It Pays To Be Social

Ephemeral though it may be, Face Book introduced an entirely new marketing ecosystem involving online social interactions – between both “friends” and “brands”. Like any other mass media, social platforms must achieve scale (a subjective term, to be sure) to successfully monetize their products.

Pandora is a good example. At JP Morgan’s Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston this week, CEO Joe Kennedy told attendees Pandora aims to disrupt broadcast radio.  Not with the now fairly common value proposition of personalized radio, but by hyping his company’s fast track to scale (Y-to-Y 87% increase in registered users).

While Kennedy may be loathe to openly admitting it, the fact remains that broadcast radio already has scale. It is the legacy medium’s most precious competitive-edge.

Moreover, broadcast radio is in a position to provide listeners and advertisers (“users”) locally produced content far more relevant to their lives than Pandora can possibly replicate.

The situation presents incredible opportunity for brands that scale, including local radio stations with franchise value whose management recognizes that all media of all types (legacy and new) are losing usage (if not users) as alternative entertainment distractions continue to proliferate. Growing – not just protecting – market penetration (scale) requires an intense focus on the needs and objectives of the medium’s users (consumers and advertising partners). Social marketing is emerging as a huge part of the equation.

Radio people already “get” this social stuff. Really!

For over 70 years, broadcast radio has been the planet’s most dominant social medium, still reaching over 90% of this country’s population on a weekly basis.  Crowd-sourced content (listener call-ins), “likes” (listener requests), “circles/tribes” (listener loyalty programs), “curation” (exposure to trending cultural movements and new music) have long been local radio programming staples.

For sure, the advent of personal music players has rendered listening more personal and much less of a communal experience than it once was.  But turning friends on to new music (and new ideas) can still be a highly rewarding social experience.

Keyword: Experience

Offering the audience a unique content experience is the key to achieving relevance and heightened levels of engagement. The content IS the event - the epicenter of engagement. The future of radio starts with defining how the event is alluring, captivating, and most importantly shareable. TV has long embraced this concept: Think “Dancing with the Stars”, “American Idol”, and its many network talent-show clones.

Integrating Facebook and Twitter deeply into interactive audience platforms, ultimately drives increased traffic to station and advertiser web sites.

Creating fresh ways to interact through second and third screen digital platforms affords a huge opportunity for local broadcast radio to expand reach (and grow advertising revenue) well beyond its existing, loyal, over-the-air audience base.

Relevant Advertising as a Content Component

Social media serve up targeted ads based on user preference. Broadcast ads need to be contextually relevant to any given station’s target audience in order to motivate engagement. An 18-24 year old is not likely to have an interest in a pitch for Medi-Gap Insurance.

Mobile geographic targeting technologies enhance radio’s ability to improve its efficacy and reliability as the closest to point-of-purchase marketing platform.

HD – A Misleading Acronym

Interscope Records Co-Chairman Jimmy Iovine claims radio’s biggest problem today is horrible sound quality. He should know. He engineered and/or produced albums from artists like John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Tommy Petty and U2. In a rare interview with Rolling Stone last month, Iovine is quoted as saying “Turn on KROQ [in Los Angles]. Every guitar sounds exactly the same, unless it’s played by Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) or Jack White. We used to go into the studio and unless the guitar sounded like nothing you’d heard before, we didn’t stop. Tom Petty – it was 20 amps, 14 guitars.”

Even on in-band HD channels, broadcast radio stations often sacrifice quality with distortive, digital “compression” in an effort to expand signal footprint – which can result in listener fatigue – at least subliminally.  Most streaming services also employ compression.  Another opportunity for broadcast radio to further differentiate itself..

Speaking of sound quality – Neil Young loathes compressed digital audio. As an example of someone practicing what he preaches, check out the audio on the “official” video of Clementine from his new album with Crazy Horse. “Americana” drops June 5th.