WRIF Morning Hosts Put Fans Into Video Game

4-2-15

Next month, Greater Media Detroit morning personalities Dave & Chuck The Freak will release a new level to their game app, "Dave & Chuck The Freak?s Kick Ass Game." Several listeners of the show will be featured as "thugs" within the game's final level. The game was developed in Detroit by Red Piston, a firm that specializes in app development and game design. Developers at Red Piston are fans of the show, and have worked with Dave and Chuck over the past two years to design the game, which is available for IPhone and Android users for 99 cents.

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Survey: Agencies Still Wonder About Social, Video ROI

2-21-14

A Strata survey of advertising agencies found that while social media and online video were "major areas of focus" for advertisers in Q4, those agencies aren't really sure they're getting value for their clients from those channel. Still, 87 percent said they were interested in using social media in client campaigns, and nearly all -- 98 percent -- said they're just as interested -- or more -- in streaming/online video compared to a year ago.

Facebook is still the leading social media channel for advertisers; 81 percent of respondents said they'd use Facebook in clients' campaigns. Other popular channels are YouTube and Twitter, with a "big shift in sentiment toward Pinterest," Strata reports.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of respondents said they'd buy more social media if the value was "more obvious," while 41 percent said they'd be more open to social media with changes including an easier process, more obvious effectiveness, lower minimum volumes, and less complex targeting.

Strata EVP Joy Baer said, "In the advertising industry, the buzz often comes before the payoff. Everyone wants to buy social media and online video because it's the way the industry is heading, but the real ROI is more complex to define. It's a science that is still being developed."

And traditional radio? Strata found interest has dropped 67 percent since 2010, but "interest in streaming radio is growing tremendously, with 58 percent of respondents more interested in the medium than they were a year ago."

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(VIDEO) Harsh Words From a Former Automotive Radio Advertiser

10/24/13

Barry Merrill (pictured, center, at the DASH conference) is the President and General Manager of Grand Ledge Ford Lincoln in Grand Ledge, MI. Unfortunately he is a lost radio advertiser and he blames the radio industry for his decision to turn all of his dollars over to TV. Merrill said there was too much turnover in sales reps, and they were just trying to hit their budgets -- there was no relationship-building. He went from spending all of his advertising dollars on radio to spending nothing. We asked Merrill to give the industry some advice on how to improve.

"When you call on us, use an all-around approach," he said. "Focus on new cars, used cars, promote our website and our Facebook page. Talk about what you can do to promote the dealership as a whole." Merrill says Ford is moving a lot of advertising to digital, including Pandora, and he says it's working."I like to advertise directly," he said. "I get more feedback."

Ford is now at 60% to 70% digital, up from 20T-30%. Merrill also asks, as radio sees technology evolving so fast, how radio is going to be engaged in that: "If it's a regular antenna connecting to the car and everyone else is digital, you are going to be left out of the game."

Here is our extended video interview from DASH with Barry Merrill.

(MANAGER'S PERSPECTIVE) While this may be true, there are always two sides to a story. It's doubtful that all the Detroit radio groups simply dropped the ball forcing this guy to abandon radio. There are too many good radio groups in that market. Would have loved to hear what they had to say about it.  
.... Major Market General Manager

What's your perspective? Leave your comments below.

(10/26/2013 9:35:57 AM)
Yet he is in the business of selling radios. One comes with every car.
(10/26/2013 9:07:26 AM)
Eric and Ed,

After considering all the comments (most of them, anyway), it appears to me that the car dealer you chose to offer his thoughts on media use was a poor choice. If the radio guys in the market who know him have him pegged as just a rate objector who relished the opportunity to get on stage and rip radio a new one, then he served no purpose in your intended forum.
RadioInk has made some questionable choices in their recent panel picks. Many of the tech "experts" are people looking for work and get some by opining that radio is nearly dead and only their services will save it. Others are agency reps who change their stance weekly as their ilk always has.
RadioInk is to be saluted for trying to get a conversation going that can be beneficial, but not if all the speakers have the same theme that the sky is falling, because the money people who are building and buying radio stations know that is not true.

(10/26/2013 12:13:13 AM)
"Live and local" is a phrase served with the Kool-Aid. And, like that famous (Jonestown) beverage, very few understand the implications of sucking it up.

Live and local can be programmed in the morning by anybody so inclined. And there isn't a reader here who doesn't know what a shambles and a sham that would be.

Anyway, "Ronnie's" next article deals with that very issue. It may be an opportunity to do something different - like: learn something new.

(10/25/2013 7:38:26 PM)
In Eric Rhoads impassioned separate message today detailing the far-reaching wisdom of his recent conference the ad director for Hyundai and Kia says unless radio maintains LIVE AND LOCAL they will be less of a factor.
Wanna eat your comments of late on LIVE AND LOCAL, Ronnie? We can start with this example of your nonsense.
(10/25/2013 6:45:17 PM)
Got it: It's the advertisers' fault and when it's not, it's the sales departments' fault. Anything to delay taking action on our own parts is acceptable.

So, here is the strategy: a.) Knock a series of homers out of the park for a half dozen different clients. b.) inform the desired advertisers of those results while asking them to drop by at their convenience.

Can't pull that off? Load up on personal supplies; get with station ownership and management; lock the doors; speak candidly and truthfully; participate in making decisions for drastic and dramatic improvements, and after that, determine if there is a personal future in this racket.

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(VIDEO) Are You On Board With HD Radio?

9-19-13

As usual, iBiquity is accupying a lot of square footage at the NAB/RAB Radio Show as it continues its ongoing efforts to get broadcasters to convert to HD Radio. The company recently reported that an HD Radio receiver rolls off a car lot every 6 seconds now. Auto manufacturers are believers: 33 car makers now include factory-installed HD Radios, over 80 models include HD Radio technology, and an estimated 5 million HD radio-equipped cars will be sold in 2103. Radio Ink Editor-in-Chief Ed Ryan interviewed iBiquity COO Jeff Jury inside a vehicle at the Radio Show in Orlando, where Jury demonstrated exactly how broadcasters can bring their stations to life with visuals, just like pure-play Internet radio providers have been doing for years.

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(SOCIAL) Turn Social Video Into Listener Power

7-17-2013

If you have read my columns on radio and social media, you know that I am a firm believer that you need to be constantly visual to gain access to the attention of a lot of eyes across all social media platforms. Today we focus on video. After all, radio has so many video-based opportunities. There is absolutely no reason that your morning shows should not be very pro-video in their social media content and no personality on the radio should be left behind when it comes to being social media active with local listeners. So, let?s talk about how to develop a pro-video social media strategy.

1. Recognize that people are much more engaged visually than with the spoken word. Why do you think Google purchased YouTube? It was because of fear that people would stop using words (yes,that is for real) and they wanted to have a search engine that was not based upon words.  That bet has paid off for Google. If the recognition of the visual over words in content is good enough for Google, it should be good enough for your local radio station and personalities.

2. Let go of your fear over putting video up-front in much of your social media engagement. While I hope you will recognize my strong recommendation that you balance content and content delivery in social media (that comes from having an actual well-defined social media strategy with goals for the radio station), many broadcasters (this includes morning show talents and other personalities) have fear of using video regularly with listeners. What if it doesn?t look professional? What if I do it wrong? You must learn that letting go of this fear is the actual path to really having fun in social media and engaging your audience with easy-to-make video that will work in attracting the people in your market you want to have listening to your station and engaging you in social media. That?s that job here and it doesn?t have to be perfect or professional. People respond to imperfect people (like themselves).

3.  People read content or watch video to be entertained or to learn something or to be a part of something. They also share things that make them look smart or ?in the know.? Recognize this and build your video content around these things and you will be successful.

4. Regularly seek information on what is trending in online searches in your market. After all, knowing the "hot buttons" will help you better create content that puts you at the top of what your audience is looking for in the first place. This should be done continuously.

5. Your morning show and other high-profile personalities should link their videos to their blogs (they have a blog, right?), to your website, and to your social media assets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). After all, you want to create a larger and larger local audience for your videos. Promoting the content is the key to driving your participation numbers higher.

6. Use Twitter to post your link for your content. If it is more evergreen content, you should think about posting the link 10 to 12 times in the first 48 hours over a variety of hours to maximize the ?pull.? 

7. I do also recommend that you include a call to action on or inside your videos to join your ?(radio station) loyal listener email to get more fun and free benefits.? You may not always get huge sign-up, but you will build traction over time and participation builds real familiarity and that builds real value if you focus especially on number 1, 4, 5, and 6 and above. After all, if this is a part of your overall content plan on social media, you will create a path to build real value regularly for these listeners. That?s real engagement.

8. Include your best videos in your monthly loyal listener email. This allows maximum coverage with high-participators who are likely to send your content to others.

Local ?listeners? on Facebook or Twitter or another social media platform are not just going to experience a video or your other social media content and immediately react to you by becoming a loyal listener of your brand. This is not advertising. It is targeting listeners that best match up with your brand in social media and giving them content that entertains, educates, and creates community they want to be a part of over time. That?s the real key. Social media offers you opportunity to engage and then influence them to become a part of the ?culture? you are encouraging at your brand.

Finally, here is a message for every morning show personality or other high-profile personality on radio today:  We?re halfway through 2013. This is the time for all personalities on radio to really develop deep, penetrating engagement in local social media within your market (no matter who you are). If your radio station doesn?t have a plan, you certainly should. This is the path to developing your own future so that you will have real career growth and value to other employers. Learn to excel with social media content and you will be learning to be more successful to meet the challenges of the future, connectivity, and loyalty with local listeners. That makes you a winner.

Good luck!
Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Americalist and has programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes, including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY. Learn more about Loyd here:  http://about. me/loydford. Get his radio-social media content sent directly to your smart phone or email for free here:  www. rainmakerpathway. wordpress. com. Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE.  Visit his Facebook radio social media page HERE.

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RAB Premieres 'RAB@Work' Video Series

3-5-2013

The RAB releases the first in its new video series RAB@Work: The Q Report, filmed on location at Hubbard Radio's WTOP in Washington, DC. In the video, RAB President/CEO Erica Farber talks with WTOP SVP/GM Joel Oxley and Cromwell Group President Bud Walters. The video also has updates on RAB software, the Sprint FM chips initiative, and more. Watch the video here.

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(VIDEO) Fox Interviews Dickey About SweetJack

10-2-2012

Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey gets national Television promotion on the Fox Business Channel to talk up his Daily Deals program. Fox interviewed Dickey for 4 minutes where he explained how using radio's tremendous reach, and Cumulus' partnership with Clear Channel's 850 radio stations, will help SweetJack compete with Groupon and Living Social. At the end of the piece, the two Fox Business anchors seemed to be shocked at how radio is still relevant. David Assman said, "it's amazing how one of the original electronic media is still as modern today in terms of advertising, maybe even more so."

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(SOCIAL) Don't Forget Video!

6-29-2012

By Loyd Ford

Radio could use video much more effectively and often. It does not require a lot of time or effort in 2012 to make good video that listeners will be interested in and post it to social media sites so listeners are encouraged to participate in your brand. While there are less people to do more work, products like Video Flip make it quick and easy to take advantage of video on social media platforms to engage listeners with the fun of our business. Remember:  Everyone does not have a job like yours. Use the fun to bring people to you.

Here are the 12 commandments of video for radio:

1. Use video to show listeners and clients how effective and exciting radio is on a daily basis.
2. Make video blogs for personalities.
3. Do video interviews backstage or even phone interviews with stars. Listeners love to be "inside."
4. Post videos to Facebook with a lead-in back to your station website.
5. Use creativity by using video to film listener "happenings" or staged events, big or small.
6. Put video in an email to your loyal listener database when you have an upcoming concert event or some special backstage footage after a show.
7. Video different staff members or the staff together with holiday messages for 4th of July, Christmas, etc. Post them to Facebook and Twitter.
8. Use video to show "backstage" at the radio station.
9. Use "cause video." You or someone on your team may be close to a cause in your market or just simply of interest to your life group. Post a video related to helping this cause.
10.  Video a radio station tour.
11.  Post video of station events or promotions to YouTube.
12.  Have one of your personalities do a video review of music or products of interest to your target.

You can make the most of social media and grow participation on Facebook, Twitter, your website and also on-air by using video. Get started for about $100 if you don't have a video flip.

I talk about this all the time to clients. We are in a "backstage business."  Listeners will absolutely flock to us if we will show them a little love. Video is a great way to do that. Good luck!

Loyd Ford programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes for years, including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY. Learn more about Loyd here: http://about.me/loydford. Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE
Visit his Facebook radio social media page www.facebook.com/socialnetworking4radio

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(VIDEO) Nolan Bushnell Says Innovate or Die

Click below to watch the video, or click here to watch on YouTube.

(6/7/2012 11:02:27 PM)
Contemporary music radio programmers treat the word "innovation" in one of two ways: 1.) As a dirty word spoken only by unsophisticated potty-mouths who simply do not understand the concept. Or, 2.) Something they think they are already practicing. (cue: rolling eyes and heavy sighs sfx.)
(6/7/2012 1:51:06 PM)
excellent comments from a long time innovator. my point(s) exactly that radio's money comes from customer needs, not it's mass listening audience. Every radio station should be multicasting multiple music formats. AND every radio station should be creating messages that are NOT used over the air. i.e. click to audio and image 'non-advertising' messages

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(VIDEO) You Can Make Money From Podcasting

4-18-2012

Director of Digital Underwriting at New York Public Radio Sarah Van Mosel provided excellent information about why radio stations should podcast and provide listeners with on-demand programming. New York Public Radio comprises two non-profits in New York City, WNYC and WQXR. Mosel says on-demand programming and podcasting has increased 153% over 2009. She says "consumers are seeking out content online." We spoke to Mosel after the panel and asked her why other radio stations should follow the lead of New York Public Radio.

Here's our interview with Sarah Van Mosel 

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(VIDEO) You Can Make Money From Podcasting

4-18-2012

Director of Digital Underwriting at New York Public Radio Sarah Van Mosel provided excellent information about why radio stations should podcast and provide listeners with on-demand programming. New York Public Radio comprises two non-profits in New York City, WNYC and WQXR. Mosel says on-demand programming and podcasting has increased 153% over 2009. She says "consumers are seeking out content online." We spoke to Mosel after the panel and asked her why other radio stations should follow the lead of New York Public Radio.

Here's our interview with Sarah Van Mosel 

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(VIDEO) Big River Morning Man Jailed For Charity.

12-21-2011

Big River Broadcasting in Florence Alabama, behind morning man, Johnny Law, started a food drive 4 years ago to help those less fortunate during the holidays.  Since he started helping the community, Law has raised over 17,000 pounds of non-perishable food items. Over the years, Law has come up with some very creative ideas to help the community.

This year Law was handcuffed and arrested live on the air. He was taken to Tuscumbia, Alabama city jail where he was photographed, printed, and processed into the system. He spent 3 days and nights in jail and endured the exact same conditions as the inmates. He had to abide by all policies and procedures of the facility, and no special treatment was awarded to him outside of the following exceptions: A laptop computer and a cell phone to be used to communicate with radio personalities during their air shifts and KIX listeners via social networks.

Listeners were encouraged to submit Visa type gift cards, in whatever amount they deemed appropriate, rather than non-perishable food items. Gift cards could be dropped off at the radio station, or at the Jail. Listeners that chose to stop by the jail were able to submit their donation and visit with Johnny during his visitation hours.

After Johnny was released, he along with one station member (Mid day personality Josie Lane) added up the donations. They went shopping together to gather equal amounts of food that were divided between 8 Church pantries in our area that submitted to receive the food. (Pantries were chosen in the order they were received).  This turned out to be a great promotion for us and an even greater thing for the families in need during the Holidays in our area. Our Digital Department, BRB Digital, streamed the entire event live and you can view footage from the stream here.
Since his food drives inception, Johnny has offered up annual, goal- related challenges to KIX96 listeners each year. For example, in 2009, he announced on the air that he would tattoo the name and/or logo of the first business that pledged 5,000 pounds of Non-Perishable food items. Jerry Phillips, owner of Big River Broadcasting was the first to pledge; hence the reason why Johnny now sports a Big River Broadcasting/Sun Records logo on his arm. Johnny is on record as stating that he has a "difficulty with hunger issues that seem to plague this great Country of ours and will go to whatever lengths necessary in an attempt to combat this ongoing dilemma.

Our thanks to Halley Phillips (halley@brbdigital.com) Director of Digital Marketing for Big River for sending us this story.
Is your station doing something special to help the community?
Tell us all about it. Send details (and photos) to edryan@radioink.com

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Radio's Star More Bright With Video

by Ivan Braiker

Thirty years ago this past summer, the MTV-era kicked off, as most everyone knows, with ?Video Killed The Radio Star.? Three decades hence, ?Music Television? plays little music, and even though our industry is rapidly evolving, our star is very much alive. Sorry, Buggles. What?s interesting is how intertwined video and radio have become?particularly around sports. For example, local cable outlets are simulcasting sports radio talk shows in many major markets and people are watching?even if there isn?t much of a visual element to the programming.

Another medium?mobile?is poised to take the radio-video coupling even further. In recent weeks, I?ve talked about easy ways for radio to embrace mobile, including SMS and the mobile Web. This week, let?s add MMS?multimedia messaging service?to the mix.

It may be less well known than its similarly-named cousin, but if you?ve ever texted someone a picture you shot on your cell phone, you've already used it. And you?re not alone?although SMS has the greatest reach, MMS is not far behind. Roughly 85 percent of consumers who can send and receive text messages can also receive multimedia?videos or photos?on their cell phones. It?s not just a solution for smartphone users. 

For listener engagement, MMS makes sense: MMS open rates are in excess of 90 percent, and mobile video increases awareness by 250 percent. The possibilities for MMS content are very broad. Here are some tips to take your mobile communications to the multimedia realm:

?         Think about possibilities, not limitations. Messages could include video, slideshows, motion graphics, photos, infographics or audio sent directly to a mobile device via SMS. You?re not bound by a character limit?or really any limits, other than your imagination.

?         But there may be limitations. Make sure you build campaigns that can be seen on the most mobile devices?don?t penalize smartphone users with lowest-common denominator content; likewise, don?t eliminate smartphone users with content that doesn?t render.

?         Be relevant. Just like SMS or Mobile Web content, MMS content needs to be something your listeners actually want on their phone?sports highlights, video ?insider? looks at on-air personalities, even video weather reports.

?         Leverage your existing advertising investments. If you have a mobile insiders? club, use SMS for listeners to opt in. The same for other existing calls-to-action such as QR codes?use the existing infrastructure to offer listeners a free ?value add.?

?         Use your data. If you?ve made an investment in customer-relationship management technology, use the data within to invite the right listeners to opt in. If in a previous interaction, a listener indicated she loves basketball but hates football, don?t invite her into the ?Mobile Gridiron Video Club.?

?         Choose a trusted partner. Work with a company that has done this before and has the technology and services to deliver the most value.

Video did not kill the radio star. In fact, with MMS, their relationship has never been stronger.

Ivan Braiker is a former radio CEO who still loves the radio business. He's now the CEO of HipCricket and can be reached at ivan@hipcricket.com

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(VIDEO) Radio Ink's Forecast 2012 Two Months Away

Now more than ever you'll want to know what the future revenue landscape looks like. Forecast is Radio Ink's annual radio industry financial conference where radio owners, CFOs, group executives, managers and Wall Street analysts gather to discuss conditions and predictions for the coming year. Forecast is the only conference of its kind in radio. You will learn about trends and opportunities, and meet the trendsetters. This Radio Ink event examines the information that drives the numbers. Information you will need to put bigger revenue numbers on the board in 2012.

Watch our interview with Forecast Co-Chair, Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth.

In addition to the financial conference, each year we invite the 40 Most Powerful People In Radio to pick up their plaques and join us for cocktails in their

honor. While the presence of each year's Top 40 ensures a who's who of radio in attendance, this year we're inviting the complete roster of Top 40 recipients since 1995. All registered conference attendees are guaranteed an invitation to the cocktail party. Radio Ink's Forecast 2012 will be held at the Harvard Club in New York City on December 6, 2011. Attendance is limited to 200 people.

More Details HERE
Reserve Your Spot HERE

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(Video) Why Does Sears Use Radio?

The RAB/NAB Radio show brought in the VP and CMO of Sears Eddie Combs for a keynote address during the Wednesday luncheon. Radio Ink Editor Ed Ryan caught up with Combs and asked him why he uses radio, how he uses radio, what managers need to know about how to get his business and why he wants managers to bring him ideas that create contextual explosions. Ideas. Ideas. Ideas.

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5 Ways Your Station Should Be Using Video

by Loyd Ford

Even if you?ve been under a rock or two for the last couple of years, you know that a very large and mainstream audience in America is frequently using social media.  You?ve even likely seen the reports that one of the largest segments of growth on Facebook is 35 ? 54.  You might even think you are doing great if your radio station has a Facebook page and your station uses Twitter, but you are missing a lot of success and audience interaction if your radio station is not using video to get attention and share content (and have your content shared with others again and again). 

If you think making video is too difficult or too expensive, check out the Video Flip.  You can get one for under $100 (and probably less if you go to Craig?s List).  As long as I am talking about spending some money, should I mention that your team should be considering ways to incorporate video into your social media and make money from it?  Yes, you should.

Here are five tips to really make your video rock in social media environments:

1. Find the person or persons on your staff that you know are good at presentation.   You are probably thinking about this person while you read this.  Personable people can make the most engaging videos that listeners will love.   They can also be very helpful in creating your overall plan for social media and what you can accomplish using video.  Make sure they have some basic guidelines and know it is important to represent your station in social media and video the way the station is represented on air.  If you don?t have this person on staff, you need to be thinking about how you will get them.  

2. Make your videos personal.  Chances are if you have a job in radio, people think you have a fun job.  Let?s face it.  This isn?t accounting and your listeners think you are much more likely to meet the stars in your format and have fun opportunities they don?t have in their job.  Give them a personal view of that fun job that they will enjoy.  Let them into your life a little (as always, make sure you are representing the station in a way that reflects your company goals).

3. Give listeners content they want about the entertainers on your brand.  If you work for a country station, consider using video by interviewing an up and coming star when they come to town.  Don?t have access to that?  Create a country gossip minute produced with your logo directly behind you.  Think short content.  Make your videos a minute if possible, but no more than four.  No matter what format you are in, you can think of content that will excite your listeners.  Give it to them in short video form on social media.

4. Consider contests where you ask listeners to compete for backstage passes or some other substantial ?experience? prize.  Make it a rule that the video must involve stars in the format and a station logo, but make it fun.  Don?t make it only about the logo. Don?t make them the same contest every time.  The more fun and interesting you make these types of contests, the more listeners will share the video with others.  And you never know when something will go completely viral.  If it represents what is fun about your station and it goes viral, your boss will say, ?You?re brilliant!?

5. Put a call to action at the end of your video.  This can be as simple as simply saying, ?To get more on your favorite artists now, go to?.? and give them the dot com of your radio station.  Remember: We always want to lead them back to us because we are broadcasters first.
You should always be looking to include listeners in your videos.  This can be done at a concert or station event or when prize winners come and pick up a cool prize.  This is showcasing why it is cool to be involved with your radio station.   
A little effort can bring great results with video.  With just a person or two on your staff you can make great videos and create new levels of success for your brand. 

Reach out to Loyd via email HERE
Visit the free Social Media Group for RADIO here

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(Video) DAR.FM Launches 1.0 With 16,000 Shows

Michael Roberston launched his newest company DAR.FM (which stands for Digital Audio Recorder) 6 months ago with 1,500 shows coming from 500 radio stations. Now with over 5,000 stations feeding DAR.FM 16,000 shows Robertson's venture is really starting to take off. The numbers increased so dramatically thanks to "spiders" which crawl out over the Internet gathering information, manually entering shows and a wiki-driven system where hosts and listeners update and change information about a program to make sure it's in the system correctly.

Yesterday, Radio Ink Editor Ed Ryan Skyped a 4-minute interview with Robertson about the growth of DAR. He talks about what he's done with the user data and what he thought was the most interesting aspect of the user information.

For more information, visit http://www.dar.fm/

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(Video) Hipcricket Powers 130,000th Campaign

Mobile marketing and advertising company Hipcricket has reached an amazing milestone. It has surpassed 130,000 campaigns, including more than 30,000 in 2011 using elements ranging from SMS to MMS to CRM to mobile-social programs, mobile coupons, QR codes, branded applications, mobile web, and more. Hipcricket has powered mobile campaigns for a broad range of clients including brands, agencies, media companies and enterprises. Clients include MillerCoors, Nestle, Macy?s, Simon Malls and the American Cancer Society among hundreds of others. Watch Radio Ink Editor-in-Chief Ed Ryan's interview with Hipcricket CEO Ivan Braiker about the comapny's latest accomplishment.

The pace of activity has advanced dramatically since Hipcricket powered its first campaign in 2004. Hipcricket developed and executed 17,000 campaigns in the first half of 2010 and nearly doubled that in the first six months of 2011. This year, the company is seeing double-digit month over month growth in the amount of campaigns processed each month.

Earlier this month, Augme Technologies, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hipcricket. The acquisition, which is subject to typical closing conditions, is currently expected to close at the end of August 2011. Following completion of the acquisition, Hipcricket believes that the combined companies will be recognized as America?s preeminent end-to-end mobile marketing solution provider for consumer brands, agencies, pharmaceutical/health, and media companies, with a combined client roster comprised of over 300 customers.

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Envision Intruduces Angry Guy Video Series

7/15/2011

The Angry Guy is a weekly video aimed to provide original turnkey viral web content for radio stations on a barter basis.The comical animated videos star the curmudgeonly, wise-cracking, Chuck Coolenzo, who is on a mission to help educate people about the world as he sees it through his weekly rants. Whether he is investigating the new Apple iPhone with Steve Jobs, taking on the big issues with Obama, or hanging with Lady Gaga in her dressing room at Madison Square Garden, Coolenzo always tells it like it is and says what is on all of our minds.

Updated every week, Chuck Coolenzo: The Angry Guy animated videos provide a steady stream of fresh exclusive content for your station site. ?I say the crap that?s on people?s noodles, but they don?t know how?s to use a video camera. I?ll run out of videos, when the world runs out of stupid people,? muttered Chuck Coolenzo. ?I don?t just make these videos for my health. Get ?em while the gettin' is good!? Visit www.envisionradio.com to watch the demo. Interested stations should contact Matt Wardlaw at mattw@envisionradio.com or 216-831-3761 for more details.

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Facebook Video Calling: To Seize or Squander?

July 7, 2011

by Mike Stiles

Facebook?s new Video Calling feature was announced with much fanfare this week.  It allows for real-time, face-to-face video chats within the Facebook  environment.  Sure Skype has been around awhile and gained significant traction.  But this incorporation of its video communication power into a social network that?s already an astonishing hub of interaction is worthy of the buzz it?s getting.

You, as radio managers, will have to contend with this new communication tool, which you will do in one of two ways: 

You could incorporate it.  Your jocks are taking video calls as well as phone calls.  Your listeners are getting to know your jocks better, and the bond  between listener and talent is getting stronger?harder to break should some other station or show come along.  Your receptionist is answering video calls  and interacting with your Fans as if they were standing in your lobby.  You?re meeting with your managers in other markets via easy group video  conferences.  You?re video-calling your clients on a regular basis and are strengthening those relationships, building their trust in you. 

Or you could dismiss it.  Listener Facebook video calls to the jock wouldn?t work anyway, because there is no jock.  You?re mostly voice-tracked and  automated.  The few jocks you do have stay fairly unpresentable.  Your receptionist isn?t in the lobby because she?s also the Promotions and Traffic  Directors.  PD?s in other markets that you manage continue to misinterpret your emails and build resentment.  And your clients have never seen you.   You don?t have to worry about them severing their relationship with you, because you have no relationship with them.

Granted, the above example is taking it to the extreme (or God forbid, maybe it?s not that far off the mark), but the point is, amazing tools, technologies  and innovations in social networking are coming every day.  Are you going to jump on them to enhance and empower your radio business?  Or has the  manic drive to operate with as few humans as possible cut you off at the knees and eliminated your ability to capitalize on them?

Takeaway: if radio approaches every tech advancement as an annoyance, or if it views social networking in its entirety as an annoyance, inevitable  innovation will continue to stack up against it and leave it by the side of the road.

Mike Stiles @mikestiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.

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