Monthly Archives: August 2017

That’s Not Branding

Our TOMA (Top-of-Mind Awareness) Surveys consistently and convincingly prove radio’s effectiveness, but occasionally a ‘good’ radio advertiser does not fare well in the survey.

On those rare occasions, we dig deeper to help the advertiser create a campaign that works. We begin the process by capturing the local knowledge of the radio account executive.

Very often the account executive will say, “They bought our branding campaign.” When we ask about their ‘branding campaign’ they’ll usually say something like, “It’s six spots a day for 52 weeks.”

That’s not branding!

That may explain the reach and frequency of the advertiser’s message, but it’s the message itself that establishes the brand and the results. The good news is we can always find the reason an advertiser’s campaign did not help them capture TOMA (Top-of-Mind Awareness) and we’re doing them a huge service by focusing on a message that will achieve their objectives in the future.

We’re speaking at the RAB/NAB Radio Show in Austin next week. If you’re there, please introduce yourself. We welcome the opportunity to meet our ENS on Sales readers.

Your Competitive Edge

A friend of mine, remarking on my extensive library of books on advertising, sales, and management, said, “Wow, did you read all of those books? Your library must be worth a fortune.”

Yes, I did read them all!  Advertising and sales management has been a passion of mine since I sold my first ad nearly 50 years ago. And, while over time, my library did cost a fortune, upon further reflection, I came to the painful realization that it’s no longer worth a fortune.

Why? Revisiting some of the landmark volumes, I quickly realized that most are dated and no longer pertinent in a rapidly changing advertising, sales, and business management world. The foundation marketing textbooks used by universities as recently as 10 years ago, for example, make no mention of social media or mobile.

Old-school thinking about motivation misses the point that most millennials are more motivated by technology, learning, contributing, and trying new things than they are by titles or dollars.

While some of the basics written by the likes of Al Reiss, Jim Collins, Jack Welch, Dale Carnegie and Jack Trout, to name a few, remain true, they are no longer ground breaking. They’re simply the basics and price of entry into a successful advertising, sales and management career.

You can bet your competitors know the basics as well as you do.

The winners in a rapidly evolving world, with changing demographics and motivations, will be those who don’t rest on their laurels or past experience, and who gravitate towards innovation and new competitive edges.

          Can you be ‘cutting edge’ or will the ‘edge’ be a cliff that you fall off of?

Fishing vs Catching

I don’t get a chance to go fishing very often, so when I took a day off last week to go Muskie fishing I was reminded of some valuable sales lessons;

 

 

1.)  Persistence pays off. We had fished hard all day from 8 AM until 6:30 PM without any luck, and were ready to quit when this lunker took the bait. All too often we quit calling our prospects just before they’re ready to buy. Make one more call a day, and I’ll guarantee you a better year.

 

2.)  Bigger bait catches bigger fish. Presenting small radio packages does not capture your prospects’ attention as well as a larger multi-media offering. The lure I caught this Muskie on was bigger and certainly more colorful than some fish I’ve caught. Where is the ‘WOW’ and color in your presentations?

 

3.)  Fish in non-traditional places. We had cast hundreds of times in the usual good fishing spots, with no luck. We started casting in a new spot on the way back to our dock when this fish surprised me. Fishing where no one else has fished can really pay off.

 

4.)  Change your approach. I tried numerous lures and retrieval speeds before trying this lure and catching this monster. Do you have a new ‘lure’ or valid business reason for every call, or are you presenting the same old bait all of your competitors are using?

 

5.)  Prepare. We had to ensure we were ready to make the catch with everything from extra lures to a large net. Do you anticipate and plan for objections in your presentation? And are you prepared to negotiate?

 

6.)  Know when to let your prospects ‘run’.  Once I set the hook, I could have easily lost this Muskie by pulling too hard, and not letting him have his way. Once you ‘hook’ your prospects’ interest, don’t push so hard that you break your connection. Ask questions, let them talk, and let them be part of developing your solution.