The Politics of Radio Marketing

It was a beautiful Saturday in September and like every other small town in Minnesota, my little burg was having its annual festival, spelled, as expected, "Daze." Those damn irreverent rural folk.

Me and the Paigettes grabbed some curb and shortly after the town fire siren sounded, the parade began its slow Bataan-Death March-like trudge past us.

There was the honor guard, the Boy Scouts, a few floats for local businesses like the general store and Olson's septic, and then began the Parade of Candidates.

I've tried to bludgeon my clients over the head with the reminder that we're in politics. When someone is tasked with filling out a survey or wearing a hideous electronic device on their belt, having gone out and done the hard work of canvassing and shaking hands will eventually sway their ballot. And choosing to write you down or listen to you while being monitored IS a vote for you.

Clifton has a theory that I've seen proven correct over and over again. If you were to launch a radio station tomorrow and if the signal is good and the music is within the range of "on target"... and you go out and shake hands with 25% of the people in the market in the first 90 days, you'll debut at #1 or #2.

At Cox in Birmingham we took the number 3288 and had it posted around the building. That's how many hands they need to shake every day. And they do. They're never relied on outdoor and TV, which can be crutches for most stations; "We got 80 boards up. We're cool for the Fall." And they've locked down the two top spots in the ratings since about 1997.

No candidate ever won by sending spam to a database. Or by JUST running TV. Or just putting up some outblur (TM pending)... because it IS just a blur that maybe keeps you top-of-mind or helps in establishing a position. They go out and shake hands.

I've often thought that a smart radio station or cluster would go out and hire a campaign manager after they've done their job and gotten their person in office. They've mastered the art of getting a message out and getting their person out and in the face of the collective people. It's hard to vote against someone once you've met them, they greeted you, took eight seconds to make conversation with you and left you feeling that this was one of the highlights of their day.

With street teams I teach the Eight-Second Rule of Job Interviewing, which is that whoever hired you made their final decision in about eight seconds. It wasn't based entirely on your resume, or on your references or on your presentation; it was based on all of that. And if you'd come in, sat down, and smelled or scratched nervously at a sore or slouched or looked bored or texted during the interview, you would have lost it.

A bad first impression trumps any resume. And when people meet the face of your station, your promo team, on the streets, they're going to walk away either inclined to vote, or "put off" for life. A good first impression is only as good as you maintain it and don't screw it up on later encounters. A bad first impression is forever.

So, let's critique the candidates from my little festival and some elements they either did right or wrong.

Right? One of the legislative wannabes had a body man who literally guided him along and made introductions. As a Promotion Director I usually felt like the body man for the air staff, taking them by the arm and steering them out from behind the table to meet people at events. No successful politician sits at a table and waits for people to come to them; they make the first move.

Wrong? One poor guy who is running for judge had just himself and a disheveled teen in a campaign T-shirt. Bad first impression. Nice guy. He was walking the curb peeling off stickers to hand to people. But I'm not blown away by someone who can only muster one person on a Saturday.

Right? The person who is running for U.S. Senate. She had a contingent of happy, smiling volunteers holding signs, carrying balloons and literally skipping along. It's all psychology. People want to be associated with things and people that are popular. The candidate (whose opponent blew us off) appeared to be the most affable, popular, fun person in the whole freaking state. She walked the sidewalk laughing, ignoring any bad feedback, having the time of her life and shaking hands. She handed me a flier, shook my hands, asked about my daughters and thanked me before moving on.

When you meet someone who is not familiar with your station, your goal is to intrigue them enough to find out more. Give it a listen. I took the flier home. Read it. I'm thinking this might be my person.

How does this translate to radio? I helped launch a radio station a few weeks back with a fauxmat of All-Christmas Music for two days before "management reevaluated their decision and switched to Top 40."

For two days in sweltering heat, myself and high school students in Santa suits danced (more of a lurch for me), held signs that said things like "Santa Loves 94.7!" and waved at cars at all the busy intersections in town. People waved back. People honked. People leaned over and punched in the station.

I've never sat next to a billboard and watched commuters change their radio dial because of an artists' photo and positioning statement.

It's politics. Smart stations should watch and monitor their races this Fall because there is a lot to be learned from them.