Down Turn The Radio

thebeertalking

In case you hadn’t heard, “There’s a recession on.”

That statement, while obviously true, has been used as an excuse to justify an increasingly notable lack of effort, and continuing decline in standards of local radio advertising in Ireland.

As if the torrent of news about unemployment, emigration, increased taxation and reduction of wages had passed us by like a thief in the night.

Disclaimer: There IS a recession on.

But believe it or not, there are other problems affecting local commercial radio in Ireland, problems that have been germinating since the late 80’s and early 90’s. Problems that have been around a lot longer, but until now because of favourable trading conditions, and several strokes of luck, has gone unnoticed.

We’ve seen it with the banks. It didn’t matter how badly organised they were, or how reckless they were…when the pot of gold was overflowing, anyone could buy anything, even if they had virtually nothing.

In the radio industry, we have a similar situation.

Advertising on local radio has become synonymous for its repetitive, unimaginative clichéd format and style.
But more importantly, they have become, in many cases, completely ineffective.

The details of the “great value on offer” and the “incredible half price sale” often wash over people; because they say a lot, while at the same time, say nothing.

Of course people are interested in grabbing a bargain, but they can’t “grab” what “35.47295% off” actually means.

“50% off in furniture and bedding”

We hear so many of these by now meaningless amounts that hardly anyone believes or pays attention to the grandeur of such statements.

“Are the beds €5,000?”
“Are legs sold separately?”
“Is the furniture made out of recycled tyres and chewing gum?”

Ads consistently fail to highlight specific savings or any kind of benefit of a product or service to potential customers.
They’re so caught up in rhetoric and stock ‘wet cloth’ phrases like “get down today” and “don’t miss out”, that they lose sight of their goal.

The staple of local radio advertising is from local business. Naturally, stations don’t have the budgets, the resources or the time of large agencies to languish over scripts, strategies and voices, but this doesn’t mean local ads have to sound cheap, boring and the same as all the rest.

But they do...

How Come?

Well, this might hurt, but…

Most local radio stations don’t want to invest anything whatsoever, into their sole core revenue generating business – Advertising.

Because?

Most local radio station CEO's don’t know how to run a business.

And?

Most local radio sales reps don’t know what they’re selling.

Also?

Most local radio production guys don’t have the skill or time to write and produce effectively.

Why The Last Two?

Because sales reps are not taught about the medium for which they are selling.

And?

And production guys lack the training and time to create effective campaigns.

A sales or station manager has probably stopped reading by now, because they’ve laughed and sneered at the above brazen, idiotic statement, and are carrying on convincing themselves that they’ve never made a mistake and the recession is entirely and completely to blame for abysmal results, a lack of repeat business with poor feedback from clients.

Now, 'economy in toilet' aside, it’s unfair and nonsensical to blame one group in particular for the continued fall in advertising revenue. But there are elements which, unlike the recession, are within the control of individuals and teams, and uncomfortably for everyone, this means holding up a mirror and querying choices made, both now and in the past.

You don’t have to work in, or have any knowledge of radio, to realise the folly of many decisions taken since the economic downturn, as these poorly thought out strategies have also been applied in the wider business environment.

You might have noticed over the last year or so, that shops are less well stocked then they used to be, and the selection on offer has diminished. Retailers are cautious about ordering in too much of an item, as unlike years previous where they’d be guaranteed to sell most of it, they’re now not so sure – and they’re right – but only to a point.
If you cut back on the wrong things, in the wrong ways, in the pursuit of cost savings and efficiencies, you’ll pull your business even further into the red faster than you can say “coming up after the…oh.”

In terms of radio, the eradication of production budgets, the vast increase of last-minute, late in the day ‘rip-and-read’ ads, has led to a serious decline in the previously moderate standard of advertising.

Conversely, the effectiveness of campaigns has been massively diminished.

If campaigns aren’t successful for an already nervous client, they will not become a repeat business. €500 from a client this month could mean €500 from that same client next month. Call it the spider approach – aim to get them back 8 times over 24 months. Make that the mindset regardless whether or not the client is a seasonal advertiser or a one-off, the universal outlook on the part of sales, production and station managers should be that the client themselves wants to come back.

In the current stress-laden environment, this is not happening.

Sales reps would argue that clients want everything “now, today and for half nothing”.

Logic would argue that clients want to stay in business and get more business, so if you explain to them exactly what you do and how it works, they will understand more, see the value of it, and be less impetuous and more inclined to sign on the dotted line.

Radio Sales & Marketing Reps, generally speaking, don’t come with a radio background. So they can’t be expected to understand the process of production; the theory behind a script, the selecting and matching of a voice, and the importance of keeping an ad to time. Most of them haven’t been shown these mechanisms and that’s a failure of station policy. This needs to form a crucial and continuing part of their role, so they can sell better and liaise better with clients, production and traffic.

The rep may have come from a background of selling a physical product like building materials or cars. The art and skill of selling is transferable, but the equation between a box that sits on a shelf in a warehouse and can be shipped out in a matter of hours, and a radio ad that doesn’t actually exist at time of signing with a client, doesn’t compare.

The best sales person is someone you know. It’s someone in your family, or a friend, who’s bought something and wants to show it to you and tell you all about it – a new TV, a new phone, an extension on their house…if they’re really happy, they’ll know all about it, and want to show it off and tell you how great it is.

That’s the connection a sales rep should try and feel to radio.

Too often, a station is divisive, with sales on one side and programming and production on the other. Each one thinks they’re invincible, beyond question, beyond reproach and that without them, everything else around would crumble, and everyone else would be out of job. Forgetting that if this did happen, they too, would also be out of a job, regardless of how many years experience they’ve had, or how many years studying in college they’ve had. Forget the age versus experience divide – progress is universal.

Production plays an essential element in turning around the fortunes of radio stations. People are creatures of habit. It’s very easy to get sucked in to a routine of approaching every task in a similar manner, letting functions become repetitive with a measure of mediocrity possibly creeping in along the way. Tie this to ever-tightening deadlines and rising expectations; and attention to detail falls away, as frustration and distraction close in.

Then, all of a sudden, something that was approved by a repeat client for the last 4 years is now being turned down in a mist of dissatisfaction.

But this isn’t a reason for you, working in Production, to downgrade your level of effort to ‘just get it done’.

There are times, as in every job, where someone will want something bolted together at the last minute, but it shouldn’t become the norm. The role of production isn’t just to download and import ads. It isn’t just to grab your mid morning show presenter on their way to the canteen and ask them to voice an ad while Barry Manilow is playing.

It’s about maintaining standards of quality and an effective service to both clients and sales, explaining to them what you think might work, why you think something won’t work, and most importantly, telling them if something will NOT work.

They may choose to ignore your advice, as even international advertisers spending tens of millions do their agencies, but you will distinctly reduce the number of ineffective campaigns and exasperated bodies – and increase the numbers of returning clients – IF you engage them in the process.

You won’t always be right. You’ll make mistakes. But overall and over time, you’ll increase the value and quality of the product.
Remember, your clients are all in business. They’re self-employed and carry the huge risks associated with this. They too have made, are making and will continue to make mistakes, so they don’t expect you to get it right every time either, and are surprisingly forgiving when a campaign doesn’t work – if you have taken the time and been afforded the time, to work with them, for the most part, they will understand and appreciate your skills and abilities. Sometimes people with their own business can be extremely precious and their emotional attachment to their labour of love can cloud their reasoning and cause them to miss the precise point of running any kind of advertising. In this regard, it’s also the role of production to direct a client’s radar away from telling everyone how many millions of years they’ve been in business or many hundreds of items they have “reduced to clear”. Impart, in as nice a way as possible, that no one actually cares about this rubbish, and they need to find one specific saving or one unique selling point (USP) of their service.

Your time is limited, you may also be an afternoon show presenter or assistant programme director, or head of everything that isn’t someone else’s job – do you want to spend the time you have, re-making the same ad 3 times? And having the same fight this week with sales that you had last week?

For CEO’s and Station Managers, their roles and responsibilities in the recovery of radio revenues extend way beyond the aspects being discussed here.
All sectors of local radio have a degree of accountability for the plummeting standards in radio ads and the financial impact of this, but one incredibly costly mistake has been made directly by senior management.

The cutting of essential resources to your core business – removal of voiceover and copy writing budgets – is a backward, blinkered, retrograde step, and is inexcusable.
The prices for these services have dropped significantly. Go and check.
There is NO excuse for you allowing every ad to feature your breakfast and drive time presenter side by side, with a token appearance by some agency copy.

No one can proclaim a client cannot afford 30 to 50 euro to have an ad voiced.
If they’re spending 500+ on a campaign, then they’re committed to making their investment work.
It’s been proven time and again, businesses that make investments and offer more during times of stagnation and decline, are the ones that succeed.
The ones that reduce the variety and quality of service and diminish the value and effectiveness of their core product – as local radio advertising is doing – are the ones that FAIL.

This is the first recession that commercial radio in Ireland has seen.
Not one single person, regardless of years of experience, has any idea how the next few years will play out.

Refuse to be told by anyone that they know better than you, unless they can prove it.

Throughout sales, marketing, production, traffic, presentation, and accounting – everyone has their role. More than ever, new ways of doing old things need to be thought of. It’s not the re-invention of the wheel.

Detach yourself as much as possible, and look back clinically at the past 20+ years of commercial Irish radio, to see what mistakes we made, what bad habits and unhealthy arrangements were forged, but also what good things were done, what worked well and what was successful.

Open up to the idea that maybe this upstart writing on the internet isn’t completely wrong. That, while a baby when you started in radio, perhaps sees something you might have missed along the way. Analysing the past and your performance within it, is not about belittling or de-valuing your experience, it’s about evaluating it and drawing from it, so you can add value to the business, and to yourself.

The pursuit of recovery is a quest to benefit us all. It is essential not just to save the medium, the people who use it, listen to it, love and enjoy it, or even those who create and deliver it, but to preserve and protect, and to grow and nourish something that despite the detonation of worldwide sharing, swapping and syncing of media, has remained consistent, unwavering, steadfast, ever-present and unfaltering…..

The Power of Radio.

withless

TL;DR all of it.

Can you give us a summary?

The good news is that the guy from Fair City is back doing voiceovers so the sick bag industry is going to go through a boom.

JonathanAnon

I thought post were limited to 50 million characters?

thebeertalking

In 30 seconds... Local Radio Stations (though possibly the nationals as well) need to invest in their Commercial Production, with budgets for the various disciplines (voice overs, copywriters), and to spend more time training their sales reps as to the key benefits of radio advertising, which can then be expressed to a potential client. Everyone's running around in circles, doing their own thing, but there's no coherent policy or direction, and the end product (and the bottom line!) is suffering.

P.S. If you don't want to read the entire post, that's fine. People have lost, and will continue to lose their jobs in stations and agencies, because of declining revenues. The depth of the situation, requires huge analysis and discussion...and therefore, quite a lot of words.

The adverts on radio are dire,especially the local's.No imagination at all.The shouted shopping list.Are there any copy guy's/girl's with any imagination?.Humour shouls be used more in radio advert's,but it's just..Lash something down on paper,shove a music bed under it,and sure it will do.