The Pope Wears Prada

Not to be outdone by you know who, Pope Benedict wears Prada, bright red Prada shoes, not that there is anything wrong with that.



His predecessor, Pope John Paul wore scruffy brown shoes and was driven around in a 20 year old Mercedes. There was something plenty wrong with this.



John Paul was shot, bringing about a much needed change, from the old Mercedes to the bullet proof Popemobile, a rolling box into which there appears to be no door. It’s like the ship in the bottle. How does he gets into it ? Do they have a Popecrane to lift him in?



Think what it took to force that change. The near loss of a Pope.



There is a name for that inertia that I have mentioned before; “Valleity,” a lingering, collective desire to get something done without actually doing anything about it.



We resist change. Einstein said that the definition of insanity is continuing to try the same approach to solve a problem, but expecting different results.



He had the capacity to visualize a problem in its entirety, instead of one element at a time, like most of us.



Taking in a street panorama; if we like BMW’s, we Americans will home in on that one car, while blurring out the rest of the scene. A reason Orientals are good at math is that they tend to view that same street scene as a whole.



This is how we must begin thinking. Advertising is no longer just about radio or newspapers or television. It never was, but until recently, we could get away with thinking this narrowly.



Seeing the whole picture is easy. Visualize the end result. If you are in marketing, start with the customer buying the item advertised, and work backwards. Such a happy ending eliminates the negative attitude that accompanies gunny sacking the multitude of obstacles along the way.



An effective ad campaign is one in which all elements are bonded synergistically. Yeah, I know. Synergism is a trite term, but this time, we’re not kidding.



How does synergism work for you? Let’s say you are a newspaper sales rep, now selling the new internet radio station that your company has acquired.



Until recently, it was a matter of order taking by the newspaper rep, but now, the faithful Cadillac dealer with whom you have built years of mutual trust, is getting twitchy. He reluctantly tells you that he is chopping his advertising budget.



You, a hot salesman who believes that the sale begins when the client says “no,” throw in the new package, multi mentions on the website and a generous campaign on the new internet radio station.. All the Caddy dealer hears in the pitch is the word “radio.”



Even the lithest print rep can’t fool the Caddy dealer, who reflexively tells him, “Radio doesn’t work for me. Never has. Forget radio.”



Understandably, you gradually shy away from the radio part of the pitch, not only with the Caddy dealer, but the other accounts you have that were not considered radio buys, even in your own mind,



Suggestion: Stop calling it “internet radio” when pitching upper-end clients. It throws up a lot of negatives among client who have had bad experiences with radio.



Just calling it “the Internet” will do. Besides, the internet is a dynamic innovation.



The Website is also the missing link in the new bundling art. There is much to be learned about designing and utilizing these.



Those are a few of the sales tools at your disposal. Their merging with the consumer tools below will empower you in ways you never imagined. Bonus! Bonus! The consumers win! win! You both will feel like 14 year old gamers



Cell phones:

New programs will enable the consumer to perform wonders. Dramatic changes are over the immediate horizon. Many are already here, but not generally known, yet. I will reveal some of them soon.



Laptops

Go to Starbucks or any coffee house or place where people gather, watch people of all ages, eyes agape at their lap tops.. It’s more than just staring in heavy concentration at the screen. They are “as one” with it.  What’s going on ? How does it apply to Sales?



Retired Radio Talents:

Worthy radio talents, those cast aside by Management in recent years, must be recycled.

Valuable veterans were regarded as luxuries in an industry that only wanted to fill slots.



Broadcast operators thought they had the answers: music sweeps, voice tracking and the like. This dehumanizing has almost killed radio’s soul



I have a feeling that those jocks who were purged are willing to work for a more reasonable salary and above all, are rarin’ to restore to the public that great standard of broadcasting they represent.



The internet will need fine talents, local talents, because radio is increasingly local. Bring back the vets, icons in the community. Offer them to those client who haven’t seen radio results for years.



Put them on mid-days, and weekends. Sell them doing what they should be able to do very effectively, an isolated 90 second live adlib, a lost art, but now restored. Of course, if they are terrific, put them on anytime.



Run several isolated live adlibs each hour. They will stand out in the clutter.



Charge a fat premium rate more than the rate of two 60’s, spiff the jock, and you will make tons of extra money for your share holders. By the way, aggressive advertisers will love them. I have yet to meet an advertiser who wouldn’t buy them and pay the freight..



Start again to program 24/7.

*The fun shouldn’t stop at 9a or 10a. The abrupt formatic swoon after the spirited morning slot is a false message that you don’t care about the listeners any more that day.



Sell Weekends. That is when all those M-F commercials come together in a final burst of energy as final reminders of where to go and what to do, perhaps the most important part of a retail schedule



Many of you grew up with the golden age of 60’s radio. I will leave you with an outstanding example of the standard of radio from that era, not from your favorite jock, but from Brad Messer, a terrific newsman at KLIF in Dallas, who would often sing the news. Heeeere’s Brad! (click here to hear the signing newscast)

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I’d like a change in attitudes,

In which we curb the platitudes,

A time not gold, but platinum,

When we’re all up and atin’em

.. ………………………Hare





Lyrics of one of my favorite songs:

“Peekin’ through the knothole of my grandpa’s wooden leg.. Who will wind the clock when I am gone. Granny, get the axe. There’s a fly on the baby’s head. A man’s best friend is his mother.”



When asked how important men are when you reach your 90’s, my Texas grandma said, “You’re gonna hafta ask someone older’n me.”





*Thanks Chuck Blore for reminding us of the importance of 24/7 personality radio.