12 Sep Wednesday, September 12, 2018
This Week in The Lund Letter:
> Nothing reaches listeners quite like humor
> Update your station’s message
> News-Talk’s huge attraction
> And the latest media trends
Lund Management Alert: Add Humor To Your Imaging
You have likely watched the battle of the auto insurance company commercials between Geico and Progressive on television and The Choice Hotels ad with the “Big Voice Guy.” The ads have humor. Ad agencies know that laughter connects with the audience. A study from the Journal of Marketing in 1993 still stands up today:
“Humor is more likely to enhance recall, evaluation, and purchase intention when the humorous message coincides with ad objectives, is well-integrated with those objectives, and is viewed as appropriate for the product category. Under such circumstances humorous advertising is more likely to secure audience attention, increase memorability, overcome sales resistance and enhance message persuasiveness.”
Radio should benefit from using this powerful concept in its station imaging.
> Many imaging liners merely say the call letters/brand name, frequency and positioning statement.
> Most stations do not have a system of frequently freshening their imaging and changing voices, production value, and copy points.
> Their imaging is in danger of becoming “audio wallpaper.”
Laughter is an important part of human psychology. It gives us a way to process all kinds of information, from funny stimuli to a situation where laughing is the only possible reaction. Humor grabs our attention, and that’s why it’s often used in advertising.
Suggestion: Develop a plan of action to make an emotional connection to your listeners by adding humor to your station’s imaging. Humor tugs at our emotions, elicits a positive emotion (like a smile), and this creates an impression. It connects your listeners to your radio station. You can increase your brand awareness with creative funny imaging.
Last weekend, Barack Obama opened a speech in Southern California with a story about his two childhood visits to Disneyland. His slug line at the end was, “I was booted out of the Magic Kingdom (he was caught smoking).” The story enhanced his emotional connection with the audience which made his speech more meaningful to them.
By utilizing humor in your imaging, you can enhance the relationship you have with your audience and, as a result, increase your time spent listening.
Coming up next week in the Lund Letter: creating an Imaging Plan for your station – and what you should be promoting in your imaging liners.
Highball time with your Uncle Otis, a trainload of funny delivered daily! Click to listen.
Lund Programming Clinic: Boring!
Some stations haven’t updated the imaging liners for a year or longer. Repetitive, worn-out imaging drives listeners bonkers! The same recorded messages wear thin and don’t impact the audience as desired. What’s needed –
1. Have lots of imaging liners in rotation
2. Add several new imaging liners twice a week into rotation
3. Give the old ones a rest
4. Create fun and humorous liners for spice
With as many as 16 imaging liners played an hour, listeners desire more than the same sentences repeated over and over. Liner repetition causes a quick-burn factor, just like playing the same song many times an hour. And it sounds like the station is on automatic-pilot and there’s no one there. While a jingle and a live-sounding DJ can help break up the repetition, adding new imaging liners to each hour will make the station sound live and local.
Creative Imaging Liners
Your listeners want variety – not unlike the music that’s played. Refresh your imaging liners for fall. Get 100 creatively written imaging liners customized for your format. Order now by clicking here.
Lund Format Room: Talk Radio is Booming
Among all markets rated by Nielsen, News-Talk trails Country as American’s #2 format. But in the top 60 PPM markets, News-Talk is #1. It leads all radio formats with a 9.9% share (6+), followed by AC (7.7); tied for third are Country and Pop CHR (7.6%). News-Talk gained audience in the 2016 election year, and grew in 2017 and again in 2018.
Successful Talk Radio stations have these key format drivers in common:
+ Longevity of station name and format
+ A big local morning show that draws tune-in
+ A strong (local) news presence
+ They often carry play-by-play of the market’s big team(s)
+ Notable talk hosts have interesting guests who provoke thought
+ Talents help listeners feel involved and fill an informational void
+ They provide companionship
+ All hosts (local and national) are of the same political belief
+ Powerful local hosts draw a large following
The top rated talk stations that have syndicated shows carry the top talents, like Limbaugh, Hannity, Ramsey and Savage. Talk stations heard on FM tend to attract a younger demo and share listeners with FM music stations.
Your talk station should be the market leader. If it isn’t, analyze the programs and talents, all of the programming elements, station imaging, the presentation, and competitive challenges.
Selling Against Amazon
“Bulletproofing Your Business from Amazon” is the newest client session from Revenue Development Resource. This 3-hour workshop makes money for stations and helps close more business to keep customers coming back. Contact Mark Levy atmark@rdrtoday.com. Click here to visit his site and learn more.
Promotion of the Week: Sticker Patrol
Can also go by another name… The Sticker Police look for station stickers on cars. The first few digits of the license plate number and the car’s description are read on the air; that person has an hour to call in and win. While this promotion is going on, have plenty of stickers available at the station and at remote appearances so listeners can join the fun.
Need a contest or fun promotion?
Every programming contest and sales promotion you need is in the Lund Contest and Promotions Guide. It features ratings contests, promotions for the major holidays throughout the year, and seasonal special events, and numerous sales promotions. 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.
Lund’s Top 3: Programming Tune-Up
Going into the fall diary ratings sweep, make sure you have a strong foundation of on-air basics (diary book begins tomorrow!):
1. Never go into a stopset without saying what is coming up (after the break).
2. Tease and please! Tease listeners through every quarter-hour.
3. Have a strong music quantity position and sell it often.
Next week: Invigorating your fall marketing. 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:
Over at Bright AC, Taylor Swift’s “Delicate” has retaken the lead. Post Malone’s “Better Now” (CHR), Luke Bryan’s “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” (Country), “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 (Hot AC) and Imagine Dragons’ “Natural” (Alternative) all top their charts for another week. Lund clients receive weekly music research information on current music plus regular updates on the best-testing recurrent and gold titles.
Lund Trend Watch:
Younger Shoppers’ Favorites
Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996; Gen Z was born after. Those definitions are from Pew Research (another research firm says Millennials are 18-34). Goldman Sachs and Conde Nast recently released their annual Love List Brand Affinity Index. In it are the top brands in each of several retail categories that Millennials and Gen Zers are shopping with. The top five (overall):
1. Victoria’s Secret (lingerie)
2. Sephora (beauty retail)
3. Nike (athletic)
4. Ulta (beauty retail)
5. Nordstrom (luxury)
Target made the top twenty the first time this year at #12 (haircare) overall. Although Amazon ranked in the top ten in all categories last year, this year it dropped off. According to analysis of the survey results, Millennials and Gen Z want more than just low prices. These young consumers shop online but also like in-store shopping trips that let them connect with brands personally. Quality craftsmanship is also important.
Social Media by Format
These are the favorite social media platforms of radio formats’ P1s according to data from NuVooDoo analyzed by Doug Ferber of DEFcom Advisors. There are two that came out on top among the leading radio formats:
+ YouTube for Rhythmic CHR, Urban, Talk and Sports Radio listeners.
+ Facebook for CHR, Hot AC, Alternative, Classic Hits and Country fans.
Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest follow overall in that order. Other formats are more even spread over the different social media platforms. Are you active daily on the social media platform that is most used by your listeners?
Programmer’s Planner:
Here is a list of actions this week for the proactive program director:
Today, 9/12
Staff meeting today. Discuss fall ratings objectives, contests, marketing, and competitive moves.
Summer diary Nielsen and September PPM end today.
TV Premiere – On FX, the eighth season of American Horror Story, Apocalypse.
Thurs., 9/13
Day-One. This is the 1st day of the fall diary rating sweep; also the first day of the October PPM. Talent concentration is essential to performances, so place this sign on the control room door: “Ratings in Progress. Do not enter!”
Today sounds terrific, and the rest of the sweep is no different. Every on-air element of the station sounds perfect – music, liners, contests, and air talents.
Fri., 9/14
Second day into the fall book. The station sizzles with excitement.
Streaming Premieres – Hulu makes available new series The First (about the first manned Mars mission). Netflix has a full slate; some of its debuts… animations BoJack Horseman and The Dragon Prince, talk series Norm McDonald Has A Show, and movies Bleach, The Angel and The Land of Steady Habits. Amazon Prime Video streams comedy series Forever.
Movie Premieres – The Predator, A Simple Favor and White Boy Rick.
Sat.-Sun., 9/15-16
This weekend is the first weekend of the fall diary sweep… Your station should be involved, active and very visible.
TV Special – The Creative Arts Emmys air on FXX.
Mon., 9/17
Consider new ways to increase cume and strengthen TSL. Frequently update social media and the station website.
Monitor each talent show during this week. Coach talents.
TV Special – The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards air on NBC. Saturday Night Live comedians Michal Che and Colin Jost host.
Tues., 9/18
Create a list of tasks, assignments and responsibilities for other members of the program staff through the course of the fall book. Share these lists in today’s programming meeting.
Monitor competitive station(s) today.
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
talk, 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.
Call 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.