A Digital Guy In The Radio Box

So you think social media is a fad?!?

2009-08-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Many of my old media colleagues think I'm crazy but am I, you decide.....

Great Watch

2009-08-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

This video was just shared with me by Jeff Noethen (@eljefe29 for those of you in Twitter). The points are well made and the challenge is real. Better yet the video is host is Jason Stoddard (@jasonstoddard) who Jeff went to college with. Is your brand or company ready for this new challenge? If not let me know, I'd love to help.

Ubiquity Marketing unSummit: How Local Entrepreneurs Can Save the World and Pay the Rent in any Economic Climate from Jason Stoddard on Vimeo.

Farewell to the box.....

2009-08-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today I am proud to announce the formation of Social Creature Media LLC, a social media company dedicated to humanizing brands and creating custom interactions for our clients. It is my strong belief that Social Media is not a fad; it’s the way of the future online. Additionally like SEO/PPC was before it many companies will attempt to do this in-house but quickly realize that an out sourced solution will achieve the best results for the highest ROI. The formal launch date of Social Creature Media is set for late September 2009. More details coming very shortly.

This brings me to why today is “The Day”; after two and half years I am resigning my post as Director of Digital and Strategic Sales and Marketing at Entercom Seattle. My time with Entercom has been a wonderful experience; I have made many special friendships and learned lessons that will echo in my professional life forever. My resignation in no way should be misconstrued as something Entercom did or did not do; it a personal decision that gets me closer to my own personal goals for my life and family. Entercom is blessed to have a very talented group of individuals and with some changes can position itself as a media player in the future. I want to thank all my colleagues, clients, and mentors for an amazing two and half years. I wish each of you nothing but the best in your future endeavors.

If you are reading this I’d love to add you to my social circle; please take a moment to connect with me on any or all of the below networks:
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn MySpace FriendFeed Biznik YouTube Google Reader

In closing, I want to once again thank my wife for the incredible rock she has been as I’ve made my decision to leave the safe confines of corporate America for my own gig, the many friends and colleagues who have rooted for me each step of the way, and my mentors who have helped me execute my plan over the past few weeks. Without their love and support I would not be about to embark on this great adventure today. And to those in the traditional media industry (and I stress the whole industry) I leave you with a quote from Mr. Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. I look forward to sharing this new chapter in my life and staying in touch with each of you.

Always,

Josh Dirks

Tradional Media vs Today's Consumer

2009-05-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

Kevin Urie, the President of Social Media Club Seattle turned me onto this video. The message is so spot on about how most brands and traditional media publishers continue to flail in the dark hoping to land anything with their consumers. It's even more interesting to watch this video with the traditional media types and watch them squirm.......

Wake up people, we need to rethink how we package and monetize traditional media altogether. Unfortunately most traditional media companies have layers of traditional media people in power who for all the lip service truly don't have a clue about new media. The leader who is willing to step out from this haze will destroy and eventually own the competition. Hope you enjoy the parody and it invokes thought.

So I’m not considered a scab picker……

2009-05-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

In recent posts I’ve challenged those that run traditional media to step up their game and stop paying lip service to reinvention. While I’ve hinted, suggested, and generally beat around the bush about ideas, in this post I’d like to point out an idea that I believe would save local media publishers of all kinds but for radio this could be the next generation. This idea is something I’ve discussed with my inner circle for more than 6 months but this past week was more evidence that it’s not only possible but right around the corner. The reason I’m giving the idea to you is in hope that it will accelerate change because time is running short and no one seems to be paying attention. I also do it to prove once and for all I’m not just complaining without having given thought to solutions. Those that constantly complain I love to refer to as scab pickers but those that are willing to point out a gash and administer first aid are first aiders. We need more first aiders in this country and soon but that’s a blog for another time. Let me draw you the picture:

• Let’s start with the big announcement that came through on Monday from our friends at Facebook, open stream API access to their platform.

• There are more websites today than actual humans. Question everyone should ask themselves before starting a website; what makes this website so special that I’ll not only come but return to it with regularity.

• Social gaming is booming online because it gives users a sense of community. (Author aside: I actually joined Mafia Wars on Facebook to research this idea more fully)

• One of the newest sensations on Twitter, twt.fm which allows users to request a song and the service tweets back a link to a stream of that track. Users can then ReTweet this so others in their community can join them.

• Most traditional media websites offer hyper local traffic (social communities online) but the cost of daily content creation or resources is lacking. This creates short engagement times and sporadic visitor patterns. Streaming audio is changing the visitor pattern but the content issues are glaring here as well as most streaming publishers are barely scratching the surface of this mediums possibility.

• Brands want engaging platforms to interact with their targeted demographic but have been leery of social media because of user generated content issues.

• CPM on display ads is dropping rapidly. (Author aside 2: I believe this is because no one invests or researches how to make display ads better, until this happens I would get out of this business)

• Radio is producing weekly podcasts, blogs, and vlogs that could be broadcast more widely.

• With WiMax coming we are only going to be that much closer together.

My idea, built out an application for local media publishers within Facebook and MySpace ASAP. Then keep your fingers on the pulses of the changing social media trends and harness their power. The naysayers will say it dangerous to rely on third parties like Facebook but I’d contend the social networks would welcome this alliance. Facebook is not scheduled to turn a profit till next year; could a partnership not create a more rich interaction for users and allow advertisers to deliver more real marketing messages? Personally I’d rather know that my friend Jeff N is listening to 311 Amber on 1077thend, hear it too CLICK NOW. Powered by fye: For Your Entertainment than to have a display ad placement. It also is a win for radio stations as user’s logon to something they have always been good at: on-air audio production. Jeff furthers is profile as a music lover. Everyone wins. There is a ton of other ideas once you let your mind wonder. The distribution of content possibilities is insane. We are living in a time starved era; go where the people are instead of trying to force them to your site. It makes all the sense in the world except for the fact that it would require wise investment. This has never been traditional media’s strength. Maybe this blog post will push someone off their pile of money……. Next place to invest, mobile devices but this idea builds you a bridge today! (Author aside 3: Sounds like a future blog topic)

IAB Joins Social Media Failure Ranks

2009-05-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

We all love stories of companies or organizations that wade into the social media space with a delusional plan or an “us first” marketing platform. Rarely though do these stories originate from an organization whose stated purpose is to promote interactive social marketing. This past week however the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) did just that; started a social media campaign that was all about them.

For several years now I have subscribed to the IAB’s daily e-newsletter and enjoyed the content they provided. Recently they have amped up their social media efforts and began to promote them at opportune times. On April 21st however they prominently featured this push and asked you to connect with them. Here is what they asked:

"Connect with IAB via social networks
IAB wants to be your friend! Find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Connect with other advertising professionals and keep up to date on breaking news."

Simple invite, simple call to action, just click and connect. Having been a fan I did just what they asked me, clicked and connected. Facebook, no issue, I’m a fan; Twitter, yep no issue there either but then came a strange notice from my LinkedIn request. It said that this group was a private group and my request would need to be accepted. I found this strange and a little unsocial for a social site but hey I can wait a few hours till someone accepts my request. The IAB said they wanted to be my friend so I’m cool waiting, no big deal; I thought nothing more about it. That is until NINE DAYS (9 days to accept a request, first sign of failure) later when I received this email from Corie at the IAB:

“Josh,
Thank you for your interest in joining the IAB LinkedIn group. For now we’re going to keep the IAB LinkedIn group open only to actual members of the IAB (US).
In the meantime, feel free to become a part of the IAB community at www.facebook.com/iab and sign up for the IAB Informer at www.iab.net for the latest on IAB Developments.
Has your company considered joining the IAB? I’ve attached our member information and an application so please feel free to look them over and to reach with any questions you might have about moving forward with membership.
Regards,
Corie”

WOW so the invite was really not an invite to be friends, it was a push to get people to sign up for IAB membership. Why was this not stated in their original call to action? And if I understand social media correctly, the IAB is fine with me listening to them as they Tweet away or pushing their updates to my Facebook page. But when it comes to a tool like their LinkedIn account that could be useful to me they block it. It brought back memories of college Rush Week and watching those that could afford it buy into a peer group in the hopes of finding friends.

The IAB is another example of a “me first, listen to us” social media campaign. I’m very disappointed that this would be the message the IAB would send. But since this is their stance I implore you to take action to teach them the true power of social media. Please stop following the IAB on Twitter and remove your Fan status from their Facebook account. Companies and organizations need to be held accountable for social media hijacking. They not only ruin their image but the reputation of social media as a whole. If we don’t take action companies will disregard best practices because they know they will not be held accountable. We must guard against disingenuous social marketing or the new fertile ground members have created will become another one way communication tool for brands. Shame on you IAB, you should know better. I never paid for friends in college and am not about to pay for friends now.

Summary of NAB Show - Vegas 09

2009-04-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has taken me so long to get posted, got back to the day job and all hell broke loose. I'm debating about posting on some of these struggles as they may not be seen in a favorable light but damn it these topics need to discussed. It’s like seeing someone drowning in the hotel pool from your 16th floor window but no one will listener or even go look. But I digress back to this post, the NAB.

First things first, damn we are behind the times as Americans, from 3DHD TV to holography or interactive TV in Brazil; simply put the world is blowing by us. Personally I blame our TV’s; American's are in love with their TV's and will watch about anything (the automobile has been replaced IMHO). Meanwhile the rest of the world is learning to program in C++ and building the technology of tomorrow. We have to begin to close this gap or the consequences could be far reaching.

Second, walking the aisles of the convention floor you were struck by those clinging to the past and those building for the future. My favorite example was this one intersection where on one corner you had a clock booth, across from this was a booth that could construct a radio or TV tower for you, which was across from a booth that was building canned streaming content which was across from a light manufacture for towers. I stood there and was stuck by the thought that for sure 2 of 4 will not be there in 10 years and the clock guy might even be in trouble (the content booth could also see its end quickly as the content was crappy at best). The difference was stark and real. But I would say this is not much different than our industry; unfortunately there are too many more clinging and not enough building!

My next observation from the NAB was more about the conversation going on around me; everyone was talking about the economy. Many who have attended the NAB year after year said this was one of the least attended shows they had been to. There was space on the floor and many only came for a day or two if they did attend. While I understand this is economics I also find it a referendum on broadcast media once again. Why at the time when broadcast media needs to be the most nibble and engaged in new technology is the major show for this exact purpose not being attended? For the cost travel savings of a grand or getting 32 more hours logged at the office....... No, the truth is most are not engaged and many are only nibble in the boardroom. The NAB was another example of how reinvention is a much bantered line in the industry but rarely followed business principal. I thought major newspapers folding up around the country would have set off warning sirens but it’s clear now that the industry players will either have to get damn lucky or go the way of the dinosaurs which personally pains me to no end.

My final observations are quick bullet points and tips:
-Don't ever stay at Paris in Vegas if you are on business or just in general. Service was very French (can we please drop the act when it comes to service), they were running jamming within the hotel so my wireless card would not work (which also jammed my cell phone unless dancing in the window while touch my nose to the ceiling), and Avon was holding their convention at the same time. Don't know what is older than a cougar but know I got hit on by a couple. Overall FAIL for you Paris Vegas, I'll never be back!
-Just because you get on the Vegas monorail 45 minutes before you are suppose to be anywhere doesn't mean you won't be late. Got stuck (think packed, standing room only tram car) for more than 45 minutes and the guys from Christie Technology had their presentation at 9AM and where stuck with me till 9:20. Luckily I was standing with one of the funniest dudes on the planet. This guy was riot but in the mad scramble when we were finally freed I never got a card. So if the guy who had the Zoolander laptop from Japan reads this, please get in contact!
-Vegas has got to be where coffee lovers go to die. Trying to find a good cup of joe around there is next to impossible.
-Special shout out to Small Plate Radio, if you have not checked Doug and Kyle's project out please do. These guys are bringing radio back to the foundation it was built on; damn good content. It was great to rap with them on their radio show and meet the rest of their team. You need content or a show idea, please get in touch with them.
-Technologies that caught my eye while there in no order in particular, AstroTV- Brazilian interactive TV, MediaFlo- more interactive TV by Qualcomm, NiCT- 3D HD, 3D Audio & holography and MobiClip- make your video consumable on mobile devices.
-One of my show favorites was talking with Jenni of JenniRadio. She is a 9 year old girl who has her own radio show and interviews Tween and Teen stars like crazy. The kid is amazing and I look forward to hearing about her career in the years to come.

I also spoke on a panel about text messaging for our provider Hip Cricket (this is actually how I got to go to the show, if it wasn’t for this I would have been logging the hours). It was a blast to speak on this subject. Hip Cricket setup a text to screen application so people could text their questions. The hilarious part about this is that it become very clear quickly those who were believers and those who were the naysayers. My favorite question was “Can we afford text messaging, I hear its expensive”, my answer, can you afford not to. Seriously text messaging is a win/win for broadcast media and should have been adopted 3 years ago in my opinion. The team from Hip Cricket is a buttoned down team of who were great to interact with, my thanks to them for having me.

Well that is my recap, hope you found it helpful. Next year I will make sure that I have my video camera so I can share this more real time (I took it this year but long story about why it did not hold juice). If you have questions or comments please feel free, love to get some more interaction going on here.

Twitter in plain english

2009-04-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

Found this on SportsIn140.com and thought it would fill in some gaps for those of you still trying to find a place for Twitter. You'll notice the date was from over a year ago and I think there are some new best practices for how to use Twitter. I've posted some of these and given some of my own thoughts on this subject recently. Still I felt this was a good piece on Twitter's origin and place in daily life.

Fish Where The Twits Are

2009-04-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have not posted in a few weeks, I’ve been bit by the Twitter bug. Let me tell you how amazing a rabbit hole this new micro blogging sensation is. It won’t make sense right away but give it time and you’ll soon realize the amazing power of Twitter. Here are a few best Twitter practices to get you started:

1) It’s a community, you have to follow people and give relevant information to the community in order to earn followers. It will start slow but if you stay with it you’ll begin to see accelerated follower growth.

2) Have a plan, be known for a few focused topics that make you but be careful, constant self promotion will not keep followers. A 1 to 5 ratio of self promo versus topical focus is a nice balance.

3) Check out some of the services that are out there:

a. Highly recommend Tweet Deck, will change Twitter forever for you!

b. Use an auto responder to be more instant for new followers, make the message interesting. I use Tweet Later but only for the auto respond option.

c. Use a tiny URL service that allows you to track link clicks, I personally love bit.ly.

d. Put it on your phone, awesome if you take public transit. I have a BB and use TwitterBerry. My buddy @clybecker (that’s Charlie’s Twitter handle or address in non-Tweet terms) has an iPhone and really enjoys TwitterPhone.

4) Finally check this article and the video I posted before. This will help covers some of the basic.

You’re saying great but what does this have to do with the radio industry; did you see Lily Allen’s Twitter fun on her West Coast US swing?

Now imagine this in radio land then think about tastefully tying in a sponsor with a clickable link?!? What is the value to a brand of being pushed in front of a passionate audience in an interactive manner today? Personal devices are becoming more important than any other possession. Radio needs to learn to stay on, interactive, and engaging on these new personal devices, it’s critical in my opinion.

If you make the leap to Twitter please search me out, my handle is @joshdirks.

TFF = Twitter Friend Friday

2009-03-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

Count me on the ever growing bandwagon called Twitter. It’s fantastic, informative and made sense to me from the get go vs other social sites. Now I will admit there is some stupid s*$#t on Twitter at times. But search some topics that apply to your job, life, and/or passion. Find a few tweets you think are interesting or you identify with, follow these Tweeters. If you’ve done it right you’ll find out all kinds of things you used to only hear about if you researched or sought out. There are also a few lists of does and don’t out there which I think are helpful to those starting your Twitter existence. I think the most important point made is to share stuff that benefits the community, including other Tweeters you found useful. This brings me to TFF or Twitter Friend Friday.

Twitter Friend Friday (TFF) is not my idea but unfortunately in the large amount of reading I have done I have lost the source. If you find the original ninja of TFF please tweet me. Until then this was my interpretation of TFF: On Friday’s, tweet three Tweeters you have found useful/funny/helpful/enlightening….. you get my point, that week. This gives others that follow you a chance to discover new Tweeters they can also follow. It’s also a nice way of recognizing those Tweeters that are giving useful information to the community. It what I like to call our own user driven Twit-dora (OK I know that was super cheese, could not resist).

So this next Friday put a reminder in your calendar to tweet those that made your Twitter week exceptional. (Hint: RT this ASAP)

New Emerging Pricing Metric- PCPM

2009-03-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

Today on Twitter @nelson_meg asked my thoughts on PCPM. For those not in the know, PCPM is a new term coined about this time last year which stands for Performance Cost Per Thousand. Loosely defined it is how one person’s social influence can affect 1,000 page views by that influencer’s followers. If this just flew over your head don’t feel bad, it’s kind of hard to wrap your mind around the first time out. Here is a simple example as it has been put to me: I like Band A and so I begin to talk about them on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and/or LinkedIn plus probably on my personal blog if I have one. The portion of my social sphere that identifies with my music tastes will take this in recommendation to the memory bank. Then as these followers are surfing the web they are served an ad of some sort for Band A and are more likely to click because of my past influence. Now those of you that know me in real life know that music discovery is not my strong suite but it’s an example I think we can all relate to (if you want a great music ear check out Ask the MD). What PCPM means to advertisers is that they would pay social influences for the direct impact their referrals bring the client, in other words virtual word of mouth that is compensated. Simply PCPM is the pricing metric that may someday replace CPM.
Meg’s next question was how do you calculate the price? Great question Meg, if I had this figured out I’d be rolling in my loot Indecent Proposal style. It’s going to be very interesting to see how this metric is developed over the next few years. I suspect that the influencer's will have to opt in for privacy reasons. Those that opt in will then be tracked to quantify their social influence ranking which would lead to some level of compensation. Additionally I think there are some further legal hurdles that need to be figured out. What if I refer a product that hurts and/or kills someone; can I be held liable for this? The platform will also have to be mammoth but in these tough times there might be the brains in a garage somewhere to figure out all the moving parts sooner than later.
I do agree that online marketing needs a new metric for pricing but until someone comes up with something better than CPM we’ll stick with it. CPA in my opinion is to far skewed to the advertiser and does not take into account the branding that is taking place as eyeballs consume a page. Additionally just selling a portion of inventory is toggled too far to the publisher and does not force them to continue to grow page views. CPM is the fairest way of selling online media currently and holds everyone accountable with the tools we currently have. If you want something to change, change the way you buy your online media. Stop buying on millions, start buying your core demo group on hyper local sites that have social aspects and high page per visit counts(in a way you are doing PCPM if you find fans mixed with new minds on these types of sites). Second, care about your creative; if your creative is free the results will probably be similarly cheap or non-effective. Pay for good creative, it’s essential and really does not cost that much. Finally localize the content, nothings worse than seeing an ad I’d see in TX here in Seattle. That’s what I’d change if I was buying media today and wait for a new metric to emerge for pricing in the future.

How Fast We Are Really Moving

2009-03-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it has been so long since I posted a blog. I have a ton of topics and articles I hope to share with you this weekend. However I saw this the other day and was blown away. Think it is worth the watch for anyone in any field but especially those in the online media world. Enjoy!

SEO and Traditional Media Roundtable

2009-03-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to announce that I will be hosting on behalf of Entercom Seattle our second monthly digital lunch. See the invite below and RSVP to me if you are interested in joining us.

Death to Display Ads… Not So Fast!

2009-03-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the time off; work has been nuts but I’ve still been reading and archiving articles to talk about on the blog. Here goes some of my latest finds…..

In an earlier post I wrote about smaller sites getting better click thru rates (CTR’s) than the mass sites. The article link also talked about some pricing ideas. For the record I have been a big fan of CPM simply because it would finally give the online marketing industry a standard once and for all. However I’ve read some new stuff that is starting to change my mind. At the end of that same article it talks about some interesting ideas for pricing standards. I’ve seen Google keep growing revenue and think CPM might not bring out the competitor in people like bidding does. The author however references a pricing per action (CPC= cost per click/CPA= cost per action) model which is very interesting. If you follow the path it would force better display creative. As referenced in “Are Banner Ads Poised for Creative Renaissance?” good ad creative gets clicked especially when presented in a Takeover style. In order to make money you would have to create cool, engaging, and actionable creative to make money. Publishers would either be forced to grow internal creative teams that get results or be forced out of the display business altogether. This would in turn solve the abundant supply issue display faces today. It would also force content providers who value their skills in attracting the audience to relent website space to facilitate the takeovers. It cannot happen overnight but through conditioning a simple pricing change could create real display ad interactions that marketers seek and value. I would love to hear from others that see this “cause and effect” as different, if I don’t get any good arguments then you can count me as a new huge fan of CPC/CPA models.

File Sharing Sites: Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water

2009-03-01T22:01:00.000-08:00

In recent weeks there has been a considerable movement to bash file sharing programs online. Whether it is the Pirate Bay Trial or NBC Nightly News tonight covering file sharing ID theft stories. While I fully agree that file sharing sites can be hazardous to your personal information and your computers long term health (have several friends that have ruined their machines with their excessive file sharing habits) it is important to note that file sharing is the root of the Internet we all love today. This past summer Vanity Fair printed one of the best historical pieces on the birth and evolution of the Internet that I have read from a laymen stand point. The article, Inventing the Internet, is a journalistic mash-up of interviews conducted with some of the foremost minds and agenda setters in the online world. I found the browser wars section very interesting.

This weekend however I came across this video online that has actual video of some of the fore mentioned mover and shakers. It is really interesting to hear how they spoke about the future. Warning, this video is much more technical in nature.

Hope this clears up common misconceptions I often hear on the birth of the internet. It’s important to know where we came from before you can judge where we are going.

5 Ideas on Streaming Creative

2009-02-18T23:15:00.000-08:00

Last night I told you that my next post would contain best practices for producing a good streaming spot. Then I got on my soapbox for two more posts. So without further delay here are said promised pointers:
1) Remember it’s a one-to-one conversation, treat it that way. Don’t yell, play crazy music beds, or other gimmicks that are used on traditional radio. If someone is listening in the office this could cause them to turn down and tune out your creative.
2) Give a clear call to action at multiple points in the spot. Make sure you evaluate this goal and make it clear to the listener. Nothing is more maddening than my staff coming to me with another client disappointed with the click-through rate (CTR) of their streaming campaign. Asked if the spot had a clear call to action I often get, nope just used their traditional spot. Huh, wonder why there are no clicks!
3) If you are selling services or high priced products think about incentives. I’m not saying slash prices, or even couponing; it can be as simple as a white paper. IE Top ten things you should know when XYZ happens, chat with someone now, take a break on us, check out our game…… The list could go on forever but think about why someone should stop what they are doing to click. Hint: I’ve read studies that put at work Internet usage around 2-3.5 hours, why not have them on your site.
4) A click is an interaction in today’s world. Just like in the past with brick and mortar locations cleanliness, easy of navigation, and ease of check out still hold true, it is just online. Once again it is maddening to have clients complain about bounce rates (web traffic that automatically exits upon entering a page or site) but when you look at their site it was created by their high school senior in 1999.
5) Storyboard, storyboard, storyboard. Why you ask? Know that guy at work that tells the same story or gives the same answer. Notice how the whole office mocks or jokes about him behind his back. Don’t let that be your ad creative. The listeners invited you in to have a conversation, don’t be the MLM friend and has the same conversation every time.
Hope these suggestions help you and your clients. As an industry we have to stop bastardizing creative. You get what you pay for.

Smaller Sites Get More Click’s and Some Radom Ideas on Pricing

2009-02-17T23:06:00.000-08:00

This is a great read and underlines a myth that is ramped within the marketing world. Online buying is no longer about millions; it about targeting (millions was so 2005). Smaller websites should command a much higher cost than their highly trafficked partners which grab eyeballs from all over the globe. Targeted audiences will click on targeted offers. Huh, sounds like radio websites to me. I also enjoyed the authors’ points on pricing; I’ve personally been a big fan of the CPM but I can see the authors’ points. Finally the article almost gets there but never comes out and says it so I will; you need to invest in your online marketing ads. Why would someone click on something that is flying around on a senior’s website or vice versa? This will cut like a knife but you get what you pay for; shame on most of you for expecting free web ad creative to create clicks and yet judging an entire viable marketing method by this poor creative! In the very near future I’ll write about web creative…….dang it, guess I messed all of you up looking for how to build a streaming ad…..Next time I promise. This was too good not to share.

More Good News about Internet Radio

2009-02-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

In the ocean of bad news in the marketing world who would have thought we would have a bright spot to talk about…….and its radio…..internet radio to be real specific. As Katy Bachman points out, Web Radio is on Target, allows for geo-targeting, and feels local which when done right can produce tremendous results. Here is the catch; just because you are good at traditional radio does not make you great at streaming radio ad production.

Traditional radio is a one-to-many mechanism. It reaches people at all points of life, doing all sorts of things and ready to consume at every turn. This has always been the ubiquities draw that has attracted listeners and marketers alike. Online/Web/Stream Radio (I wish we could get this figured out as an industry ASAP) is a one-to-one medium for the most part. DISCLAIMER: For those hardcore online listeners who have been doing it for 10 years, thank you, this is not intended at you and the technology you harness today, whew! Most people today sit in front of a computer, pull up their streaming provider/station website, and open the provided player to access the content. No pre-sets or scan buttons to dodge those pesky ads. Most of the TSL (time spent listening) data I have seen or heard has put online listening well in the 2-5 hour range.. Advertisers and Programmers need to own this time with new listener focused creative that engages, and incentivizes that habit which benefits us all, clicks! If you come back next post I’ll give you some of my own thoughts on what a great spot should have and how to piggy back this with programming content. HA, my first hook piece…..

Thinking of jumping into Twitter, BE WARNED

2009-02-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I read a great article on how a business owner used user generated content (UGC) to interact with a potential client unhappy with his company. Notice that word in front of client, potential; pretty cool idea on winning hearts and minds early in the buying cycle. So what horrible experience did this potential clients have, actually it was just a marketing campaign. A marketing campaign in the world of Twitter, a campaign where cost considerations overrode the common sense behind why the advertiser was drawn to Twitter in the first place.

Why would you launch a campaign of this sort? Well obviously this business owner had got involved on Twitter, seen the power of the interactions on Twitter and wanted to get involved. Somewhere along the way though he forgot what made those interactions on Twitter so cool, the human interaction! So it’s not human interaction as my grandmother or even my mother would define it but for Gen X, Y and the Millenniums’ this is as close as it gets. And boy are we excited and guarded about it. This business owner forgot this fact and he employed an auto responder to begin the dialogue; the response was swift and measurable from Twitter nation.

Twitter Users Tiring of Automated Direct Messages, makes a clear point that we as marketers should learn from. If you are a marketer contemplating getting into online social marketing you better have a well thought out plan and solid creative behind the leap. Not having a plan can have far reaching and irreversible consequences to your brand or business (most times I bet this adverse affect cost more than not doing the marketing campaign at all). Small hint in case you still don’t understand; you better be real and create unique interactions. That is how you win this hearts and minds war.

Silver lining of this story; this business owner did not go to lunch and taking afternoon cocktails; he was monitoring his companies name in the social sphere and found his trespass. Instead of sticking his head in the sand he engaged the frustrated party and took action. How profoundly simple but often overlooked in today’s fast paced world online world.

Satellite Radio Dodges another Bullet

2009-02-16T17:03:00.000-08:00

With Feb 17^th looming in just 7 short hours Sirius (who also owns XM if you have not been following along) gets investment funding in the reported hundreds of millions from Liberty Media (aka DirecTV). February 17^th 2009 was the day much of Sirius’s debt came due. It will be interesting to see how this partnership works and if people will really pay more for their satellite in order to get Sirius. My bet is no but it’s an interesting play by Liberty Media (if it were anyone else I would say this was throwing money at beta max). Liberty Media does command a large number of subscribers but conversion in this economic time will be tough unless it’s a throw in. The later I’m sure will not make LM shareholders very happy right now. It’s a medium that has peeled roughly less than 1% away from its older brother traditional radio. With WiMax coming this is a stretch in my mind but we’ll see; this might be the merger of yet again two dinosaurs on their last days.

Twitter for President

2009-02-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

For many of us the 2008 Presidential Election will go down as the first online and socially networked campaign in history. 10 years ago the thought that online social networking sites and/or simple tweets could cause such a ground swell was unthinkable. So on President's Day 2009 I wanted to highlight the power of Twitter for all those of you still in the dark. Thanks to some digging I found this great slide show that will help you understand Twitter in a more relevant way.

How Twitter Changed My Life

View more presentations from Minxuan Lee. (tags: micro twitter)

If you make the Twitter leap make sure you tweet me up.

More on the Google story

2009-02-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in the Google Gets out of Radio post, many within the Radio industry are taking the news as some sort of white flag from Google. Yesterday in speaking with a long time veteran of the Radio biz I was told the reason Google got out was because they could not figure out how to sell Radio!!

Pretty incredible if you know Google's business models of the past and the power AdWords has begun to wields within the marketing world. OK this person is correct in one sense; Google has no want to build the cost heavy structure which hangs around Radio's neck like an anchor today (massive sales and talent organizations). No, Google prefers to build a scalable/measurable platform were millions of users can purchase and measure media. Google saw the numerous competitors in the space for traditional radio (numerous remnant providers and don't forget they still own DMarc) and where technology is taking the audio marketing medium. Sure they played in it for a while but this was to learn the industries inefficiencies and perfect their rich media spiders as mentioned in my prior post. This time allowed Google to measure the power of Radio on search and begin their funding of the WiMax revolution that will see streaming radio become the ubiquitous consumption standard. Even better for Google this standard was measurable and could be localized. As the final kicker Google would be the provider of the bandwidth backbone to supply this mass accessibility platform, with the caveat that their partnership wins the WiMax war.

So what, you say? Here is the What in my humble opinion; Google will build a streaming platform that is a snap in piece to AdWords. This platform will allow for sliver-casting, hyper-local targeting, and psychographic profiling of audio ads all while being able to measure in one dash board (AdWords). But here is the bigger kicker; once this is made public, overnight Radio will have hundreds of new competitors. What is to stop every agency and individual company to begin insertion of their own audio ads without the help of traditional Radio reps? In reality Google's announcement means that Radio will lose a remnant supplier for the near future but in the long term will create thousands of new competitors because of the predicted Google platform. The only remaining leg for the industry will be the creation of audio content and ads. The content (DJ talent) will see the same revolution that is sweeping music currently in a measureable and online world (death of music labels and the rise of artist direct to public models). This leaves audio ad production which by itself will not be able to sustain the massive overhead currently harnessing the industry (this does not even take into account all the obsolete capital investments Radio has like towers, satellites, etc....).

Radio has to begin to see this or else another percentage of every dollar will be shaved away leaving it liable for takeover and/or demise. It/we need to begin to invest in our own platform to trump Google, invest heavily in online platforms that keep their audience engaged in more than just the audio, and learn how to sell the digital assets in a public marketplace. No question audio marketing has a long history in front of it but the question today is will this be with the same players that dominate the space today.

Google gets out of traditional radio world

2009-02-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Google announced that is would be ending its radio insertion program that has been on its AdWords platform for the past 2 years. Many of my colleagues around the country have heralded this move and started the whole we're smarter than Google chant. I could not disagree more and am saddened that this is the foresight we have as an industry. Why do I think this? For a couple of reasons:
1) Google was using the audio and video's uploaded through AdWords to perfect their video and audio spiders. This was free content to them for this project which is rumored to be close to completion.
2) Google said that they are pulling out of the traditional radio ads but are still going to be in the streaming insertion business. Streaming revenue for the radio industry are a fraction of the traditional, so why would Google do this? As I mentioned in my first post on this blog, WiMax will revolutionize radio and bring accountability to the industry. Google's WiMax project with Sprint, Clearwire, and Brighthouse must be much closer than they are willing to let on.
3) They also announced that they are going away from print media insertion as well.

Conclusion: Why learn to clone an horse when the automobile is coming? This is what I am sure Google is reading in the tea leaves. Both traditional radio and print media will be obsolete in the next 5-10 years if not sooner. So why continue to spend millions in a dying industry; it was fine when they had a dual purpose (rich media spiders) but now it's just a money pit.

So as my radio brothern out there drink the radio kool-aid I'm more worried than ever that our tactical approach will be our undoing. Radio better get smart, stop pimping HD, and invest heavily in how to sliver-cast streaming radio in a real and meaningful way.

I wonder if this was what it was like in the last days of the dinosaurs? Read my lips, this is the validation of streaming radio and that it works!

Has Hulu figured out the online video game?

2009-02-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

The Economist had a great read the other day about Hulu's fight in the online video space. The take away points are simple but easy to understand. In the article, Hulu Who?, the author makes several key points:
1) UGC is hard for advertisers to wrap their minds around or even want to be part of. The video quality is often poor and content can be less than desirable. This makes it hard to monetize.
2) While Apple may have had a great model for music it does not work for video. User only watch video once or twice and are often stationary when consuming video. This means that browser based video players are winning.
3) Finally in the doldrums of today's economy Hulu's inventory is sold out. They are now trying to find ways to generate more content and page views. WOW what a problem to have!

What does this mean for radio you ask? Opportunity, as I have spelled out in my last two posts. Radio is getting better at delivering quality (not professional quality but somewhere between UGC and professional) video content to their users but we need to get good at selling it. How can Hulu be sold out yet hyper local radio websites are only selling 25-40% of its video content? The answer lies some where between education within the industry, evangelizing these assets to advertisers, and making an investment in better video platforms. I personally am excited about what the coming years hold for online video........

More "Reinvention"......

2009-02-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

Last night I posted an article about Radio and Reinvention and how radio pays a ton of lip service to it. Today I read a blog, Radio: Here comes the future, ready or not, that only furthers the points I made last night that this is smoke not actual fire. Mark makes a great point about the lip service paid to digital on Wall Street but that actual attitude when it comes to Main Street.

While I'm not a fan of all his points in this article, I do think his point on lip service is a great one....... Are we truly ready as an industry?!? From my perspective, not even kind of, sad but true.

Radio Reinvention?!?!

2009-02-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

If you are close to the radio industry in any way you always hear the rallying cry of "radio can always reinvent itself", my question is can it really? It seems to me that more often than not we are following the leader instead of truly trusting our guts and stepping out.

Example you ask; Display banners on traditional media sites, how old and stale is this technology. For certain and far between events they make sense. Imagine if you visited a website once or twice a week that had no display ads. Then one day you show up and a full takeover with 300x250's are there. Bet you can recall that brand or message? Instead radio continues to place display banners (sometimes in the most odd and strange ways that it makes you ask yourself who is running this show) within their sites and claiming to investors, if we can just sell a little more of banner inventory we'll get through this hitch. My contention is that you are in a declining market already; what have CPM's done over the last few months?

Yet we have new emerging technology that deals directly with assets that our listeners are most ravenous about, video! Mass interactive video is just around the bend and radio could be the medium that owns it. Instead the minds are focused on selling just 10% more display inventory or streaming inventory. I'll bet you that when this masses finally have it radio will adopt it.... mark my words. Just one more thing we will look back on as an industry and say damn missed that one.

If you would like to check out a company doing this right now check out Video Clix

For more supporting evidence check out this read today in the WSJ, Video Site Entice Viewers to Stay and Play.

My commitment to you, the reader……

2009-02-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

OK so I’ve started this damn blog over five months ago and have yet to make a blog post. Sometimes the best of intentions can be derailed but life. Right as I started the blog my wife and I welcomed our first little girl into the world. Additionally I have moved up the corporate food chain and am now learning the time balance that is being asked of me. The past five months have been spent learning, adjusting, and trying to strike a life balance again. Over the time though I have about ten million ideas written down, it’s just finding the time to get it done. As you can see by the 9 to 5 post my personal job has become more demanding but I’m rededicating myself to giving you a weekly thought or two. In order to find the time I have taken several steps; my Twitter is now hooked up on the blog and I will use this to send around articles immediately (I may blog about them later but want to get you the information that is forming my thoughts sooner so we can discuss in a more timely fashion), and finally I have blocked off time in my week to try and push out some thoughts. I say done these things for no other reason than the fact that if you only get small snippets and/or find numerous grammar mistakes and/or misspellings you are more forgiving than you might be on other more formal blogs. Look forward to interacting with you daily and hope you find these small nuggets helpful.

Finally my boy Matt Coppins hooked me up with the incredible image at the top of this post, he is an incredible graphic designer who is doing free lance work, I highly recommend that you look him up if you have a need. Oh Matt, my first blog shill.... LOL

Now What I Know......

2008-08-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Most of the things I spoke about in the last post you could get in an interview with a radio exec or by studying radio as an industry. There might be a little apologist in me but before I'm classified as such please let me state a few things I have learned about radio. I don't know of any website in the world that has the hyper local drawing power of radio. Hold on, I'm talking about targeted, specific web pages within minutes, hours, days, and weeks. This by my definition makes radio hyper local in nature as it is delivered today. It is the task of radio and marketers to augment their beliefs about radio and embrace this new opportunity. If radio websites could be turned into hyper local, turn key, social and search portals the bounds are limitless.

But I also mentioned marketers above; this groups needs to get their mind around creative and stop half baking the stuff at low cost only to be disappointed by the performance. If you are trying to reach Gen X or Y you better be willing to reach into you pocket. Creative needs to be targeted, relevant, and rewarding. Yes, I said rewarding, even if you are selling caskets find a way to make them laugh if you're going to market on a radio website. The best creative performance I have seen has been thought out, well targeted, and costly.

OK done with my rant, back to my point of radio is hyper local; going to a station event is a wild experience. It's a culture unto itself and I'm not talking about only a heavy rock or rap event, I've seen AAA formats who hold events that rival any 70's love fest. I do not say these things to be disparaging, this is a marketers dream. Hasn't the rant about online marketing always been that it cost a ton and reached people in BF Egypt? Radio provides a mega phone that multiple times an hour screams come to our website and do X. Additionally radio activates people all the time on how to spend their dollars; to what extent you ask? Please read the above about marketers and realize this was not intended to just online marketers. Web is not the only medium that has horrible, wore out, so tired a marching band could put it to bed, creative all over it, it's sad! This is probably why a universal expectation has never been published by either industry but it's a real interesting question. At least if you dip your toe into online marketing you get quantifiable results. As to prove this is not a jab at radio I'll post a blog soon on why radio needs to seriously think about how to do the same or except that the high dollar mark in radio has come and gone.

In summary radio provides an online environment but its existence is symbiotic with the on-air and on-site products that the medium offers. Are all necessary, no, but good marketing dollars say it doesn't hurt. If someone gets their head around the opportunity that radio provides if done correctly, tested properly, and syndicated dynamically the bounds are endless. If I could give you an opportunity to reach people online and in person would you not jump at that chance? If you are still with me after tonight, thanks for taking the time.

Why would you go and do that?!?

2008-08-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

If you read the About section I'm sure there are some of you that are shaking your head and about to click away (that internal voice is saying "this guy is an idiot, why waste my time?"). But before you go give me the rest of this paragraph. Here's a little secret, Radio is positioned very well for the digital age, the scary part; the opportunity is down right stupid. Radio reaches 96% of American 18-49 with a college education and an annual income of over $75K at least once weekly. Radio has been spun into the same traditional media sink hole as the other aging traditional media dinosaurs. Still think I'm crazy? Keep reading it will get good.

First we must ask ourselves why radio has become a medium of ubiquitous consumption? It's integrated into every facet of our lives and up till now had been the only information resource we had in an American passion that runs as deep as apple pie, the automobile. The radio for most Golden's and Boomer's was the device they heard many of the events that shaped their lives. This love affair with radio has not been radically changed despite the explosion of thousands of new devices vying for your "radio" time. 96% percent of adults 18-49 make time for radio in a world where many personal habits and/or patterns have been greatly compressed by the time crunch of our evolving(?) world. So to me this meant there was a legacy of being a health industry and it is woven into the culture of America.

Second thing that steered my decision; there is a revolution that is coming and could mean a renaissance for radio..... if some of the radio leaders can just reach out and grasp it (Why does Google keep sniffing around in Radio?). The revolution I'm talking about is WiMax. The FCC in March 2008 awarded Verizon and ATT&T control of the UHF spectrum when TV goes digital on February 17th, 2009. Additionally, Google spurned by their failed effort to acquire control of the UHF spectrum, joined with Intel, Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House Networks in a joint venture with Clearwire & Sprint. This means in my humble opinion we are about to see a new race to blanket the U.S. and quickly there after North America with a comprehensive WiMax network. Why you ask? If you have not been paying attention there are two things of value online: 1) content and 2) user analytics. Whoever can provide Internet access to all points that TV does today creates a giant potential for information gathering that would be both vast and comprehensive. Now I'm sure there are those security nuts out there saying they can't keep data on you. I got big news for your, they can and do! Not trying to scare everyone and will tackle this topic at a different time; but to close this loop, while you were celebrating Scott Peterson going to prison I saw a landmark ruling that forever left Americans exposed online to the powers that be. But I digress, the point is that radio has an opportunity to seize this new delivery method. Many radio stations already stream their stations and pay royalty bills for this content delivery today. This meant to me that they had a toe in the pool and were on the right side of the law.

Last I saw a chance for greatness, not to be cheesy, but I saw an opportunity to make a big impact in an industry many critics have written off as dead or dying with their traditional media peers. I could not disagree more. In the future posts I'll outline why I think radio can win, what the hold up is, and daily challenges as they come about. For those of you still with me, thank you, and I hope you think me more sane then when you started this post.