6-26-2012
Our lead story yesterday featuring marketing guru Al Ries sparked a bit of a debate over whether or not radio is damaging its brand by saturating the airwaves with so many commercials (among other things). Some, like industry vet Walter Sabo, argued that cable TV was playing more ads than radio. "Watch any cable channel and COUNT the ads. You'll count more units than any radio station." That seems to avoid the question of whether we are playing too many commercials. Or the question of how many is too many? Or the biggest real question of, does this really serve our advertisers well? Ries' comments about on our brand were unprovoked. He was giving us his honest opinion as a listener. He's not crazy caller number seven, the guy knows a thing or two about marketing and branding.
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One of our readers, Stephen Williams, writes, "Comparing radio's spot load to TV/Cable only shows that heavy spot loads and long commercial breaks are proven to diminish a medium ?especially in a culture that gets what it wants free on the internet right away. Radio has to stay competitive, raise rates, lower time spent in commercials, and deliver better creative. Otherwise, we are strangling the goose that lays the golden eggs."
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More importantly is the question about how we serve our partners. Are advertisers really getting a fair shake when they are the 4th, 5th or 6th spot in a pod of 8 or 10. And doesn't it defy logic that as consumers move toward devices that entertain more and interrupt less something we are doing may be slightly amiss? Just for discussion purposes if you are a music station (outside morning drive) and you go from a song to a long stopset and back to a song with nothing entertaining or local whatsoever, how do you win with that? How does radio win with that? Doesn't that just become a battle of who has the better music, and the music is all the same!
To enlighten us and educate us on the subject of radio's brand, we wanted to get the opinion of someone not afraid
to offer up an honest opinion. That person is the 2012 Radio Ink Executive of the year Saga CEO Ed Christain. In the upcoming 40 Most Powerful People in Radio issue of Radio Ink, Ed Christian makes his 15th appearance on the list. We've been publishing the definitive list of radio Power for 17 years. And, Christian has been running Saga for 27 years now, so it's safe to say he knows the business. "What are the storm clouds on the horizon for radio? The scary trend of commoditization of radio. If we don't watch out for ourselves we will lose our brand and become a commodity. Think MILK...national advertisers already treat us like milk. Ask yourself a question: Do I know the brand of milk that I buy or do I even care. It is MILK..all the same isn't it? (nope..but that's another story). That's what national thinks about us, and we must guard against complacency so that we preserve the brand with local advertisers, as they are and will continue to be our mainstay."
To subscribe to Radio Ink in time to read more from Ed Christian and in time to receive the 40 Most Powerful People in Radio issue, GO HERE. Or call 561-655-8778
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