Diet Coke Goes Taylor Swift Crazy

10-31-14

She's a superstar in two format rights now and iHeartMedia is latching on to that stardom by bringing her closer to fans and helping sponsors latch on to her brand. And this is where the big platform with scale really pays off. Thursday morning Diet Coke presented Taylor Swift at the iHeartRadio Studios in midtown Manhattan. It was the first time an entire 4-hour Seacrest show was presented by a single brand.

Swift also co-hosted the program with Seacrest for all four hours. She released her latest album, 1989, earlier this week. Swift and Diet Coke teamed up with iHeartMedia for programming events all week, taking over every Premiere Networks-syndicated CHR show and its digital platforms to help promote the new album. The cross platform iHeartMedia takeover with Taylor Swift also included selfies of fans at the event and Diet Coke content being projected on Clear Channel Outdoors's boards in Times Square.

Picture credit Todd Owyoung for iHeartRadio.

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Newspapers Aren't Dying and Jeff Bezos Isn't Crazy

8-23-13

That's according to a piece in Forbes Magazine. The article says Newspaper was a $38.6 billion industry in 2012 and there are promising shifts in the newspaper business model. This past year circulation revenue rose by 5% -- from $10 billion to $10.5 billion -- as digital subscriptions grew dramatically, marking the first gain in this category for the newspaper industry since 2003. Forbes says its research has found that what's driving circulation growth is increasing digital and print-digital bundled subscription rates. Read the Full Article HERE

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PROGRAMMING)Radio Ads Make Me Crazy

6-17-2012

On terrific websites and in very scientific research studies our business keeps trying to convince the local appliance, stereo stores and car dealers with sound logic that their use of our medium - shouting over-the-top promises and branding half-truths and even paying our personalities talent fees to hurt their personal credibility in endorsement spots and at remote broadcasts from their retail locations to do the same thing - isn't working.

For several years, Dr. David Eagleman has been writing wonderfully well-documentated books, publishing great research studies, magazine articles all in support of the idea that the brain's primary work is done at a subconscious level.

This is the guy who convinced his ethical review board that it was OK to drop his research subjects off of a tower in order to see if time really does slow down in frightening situations. (it didn't, though it seemed to during the fall to the subjects)

Read Eagleman.  Spend time with www.writeToEngage.com and www.RadioAdLab.org.  The facts are clear:  logic isn't as effective in influence as is emotion.

Radio's pal Dan O'Day has been devoting his life to this crusade for many years, as this video from 1999 demonstrates. (we're often as guilty as our advertisers are). Jeffrey Hedquist and the Radio Mercury Awards are just two of numerous others who have been fighting the good fight.
Meanwhile, people give us money every day to play ads which only irritate and insult listener intelligence (WORST RADIO COMMERCIAL EVER) in spite of all the very rational arguments our business has been making. Is it time to try a different approach?

Let's equip every radio salesperson with a ball-peen hammer in their brief case.  The moment the client pulls out a CD with their new commercial which sounds a lot like their old commercial, have the seller brandish the hammer over the ad and yell "don't make me use this!!"

It can't work any worse than our current approach does, can it? At least the buyer will feel something when your rep leaves her office.

Jaye Albright  of Albright & O'Malley is a 50+ year broadcaster with experience in all areas of programming, research, sales and management. Jaye can be reached via e-mail at radioconsultj@aol.com

Read more blogs from Jaye HERE

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TALENT - Is Your Air Staff Driving You Crazy?

12-15-2011
by Randy Lane

Morning shows got a lot of heat as markets made the transition from diary to PPM. The real-time methodology exposed vulnerabilities of personality-based shows and made managers gun-shy about paying a lot of money for a show that wasn?t delivering the ratings they used to. Shows that were too inside, rambled too long, talked about things no one cared about, didn?t use hooks and teases to lure and hold listeners ? all these flaws could remain hidden with the popularity contest mentality of diarykeepers.

Shows that have mastered the PPM techniques are demonstrating that talent?s value to a radio station is as valuable or more valuable than ever, even in the new order of things. With adjustments to content and structure, personality brands still represent a huge opportunity for station growth in a tight marketplace. Programmers can block, duplicate and flank music formats, as every station?s song-to-song flow is available 24/7 online. They can?t counter program or duplicate a personality.

But working with creative talent can be daunting for a programmer or manager who doesn?t understand the way creative people think. ?They?re children, they?re animals, they?re crazy ?- I can?t even talk to them!?  Here are some tips to help understand creative people and how to better relate to them.

Characteristics of Creative People
1.    They are vulnerable.  The first thing you need to realize is that good air personalities are putting a lot of themselves and their lives into their performance, which makes them vulnerable. There is a lot of emotional risk involved in being on the air.

2.    They want to be liked.

3.    They are seeking approval. Give them genuine and specific praise and you will save yourself money at the bargaining table when their contract is up. If there are no sincere compliments, that means ?you don?t care and you don?t like the show?.

4.    Since there is no studio audience, they thrive on feedback. Talents need constant reinforcement of what they do best.   No feedback = they will do anything to get attention, including being destructive and self-destructive.

5.    They don?t value their creative gifts. They think they?re normal and everyone has them.

6.    Most creative talents are introverts and are uncomfortable in crowds.

7.    They don?t like to be told what to do. Asking is always better than telling. Develop the art of asking the right questions so talent sees the point themselves and they have ownership of it.

8.    They are child-like.  Comedians will tell you that they key to staying on your game is to continue to look at the world through the eyes of a 9-year-old.

9.    They are non-linear. Most managers are more analytical thinkers looking at the sequence of things; creative people are looking at the whole picture. Anytime you can, communicate information in a fun way (metaphors, analogies, humor, etc. vs. a long memo) to get across your point.

10.    Self-esteem is the life force of a personality, and if that is suppressed or diminished, then so is the person and their performance.

Email randy@randylane.net Read more at his website
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(12/15/2011 5:51:37 PM)
I hope Randy was just kidding around when he concocted that list.
That was a description of a group of emotionally and intellectually retarded individuals who thrived only on positive feedback from their superiors.
I remember having to challenge people on this 30 years ago because it was bulls##t even then.

As limiting generalizations go, this one gets awards.

Of course, we have all known on-air folks who fit that bill, but we also knew they were nuts even then.

And, by the way, who is hiring these sick, crazy and undisciplined performers anyway? In other words, what is it about these sad-sack human beings that makes them so desirable in the first place?

As a professional communicator and an educated individual with life-experiences and life-skills, I refuse to be treated in such a patronizing and paternalistic fashion.

Plus, anybody with whom I worked who has shared the position that Randy articulates has had to deal with me. It was never pretty, but it did get sorted out.

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Consumers Still Coupon Crazy

According to some very detailed research from Scarborough, Consumers are still very much into clipping coupons. The firm says coupon usage for household groceries is up 24% since 2006. And, while Groupon has been getting a lot of love from the press, the Sunday Newspaper (49%) is still the leading source of coupons. Radio hasn't figured out how to wedge into this lucrative field yet and doesn't even show on the list. Rounding out the top five are: In-store coupons (43%), Mail (33%), In-store circulars (26%) and Loyalty cards (24%). Internet and e-mail/texting both garner 14% usage.

Read Scarborough's entire study HERE

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'Idol' Q&A: Scotty McCreery on His 'Crazy Ride,' Debut Album, Lauren Alaina's Kiss

As expected, deep-voiced country phenom Scotty McCreery defeated Lauren Alaina and took home the "American Idol" season 10 crown last night (May 25), making him the fourth straight male winner in the competition. Although Lauren's performance of "Like My Mother Does" earned raves from the judges on Tuesday's final performance night, Scotty's consistent performances, charming stage presence original track, "I Love You This Big" -- along with his consistent performances and charming stage presence throughout the season -- helped push him to victory.

Scotty McCreery Wins 'American Idol' Season 10

One day after 122 million votes tipped in his favor, however, the 17-year-old North Carolina native has brushed the confetti out of his hair and is planning to continue his "Idol" momentum with more original songs and a possible appearance with Lauren at the 2011 CMA Music Festlval, which hits Nashville from June 9-12. In a conference call on Thursday, Scotty discussed his upcoming debut album, the romance rumors between him and Lauren, and the "crazy ride" of "American Idol."   

Photos: Scotty McCreery's 'American Idol' Journey

How are you getting used to all of the attention of winning "American Idol"?

Scotty McCreery: This is pretty wild, I gotta say. It's a whole lot more than I bargained for coming into this. I never would have expected it. But I'm handling it well -- this is what I asked for, and it's my new life, so this is a really crazy ride so far.

Carrie Underwood made her debut at the CMA Music Festival and the Grand Ole Opry when she won. Are you headed that way too?

I think we're gonna try and get me and Lauren out there to (Fan Fair) this year. They're trying to work out the specifics right now about where we're gonna be playing, the booth signings and maybe playing at the Grand Ole Opry. They're working all this out as we speak. But we're gonna be down there for sure, I think.

'American Idol' Finale: The 10 Best Performances (Video)

You were an odds-on favorite all season on "Idol." Was there ever a point where you thought you were going home?

This week, especially. Lauren Alaina, she's something else. She sings like a bird. She's just an amazing young lady. Every week I heard people say the "front-runner" stuff, but to me it never even crossed my mind, because everybody this year, from Top 40 down, was just so talented.

Lauren kissed you when you won last night -- is there any romance between you two?

Oh, no. We've been getting that question a lot today. Me and her, it's more like the brother-sister thing. She told me before the show yesterday that she was gonna do that, kind of like a joke. She's a character. But she's lovely, we're really close friends. I met her day one of Hollywood Week, and we were schoolmates through this whole experience.

'American Idol' Runner-Up Lauren Alaina: 'I Knew Scotty Was Gonna Win'

What kind of album would you like to make now?

I'm really looking forward to getting my music out there. We recorded two [songs] this week and we weren't sure which one we were gonna do, and 'I Love You This Big' turned out to be the one we did. But the other one I'm really excited about too. I think it's gonna be a great album. I gotta pick good songs -- that's what it's all about after the show is getting good songs. The fans got me to where I'm at now, so it's my job to get them the music they want to hear and to have good songs. Hopefully me and Lauren Alaina get to do a duet at some point. I'm not sure about the first album, but hopefully sometime soon.

Lauren said that she thought you were definitely going to win going into the finals. What were your thoughts?

My thought was that she wrapped it up when she sang that finale song ["Like My Mother Does"]. That was one of the most beautiful songs I've heard. I was more than nervous coming into it last night, and it worked out in my favor. But Lauren, she's sweet, she's been supporting me and I've been supporting her through this whole process. We're really close friends, and we both came out winners last night.

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