Posts Tagged ‘ Sales ’

All Access

June 18, 2013
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All Access

Radio stations throughout the land have all been fighting a war of attrition these past few years: shrinking marketing budgets. Now if we were a bunch of Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, we’d be in trouble.  But because we’re radio stations – brands that consumers still are passionate about – we have alternatives, and pretty good ones. That is, if we decide to use them. Just like professional sports teams and rock bands, radio fans are always looking for more.  Other entertainment sectors have mined the behind-the-scenes opportunity, but radio...

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Cliff Diving

June 11, 2013
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Cliff Diving

This morning, we hear from Paul Jacobs and his perspective as an industry leading sales maven.  For more than four decades, Paul has seen it all from his perch as a rep, sales and general manager, and consultant for Jacobs Media.  Here’s his POV on a hot topic in radio: Despite being brothers, there are times when it’s pretty clear that Fred and I come from different ends of the gene pool. He’s programming.  I’m sales. He’s right brain.  I’m left. And when we worked together at WRIF when...

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Rev Rev Revenue

June 6, 2013
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Rev Rev Revenue

On the heels of Paul’s excellent post yesterday about mobile revenue – specifically from the local angle – comes today’s entry about media ad spending.  Last week, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers’ killer analyst, Mary Meeker, presented her always amazing Internet Trends 2013 report. It’s 117 of the most remarkable slides you’ll see that synopsizes what’s happening in the digital space and it will impact your business. But for those of us with shorter attention spans, just stop at slide #5: And that sums up the state of the revenue...

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Crossing The Streams

June 5, 2013
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Crossing The Streams

jacAPPS President Paul Jacobs has seen and learned a lot since the launch of the company back in 2008.  The company’s 800 apps that have been developed for brands worldwide serve as digital Petri dishes for learning about the mobile space and how consumers are adapting to faster, more feature-filled smartphones.  In today’s post, he take a hard look at key issues facing radio in its efforts to ‘go mobile.’” At jacAPPS, one of the most frequently asked questions from clients is, “How do we monetize our mobile apps?”...

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Hey, Pandora: Welcome To Our World

June 3, 2013
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Hey, Pandora: Welcome To Our World

Users have probably felt it for some time.  Now it’s been confirmed:  Pandora has been sneaking in more commercial units. This will sound familiar because it’s been a broadcast radio tactic since Marconi…or Mel Karmazin.  Station sales staffs have consistently worked at the margins to squeeze in as many spots in as possible, flirting with the tipping point.  The trick is in the balance, and it’s never an easy task in an industry where there’s simply a limited amount of inventory and seemingly insatiable revenue goals. Back in those...

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(Digital) Dash For Cash

May 30, 2013
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(Digital) Dash For Cash

As our work at Jacobs Media takes us closer to connected cars via our app business, our partnership with Ford, and information gathering at conferences and conventions like CES and the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit, it is abundantly clear that radio’s relationship with autos is taking on a whole new meaning – and level of importance.   If broadcasters don’t make the automotive sector a front-burner issue, it ignores this space at its own peril. In Inside Radio last week, the numbers were black and white – and...

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TV Is Kicking A__

May 17, 2013
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TV Is Kicking A__

On last week’s investor call, Saga CEO Ed Christian gave a (as always) transparent view (as much as possible) of the state of radio – and his company.  Ed is famous for substantive analyses of the industry and where it’s headed.  He takes the issues head-on, and uses these calls to sound off about what’s good, bad, and otherwise for radio and the media business. It was an off quarter for Saga, and while Ed talked about specific issues facing Saga, he went out of his way to praise...

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Bad Ads

May 13, 2013
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Bad Ads

We see so much research these days that it’s easy to ignore those “so what?” headlines – like this one: “Americans Fed Up With Bad Ads” That’s the hook from a recent “Research Brief” from the Center for Media Research.  The study, conducted by InsightsOne with Harris Interactive, finds that 87% of Americans 18+are fed up with the number of irrelevant ads they’re exposed to before they start to ignore a company. Apparently, annoying ads are everywhere.  But the biggest culprits are on TV (60%), followed by websites and email/sidebar...

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Final Vinyl?

May 1, 2013
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Final Vinyl?

Last month, the Rock family lost an important person in the history of the genre – and chances are, you never heard of him.  But you are sure familiar with his work. Strom Thorgerson, the guy who designed album covers like Dark Side of the Moon and other iconic LPs from Pink Floyd, 10cc, Zeppelin (Houses of the Holy), Genesis (A Trick of the Tail), and many others.  His company, Hipgnosis, designed hundreds of album covers, elevating that genre to a true art form. At one time, I owned a...

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Lose the Bow Tie

April 25, 2013
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Lose the Bow Tie

How often have you heard this comment in a focus group, a Listener Advisory Board panel, or simply from your neighbor, your spouse, or one of your kids: “Why do all the radio stations in town play their commercials at the same time?” Now back in the “Diary Days,” the reality is that this wasn’t always the case – usually.  OK, for some reason, everyone seemingly breaks around 50:00 after the hour.  But in diary markets, stopsets are typically all over the place.  And strategically, programmers often go to great lengths...

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