great stations usually do great, fun weekend themes, thus the “Weekend Contesting” position. “Concerts” is listed twice. Once for who makes the most of Taylor Swift coming to town and owns it on the air, on-site and in the venue. The second is for who puts on the best concerts.
“Charity” can be both who has the best heritage campaign, like Q-102 in Cincinnati and their annual effort with Breast Cancer; you’d be foolish to try to compete with them on that. In DC, it’s WPGC not focusing on big Black Hole charities but making the most of every single opportunity in the community to, well, “do something good”.
Some of these positions might not be relevant to your station or your market, but this is a great starting point and a great exercise.
Go Vikes.
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