Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Lund Letter

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

This Week in The Lund Letter:  
>   Take care of your core
>   Tease and Please
>   And the latest media trends

Lund Management Alert: Building Audience 

audconstruction.pngThe fall rating sweep begins in 8 days.  While programmers are immersed in budgeting for your marketing plan (billboards, television, social media, direct mail, etc.), don’t overlook internal marketing – using your station to promote your station.   In most businesses, 25% of the customers provide 75% of your revenue.  In radio, about 25% of your audience give your station 75% of your listening.  These are your P1s – First Preference listeners.

Airlines also live by this rule.  They cultivate their best customers by offering points for miles traveled on their airline.  Similarly, many retailers offer discounts to their frequent shoppers or private shopping specials.  We see cash register receipts at grocery and drug stores used as coupons to get shoppers to return.  Customers sign up for frequent shopper discounts.   The objective is clear:  Get the current customer (listener) to shop more or come back soon.

Internal marketing engages the listener to come back and listen again on more occasions.  Refresh the imaging more often.  Update the morning show promo daily and give a specific reason to listen to the show at a specific time.

The keys to your internal marketing plan are:

1.   What is your station known for?   Develop imaging that sells it as a listener benefit.

2.   Focus on one primary benefit.  Identify your primary attribute and frequently sell it.

3.   State your benefit in the listener’s terms.  A bar that advertises “happy hour” between 4 and 6 is not really defining it to its customers.  Be specific: “Beers $4, well drinks $6 and free chips.”  The listener may not know what a “block of rock” is; “40 minutes of nonstop rock” is a better term.  The television quiz show name, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader,” is more effective than the “Brain Freeze” trivia game name.

4.   Develop your listener community, an email database.  This is a very powerful tool in strengthening your P1 listenership by developing a relationship with core listeners and engaging them periodically.

5.   Constantly freshen your on-air imaging and your website.  You don’t want your message not to be heard.

In today’s world of tight budgets, it makes sense to focus on the listeners you already have to encourage them to listen more.   The often overlooked advantage is they become your brand ambassadors with their network of friends.

Marketing Builds Audience, But Doesn’t Have To Be Costly

NoCost18.pngT
he Lund No-Cost Marketing Guide provides over 200 ways to build audience for no cost.  Want to grab a bigger share of remote dollars?  Want to generate revenue while marketing for more listeners?   Put these tactics to use at your station…and provide a big bang for no bucks.  Get our No Cost Marketing Guide
.

Lund News Room: Making News-Talk More Relatable

newstalk18.pngNews-Talk, All-News, and Sports-Talk radio stations continue to grow audience.  While All-News and News-Talk are especially strong 55+, Sports-Talk skews younger.  What do all spoken word formats have in common?  They share a desire to attract younger demos.

How is this achieved?  Talk radio utilizes contemporary imaging, a faster pace, shorter news stories, and a focus on younger topics.

Lund Media provides another method to assist these radio stations sound more contemporary.  We advise News-Talk, All-News, and Sports-Talk stations play clips of familiar hit music.  These song bumpers are played into and out of stop sets or around relatable stories and events.   Lund Media TV client Sinclair Broadcast Group utilizes these music bumpers in their early morning television news shows to attract a younger target.  Hit music bumpers are from AC, Hot AC, and Country, and they help make their programming sound more contemporary.  This is also true for radio.  The music is targeted for the widest available audience in the core demographic.

Wouldn’t your news-talk, talk, or sports station sound more contemporary with custom music bumpers?  For this very affordable and contemporary addition to your station, contact John Lund.

Lund Programming Clinic: Tease and Please

teasenplease18.pngPeople don’t listen to your station continuously.  They listen for short segments. 10 minutes is the average length of each listening occasion, but people listen for many occasions per day.  Why do your listeners stop listening to your station?  It is not because they are bored or don’t like the song.  They turn off the station because they have reached their destination when driving, or it’s time to go to work.  The goal is to attain more listening occasions per day.

One can lengthen an occasion by a minute or two with great content and effectively promoting ahead.  Always go into a stopset with a promote-ahead of a listener benefit coming up, like an artist, weather, or event.  You can increase the number of occasions listened to each day by promoting ahead a benchmark or contest that is coming up in a half hour or more.  The “tease” is the best way of extending TSL and listening occasions.

If the teased event occurs more than ten minutes away, use a precise time-stamp to make an appointment: “You can win $100 again at 10:20 this morning.”  Don’t be like the cable guy and say the next contest is “between 3 and 7”.  That is not enticing or effective.  Instead, make an appointment like a doctor and set a specific time.

Promotion of the Week: The Prize You Can’t Buy

prizecantbuy18.pngThe prize can be awarded any way the station chooses.  However, the titular prize must be something a listener could not, under normal circumstances, get themselves.  Examples: being an exclusive guest at a sound check (and meet and greet) before a big concert, getting to see the dress rehearsal of a soon-to-open new play, being the first person to ride a new attraction at a theme park, etc.

The best radio contests of all time include Secret Sound and Hi-Lo, and they are detailed in the Lund Contest and Promotions Guide, along with 200 more contests and sales promotions.  This is the most comprehensive radio contest collection ever published.  Click here to order your copy.

Lund’s Top 3:  Evaluate Your Programming Basics 

Top3B.jpgGoing into the fall diary ratings sweep, make sure you have a strong foundation of on-air basics (begins in eight days):

1.   In diary markets, say the station name between every song – a total of 30-40 times an hour.

2.   Consistently sell what is coming up – this hour and later in the day.

3.   Be consistent with recycling in each daypart.

Programming basics continue next week.  Visit www.lundradio.com for more Top 3’s!

Are you marketing to General Managers or Program Directors and want to reach the 9,500+ readers of the Lund Letter? Email John Lund.


This Week’s Music:

postmalonefoo.jpgPost Malone’s “Better Now” is on top at CHR this week.  Luke Bryan’s “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” is #1 at Country.  “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 is holding strong on Hot AC.  Over at Bright AC, MAX’s “Lights Down Low” is the leader.  Imagine Dragons’ “Natural” reigns for another week at Alternative.  Lund clients receive weekly music research information on current music plus regular updates on the best-testing recurrent and gold titles.


Lund Trend Watch:


Whole Foods, Powered by Amazon

wholefoodsamazon.jpgSince Amazon purchased Whole Foods, there has been a just under 2% increase in the number of customers attracted to Whole Foods according to analysis firm Sense360.  While Amazon has only owned Whole Foods for a year, that 2% is being pulled away from competitors like Walmart and Krogers, which have several times as many locations (4,000+ and almost 3,000 respectively versus Whole Foods’ fewer than 500 locations).  And Amazon is trying to make over a brand known critically as “Whole Paycheck” due to its previous non-competitive prices.  A better number?  Amazon Prime Members, who can get special pricing in the store as well as quickly-prepared pickup orders, are 27% more likely to visit Whole Foods than non-members.

Friday Still Best Day of the Week

friday18.png15.7% of each week’s total listening to live audio streaming happens on a Friday, the strongest day of the week.  According to Nielsen data analyzed by Doug Ferber of DEFcom Advisors, 15.4% of on-demand audio streaming also happens on a Friday.  Sunday is the weakest day of the week with 11.8%.  Video streams (only on-demand was calculated for video) occur the most on Saturday, with Mondays the low point.

Is Your Station Talent an Influencer?

influencer.pngAccording to Chief Marketer and the RAB, more than 70% of US marketers used opinion leaders in influencer marketing in 2017.  More than 95% of those who did found it effective.  What does radio call this?  DJ endorsement ads!

+   5 of 10 radio listeners follow a DJ or radio station on social media.
+   4 of 10 have personally met a DJ in their community.
+   8 of 10 say they’d consider trying something their favorite personality recommended.

That’s a lot of influence!


Programmer’s Planner:
Here is a list of actions this week for the proactive program director:

Today, 9/5
Fall diary book starts one week from tomorrow. Fall marketing campaign should be starting.  The goals:  Find new listeners with external advertising while super-serving present fans – especially P1 “heavy users”.  Market aggressively, wisely, and creatively.
TV Premiere – FXX begins the thirteenth season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
TV Special – The CW airs the comedy special Back to School Just For Laughs.

Thurs., 9/6
Summer Nielsen diary ratings week #12 begins.  Last week of the September PPM begins.  October PPM starts in one week.
Start your first fall contest.  Produce follow-up promos for contests and major promotions.  Update live liners, produced sweepers, and contest promos several times a week; keep promotional announcements sounding fresh.
TV Premiere – Starz airs British mini-series Save Me tonight and the next two nights.

Fri., 9/7
Listen to your direct competitor for one hour today.  Make note of music played, a new contest or feature, and talent presentation.
The station must sound strategically perfect and ready for the sweep to begin.
Streaming Premiere – Netflix has the second seasons of Atypical and Marvel’s IronPeppermintMovie18.jpgFist; also debuting, documentary City of Joy, animated movie Next Gen and comedy movie Sierra Burgess Is A Loser.
Movie Premieres – The Nun and Peppermint.

Sat.-Sun., 9/8-9
The last weekend before the fall ratings sweep.  Are your weekend shows sounding perfect?  Are they on at the best times?
TV Specials – On Sunday, ABC airs the 2019 Miss America Competition, and BET airs the 2018 Black Girls Rock! Awards.
Sunday TV Premieres – Showtime has new show Kidding (Jim Carrey) joining the ninth season of Shameless.  HBO begins the second season of The Deuce.  On TNT, The Last Ship returns for its fifth season.  Fox debuts new comedy series Rel.

Mon., 9/10
Plan a morning show stunt for the first day of the fall sweep that will garner talk for the station?
Outline the staff meeting for Wednesday.  Cover all topics and pump up the troops.

Tues., 9/11
Review the Station Information Profiles (SIP) for your stations(s) and competitors on the Nielsen client website.  Preview all info for accuracy.
Today’s programming meeting… Your first fall sweep promotion should already be running.  How can it sound better?  What are good ideas for Halloween and  Thanksgiving?
The 9/11 attacks occurred on September 11, 2001.

Need A Ratings Contest?

contestpromocover.pngOur Contest and Promotions Guide provides every programming and sales contest you’ll need this fall and the rest of the decade! The Guide features ratings contests, promotions for the major holidays throughout the year, and seasonal special events.  Get contest ideas for any size market or budget.  Order today, and get a ton of fresh contests and sales promotions
.  Click here to order your copy.


Thanks for reading
The Lund Letter
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!

About the Lund Media Group:

For over 20 years, the Lund Media Group has provided programming, music consulting, operational guidance, and research to commercial and public broadcaststations throughout North America and overseas. Whether you program all sports, all tjclforLL.pngalk, or all music, the Lund Goal is to help stations get more listeners and keep them listening longer. The Lund Consultants are a multi-format custom programming and management consultancy. 

C
all John Lund for more information about how the Lund Media Group can help your stations achieve more listeners, higher ratings, and more revenue.
Phone: 650-692-7777.
Email john@lundradio.com