Many in the industry have forgotten that. Radio is not a typical product, like computers or cheese, and needs to be promoted in a unique way. This requires creativity, resources, and a willingness to setup that circus tent and bark at the people passing by, “Come one, come all – step right up and see the amazing radio station!”
The current state of Radio promotion is typified by how many radio stations approach remote broadcasts or appearances these days. When a station shows up for a remote broadcast, setting up a card table with a tablecloth and putting a few CDs and T-shirt on it is not enough. We stand there doing reports back to our stations on cell phones as listeners look at us in back of our card tables and realize that broadcasting on the radio is as mundane as having a cell phone conversation.
Most people have never seen a radio station studio or even a radio station. They’ve never seen the hallways lined with gold records from grateful recording artists or signed guitars from rock bands hanging on walls.
Is it any wonder they might think to themselves, “A guy on a cell phone? Ho hum, where’s my iPod?”
Where’s the GLITZ? Where’s the GLIMMER?
Where’s the remote studio on wheels built into a modified RV with a broadcast window so listeners can watch as the DJ or host “broadcasts on the radio”? So what if the equipment is just for show and the microphone still interfaces back into a hidden cell phone. After all: it’s Show Business!
Where’s the signage that shouts, “Hey! Something exciting is happening here: a radio station – a DJ – on-the-air live!”
When a company owns 5 radio stations in a single market it’s easy to become complacent. It’s easy to reduce promotion budgets and staff. It’s easy to take a couple of thousand dollars from a client for a “remote” broadcast and set up a card table and banner.
I’ve worked in major and large markets and I know there’s generally more budget and attention devoted to promotions. But, the majority of America’s radio stations are in the medium and small markets and more of these stations could be profitable with compelling programming and exciting promotion.
We are what people perceive us to be.
- We need to be more than a “1 CD-a-day giveaway with all the winners going into a drawing for a $50 dollars gift certificate.”
We need to be more than radio stations which buy billboards only when ratings drop and we feel threatened.
We need to be radio stations that give away prizes our listeners care about and not just products our sponsors give us.
We need to be radio stations that give away dreams, not just prizes.
Would Las Vegas be half as successful coercing people into giving it all their money without its bigger-than-life approach to buildings, entertainment, and experiences?
I know we can't be Vegas, but to be more competitive Radio needs to present its stations, DJs, and personalities in a more exciting environment than just some guy on a cell phone standing behind a card table.
