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Some marketing people would put you to sleep yelling "fire!" At a time when all media begs for more attention in the land of migratory product and time poverty, why has radio marketing become remarkably unremarkable?
Recently George Johns forward a picture of an ancient KVIL billboard; no doubt a mono-pole on I-635 spectacularly showing lanky Bill Gardner supine across the bottom of the board frame with the following caption in bold letters under Bill's horizontal stretch: Bill Gardner - 6' 5" - single, and sounds like it! Gardner's was the top-ranked midday show in Dallas-Ft. Worth.
Deregulation among other things produced Stepford programming and a lot of un-coached robo-talent. External marketing is as exciting as a Geraldo Rivera guest panel. In focus groups and research projects fewer listeners are noting, much less remembering a billboard or a TV spot for a radio station. At last tally Audience Development Group participates in programming around 130 radio stations from Portland to Pittsburgh; from San Diego to San Antonio...and many are asking, "How do we cut through? How do we win an audience today?" The following concepts may be helpful.
To win someone's mind, you may have to back away from it. Few people are superior copy writers. Everything starts with the mind, transferred to the keyboard. Here's a surefire winner expressed as a formula for creative sequence expressed as the "PAPA Formula." P = "promise." If your promo or external message doesn't have one, it's already lost. A = "amplification." In short, how do we take a clutter-busting "promise" and add instant credibility? P = "proof" a word, a phrase, that backs up both the promise and amplification. A = "action" (as in call-to). This biggest failure from TV spots, billboards, or digital listener appeal falls under the second 'A' in the formula. 50% of the time, there is no call-to-action. Writing promos or planning a TV campaign, if you can't easily identify the four letters of the PAPA acronym, start over.
Trying to force your audience to appreciate your brand is a waste of time. Instead, try to be the radio brand that appreciates its audience. Any intern can write a contest lock-out bragging via the question, "What station just gave you a thousand bucks?" The grad-student promo writer asks, "Hey Sara...If a station in Denver plays 20 In A Row and gives away a lot of cash, who would that be?" Unless Sara can't fog a glass she will likely deliver a far more compelling endorsement than a self-serving station claim. We spend all our time focusing on the sending end without researching the receiving end. Through no fault of their own, very few talent or creative writers can accurately profile their "heavy-deep" P-1 listener. This is inexcusable. How can we do relevant show content or effective listener-appealing external promotion if we don't know the essence of the people in our target bull's eye, most likely to afford us 65% of their weekly listening time? Is your social media really "social?" Jacquelyn Bullerman and Tripp Eldridge recently presented a syllabus on the net-effect of creative application to Facebook, pointing to a case study where two stations featured a compelling story; one produced 600% more reaction based solely on the packaging of the topic. It's been proposed that the value of one "friend" is worth $114.00. PPM or diary, greater mindshare drives ratings and ratings drive profit...but only if the creative ignites response. | 
