|
Dated: 01 February 2003
This month we continue the series with ZIP’s Marketing Director, Brian
Schmidt, who has provided us with some very revealing answers.
According to Brian, ethics, honesty and product knowledge is the “wickedest
combination” for success in this business … and this puts us way
out in front of our competitors.
With only just eight months on air, Zip 103 FM - the high-energy music radio
station is fearlessly kicking butts from here to Timbuktu. Positioned to go
after the 15-30 age group, one the things that differentiates this entertainment-oriented
statio from from the general, is the consistency in its formatting.
“Unlike other radio stations that change their format to suit a particular
day,” explains ZIP’s 103 FM marketing director, Brian Schmidt, “on
Sundays we play the same music as we do on week days. What had happened is that
previously the younger audience didn’t have an option on Sundays, because
everybody was playing oldies. When IRIE FM first started playing oldies a couple
years back, everyone copied the station. So in today’s Jamaica, Sundays
have become oldies radio.”
In that 15-30 age group that the station targets, according to Brian, you don’t
find that market segment interested in oldies. As a result, they have created
that niche to capture this youthful Sunday audience.
“You won’t find us playing much of the ballads,” Brian continued,
“because we have set ourselves apart and are being known mostly for our
up tempo, very international and hip music approach. We cover from jungle to
garage, rave to trance, soca to hip-hop. It’s more contemporary in that
the playlist is mostly current music.”
| Q: |
How long have you been in marketing, and particularly with
ZIP 103 FM? |
| |
Brian Schmidt: I have been specifically in radio marketing for eight years
now. In 1995, I joined Grove Broadcasting as the marketing manager for IRIE
FM, and have been working on the marketing of ZIP 103 FM for about three
years now. Prior to that, I worked at Moo-Young Butler advertising firm
as an advertising account executive and as advertising manager for Courts
Jamaica. In fact, I might be one of the few people in media who might have
actually had background preparation in the creative, production and business
side of the profession, and who have also done work from all three perspectives
- agency, client and media. |
| |
|
| Q: |
To ward off challenges posed by an increasingly competitive market, what
innovative and proactive strategies you have adopted to attract advertising
revenue to ZIP 103 FM? |
| |
Brian Schmidt: One of the things was the positioning of the station. The
station has been very well positioned from day one, because no station can
be everything to everybody. You have to have a very specific clientele.
So the first thing we did was to position the station against a particular
type of clientele. In fact, that’s what we specialise in, niche radio
programming, and Grove Broadcasting does that generally. Another thing we
did, which has never been done in Jamaican radio before, is that we have
what you call across-the-board pricing, which means that anytime you buy
an advertisement, its going to cost you the same price. Normally, you find
people weigh the price of the advertisement based on the different times
of day. We haven’t done that. We have one consistent price. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Without a monopoly of the airwaves, each additional entrant into the
market (such as independent radio and TV stations, and even the Internet)
cuts into the advertising revenue pie. To meet this challenge, what’s
your strategy for survival in such an increasingly contracted economy? |
| |
Brian Schmidt: I have actually hinted at it: the biggest strategy is “positioning”
or “narrow-casting”. Once you are positioned, and the listener
knows you for something, then advertisers will know you for that same thing,
and therefore, it’s just a matter of you delivering a good value to
that advertiser afterwards. That is important, because as it gets more competitive
and the economy contracts, people can’t be shooting in the dark, besides,
you have to very specific in how you create your advertising. Besides our
dynamic sales force out there, narrow-casting has actually been the most
important strategy in our marketing thrust. |
| |
|
| Q: |
As the number one person responsible for servicing the marketing and advertising
needs of ZIP 103 FM, what two areas are specifically responsible for generating
revenue for your station: classic advertising sales and sponsorship, or
trade exchange, and why? |
| |
Brian Schmidt: It is certainly not trade exchange, because it neither
generates revenue, shown on your books, nor does it convert into cash. Classic
advertising sales, as you have put it, which means buying spots, is the
bulk of the business. Sponsorship comes next. We are a flexible station,
and have done a fair amount of custom programming as well for clients. Speaking
of custom programming, it has played a tremendous role in us helping to
launch Smirnoff Ice, in that we are the station that has driven Smirnoff
Ice at the ground level with the parties, etc. Marrying the product to the
client in a customized approach is very important in our marketing thrust.
|
| |
|
| Q: |
Since your station was officially launched in June of 2002, have you been
able to meet your revenue objectives to date? |
| |
Brian Schmidt:We are meeting our revenue objectives now, but of course
in the initial period, you know it was teething pains for us. The pain came
primarily as a result of General Elections 2002. With the elections taking
place when it did, some of the events that normally would have happened
were either postponed or rescheduled, or the advertisers were just merely
playing the “wait-and-see-game.” After the elections, things
went back to normal, and since then it has been pretty smooth sailing for
us in regards to meeting our revenue objectives. It is now about consolidating
and growing the revenue at this point. |
| |
|
| Q: |
To bridge the gap that existed between the advertisers and ZIP 103 FM,
what is your greatest challenge or headache to date? |
| |
Brian Schmidt: Bridging that gap, there means two things. Number one is
definitely going to be the “newness.” Why I say this? Let me
explain. As Jamaicans, we are a people that don’t readily take to
new things. We love playing the “wait-and-see” game. Things
have to first prove themselves before we hop on to the bandwagon. The second
headache has to do basically with the dearth of research, as it relates
to ZIP. I say this because of our unfortunate exclusion from the recent
media survey. I say “unfortunate,” because when the research
was being done, ZIP was in its launching phase, therefore, the researchers
were unable to track the progress of the station. If they had done so as
a last minute thing, of course, we would have been grossly under-represented.
However, we were not totally out of the race, as the Leachim Semaj’s
Drive-Time research has since tracked us, and has shown that we have done
very well over the relatively short period of our existence. |
In Drive-Time, we debuted at number four in radio sales. For a new kid on
the block, that was a pretty strong response. Subsequently, a lot of other researches
have since given us pretty good ratings. In fact, ZIP 103 FM debuted at #4 in
the Corporate Area, and #2 in Ocho Rios. It has also made it a quinela for Grove
Broadcasting – IRIE first and ZIP second in Ocho Rios respectively. IRIE
garnered 20 something per cent of all listenership, and ZIP took 11 per cent.
If you take an aggregate of the radio stations into consideration, IRIE FM and
ZIP 103 FM account for 60 per cent of all the listenership in Ocho Rios. Of
that 60 per cent, 40 go to IRIE and 20 to ZIP. In terms of listenership, ZIP
has beaten out the Powers, the Kool FMs, the Mega Jams, and the Fame FMs and
RJR 94s at certain points.
| Q: |
Despite the competitive and challenging environment in which
your station operates, what is ZIP 103 FM doing to ensure it holds its position
as a favoured marketing/advertising medium? |
| |
Brian Schmidt: As I have mentioned previously, positioning is everything.
Therefore, we’ll continue with new and innovative ideas to help move
the product, in that at the end of the day, if the station doesn’t
deliver a reliable, dependable and identifiable audience to our advertisers,
then we would have done nothing different from the competitions. Having
been in a position where we are consolidating and driving up revenue, our
job now is to be creative, off-the-wall and different. We don’t want
to be employing the same old and tired advertising and marketing strategies
that have been used else where, because we are not that type of station.
So, our promotions and strategies must reflect the nature, temperament and
personality of the station. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Marketing and advertising salespeople at radio stations hear a number
of different objections everyday. One of the most difficult to overcome
comes from the client who has spent his budgeted advertising with another
media. This client is being aggressive, trying to bring consumers to his
front door. He is just spending his money in the wrong place. How do you
convince him to spend it with you? |
Brian Schmidt: You want the absolute truth?
DAW-H: Yes!
Brian Schmidt: Because I came from both an advertising and marketing background,
daily I have drilled it into my sales staff head that they must at all times
advise our clients factually and very honestly. It is very easy for someone
to go out there, in a sense, and try to hustle a sale, but that is of no use,
particularly to us here at ZIP 103 FM. If we hustle a sale, and the station
was not the right station for the client, then we would have failed both the
client and the station. Failed in the sense that it just didn’t deliver
on promise. I make it clear to everyone that we must at all times be objective.
I am not going to go to somebody selling dentures when there are no 60-90-year-olds
listening to my station. We don’t. So, we have to be very realistic, and
advise people honestly. That works well, because when you advise honestly, you
are going to get the results you expect, and the customer in turn will trust
you more. The other thing is, we need to be knowledgeable, which is another
of the things that I impress upon my sales staff. At all times, they must try
and understand that customer’s business. If we don’t, then we won’t
be in a position to advise our clients on how best to get the message across
to their customers, and particularly, what best medium to use. We also try to
find out from the client who their clients are, and in many instances most don’t
even know. As mere traders, some don’t even know the demographics of their
market. One of our ways of doing a better job is finding that out so as to determine
if we are an appropriate fit for that client. If we are, we move to do business.
If we aren’t, we graciously move along.
| Q: |
In today's economy, advertisers are looking for results. They
are willing to spend money on advertising but they are going to scrutinize
the decision closer than they would when the economy is experiencing rapid
growth. They are going to be more careful where they spend their money.
Therefore, the advertiser is more likely to spend his advertising budget
in a tried and true media (like print) rather than a medium (like radio)
he is unsure of the results. How do you solve situations like this? |
| Brian Schmidt: |
It is not totally true that advertisers are likely to spend their advertising
budget in a tried and true media (like print) rather than a medium (like
radio). The truth of the matter is that radio is “the” medium
of Jamaica! It’s not because I am in radio, why I am saying this.
The reality is, Jamaica is very much an “oral society,” and
as a result, radio is a more effective medium for most adverters. In today’s
Jamaica, everybody has a radio (whether you can read or not). Print, on
the other hand, is still a good medium, but is not suitable in all cases.
If you need a sense of permanence, or want people to see your product, etc.
radio can’t do that. However with radio, you can put out the message
better and more cost effective than any other medium among the other benefits. |
| |
|
| Q: |
One of the most competitive media in our local market is radio. Marketing
and salespeople for radio stations are generally creative and do an excellent
job of building enthusiasm for radio advertising. They usually have a spec
ad on tape along with listener demographics and maps that show how far their
signal reaches. These tools are convincing. They raise the advertiser's
expectations and often help close the sale. Is this the norm at ZIP 103
FM? |
| |
|
| Brian Schmidt: |
As I mentioned earlier, we were not tracked in the more recent all media
survey, so I can’t present that kind of data. Quite frankly, we don’t
do quantitative research, because it’s kind of pointless in my opinion.
If we even did, and we got a favourable reading, most people would readily
discount the results on the basis that since we commissioned it, it is not
all that credible. What we have done is to realistically and honestly analyse
and interpret information that is out there from independent media surveys
material and present this to our clients, and so far we have been only able
to do this from Semaj’s Drive-Time. If the truth be told, the number
one station with reach in Jamaica is IRIE FM. Anywhere you go in Jamaica,
you can always hear IRIE. With ZIP being built on the same platform as IRIE,
it’s right there behind IRIE in terms of coverage, and that is very
important and critical to our clients and us. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Many consumers admit they have the radio on simply for background noise.
They are not really listening; they just want some background noise to break
the silence of the work environment or the drive time. However if you asked
people in an office what song or commercial last played on the station they
are listening to, most people could not to tell you the song, and very few
will be able to tell you the commercial that played last. If that is a truism,
why would businesses want to advertise with ZIP 103 FM? |
| |
|
| Brian Schmidt: |
We understand that listening habits in different locations differ, so
will be your results. In a situation where the radio is used for background
noise to break the silence of the work environment or the drive time, and
you are not keenly listening, things are going to impact on you differently.
The oral advertisement has a subconscious effect. You may not consciously
be aware of the music or the advertisements, or even other general information
on radio. Later on at some future date, when you become conscious or actually
hear the ad, music or other information, you would have recalled having
heard them before. This is one of the big advantages radio has over other
media, say television or print, where you have to be definitely seeing the
ad to become aware of it. By nature of the medium, radio can have a subliminal
effect. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Why do people listen to radio stations? Certainly, they don't listen
for the advertising. They listen for the music, the news or the talk shows.
A commercial is an interruption to their listening. It is an aggravation.
This is often the time they hit “seek” or “scan”
on their radio to find more music instead of listening to 30 second spots
at a commercial break. This is the time when the button pushers come out.
That explains the popularity of the seek-and-scan-buttons on car radios
and home stereos with remote control devices. How do you overcome this marketing
hurdle? |
| Brian Schmidt: |
People listen to radio for different reasons… some for the information,
the music, and believe it or not even the advertisements. Where advertisements
are concerned, a lot people in Jamaica listens to radio for good ads.
If you have excellent ads, that is bound to become part of your programming.
For example, why do people watch the Super Bowl? It’s not that they
don’t watch it for the game itself, but statistics will tell you
that most watch it for the ads… people are looking to see what new
ads are going to break… and break, they certainly do. When you have
engaging ads, people listen for them. This is why it is important for
advertisers to have good advertising material. If you have advertising
material that is compelling, people are going to seek it out and listen
to its message, and this applies generally to any medium, not just radio.
Besides being an inappropriate medium for a particular message, one of
the main reasons most radio programme failed is that the ads weren’t
compelling enough. Advertising brings out the truth, in that if I have
an ad that says I have a shop that is clean and stocks trendy clothing,
and when the people who like trendy clothing come in and see a dirty shop
with old-fashioned clothing, they won’t come back. So the truth
is going to come out. So, it doesn’t make sense you trick people…
from day one, you must come out with an honest and true ad, and when the
customers come, their expectations will be realised. And of course, if
their experience was good, they will certainly return time and time again. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Based on your answers, we have certainly got an insight into and obviously
learned a thing or two about some of the marketing challenges, headaches
and opportunities facing radio stations in general, and ZIP 103 FM in particular.
However, in closing do you have any encouraging “last words”
you would like to share with your colleagues who face similar challenges
on the job? |
| Brian Schmidt: |
There is nothing like ethics and honesty in this business. Ethics, ethics,
ethics! Honesty, honesty, honesty! You need to be highly ethical and honest,
not only to yourself, but be honest to your clients. Another is for you
to stick to your guns, and try and give value for money spent because we
don’t do business with companies, we do business with people. If you
don’t have a high standard of ethics and honesty, then you won’t
have a high standard of business. If you don’t have a high standard
of business, then you don’t belong in business… any business.
Third and final, you must also have product knowledge. Therefore, I definitely
have to say ethics, honesty and product knowledge is the “wickedest
combination” for success in this business… and this puts us
way out in front of our competitors. |
Delroy A. Whyte-Hall
|
