Download this show
It's something we've written about many times but seems to fall on deaf ears inside the radio beltway. Here's one person who hears it loud and clear and has some serious advice for broadcasters. Buzz Knight, on assignment to Radio Ink, picked up an interview with legendary marketing genius Al Ries, the author of "Focus" and "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding," among other best sellers. Ries, who is all about branding, tells Knight, "I am seriously concerned about radio." He says the number of ads radio plays is not good for advertisers. "I don't see how you can run so many commercials and expect to cut through. It doesn't make any sense." Ries ran an advertising agency in New York for nearly 30 years and now consults with his daughter Laura. Ries also tells Knight radio needs to do a better job getting its message out. Something we've heard many times before.
Listen or download the Buzz Knight/Al Ries interview HERE
Check out the Ries & Ries website HERE
Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com.
(6/25/2012 6:35:27 PM)
Maybe it does need to be said. A lot of these guys are not professionals. They are in it only for the money they can grab... today.
(6/25/2012 6:13:50 PM)
A lot of the problem comes from radio station owners/GMs who are business people, not "radio" people. They see every single commercial availability that goes by unfilled as money left on the table.
If they aren't filling 12 minutes per hour (or more) entirely with commercials, they liken it to a grocery store having to throw out fruit that has gone bad. They'd rather oversell the station at 25 cents a spot than risk a day with unsold inventory.
They don't care about "damaging the brand."
Over commercialization was not Al Ries' message! His only reference was to the extreme, i.e, the parade of lead-in spots to celebrity talk shows.
Besides, Cable TV is now stealing Network TV ad
$ despite "insufferable" over commercialization.
Bigger issue: Radio & print come into the discussion only as mediums advertisers can borrow money from to buy more Social Media.
In a forthcoming online RI story (RADIO 2012...
GIVE UP?) I explore Radio's #1 problem, and
what you can do to solve it.
Friends of radio remember when radio was more friendly so to speak. 8 or nine minutes of ads per hour. F R E S H programming whether in music or talk. Accessible DJs and Talk Show hosts that made up a FUN listening environment.
Can we recreate that? Probably, so let's make today's Radio just that....
(6/25/2012 1:34:48 PM)
But---there are hundreds of small and medium market stations who "get it" and do it well.
And, they also limit their commercial load to a reasonable amount----but what they do air is largely local in scope.
AND---although if you asked 100 listeners if they "liked commercials" they would all say NO---they'd miss them if they weren't there---at least in the 10 or so markets I have worked in at stations that "got it".
Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend
