Compared to past years, there is a dramatic increase in the number of Internet oriented panels at the upcoming NAB Radio show, next week in Charlotte. Good thing too. Locally focused advertisers are spending more money online, and Radio (as well as TV & Newspapers) are in a good position to leverage this. But will they do what it takes to win ?

When posing this question to really smart, seasoned broadcast managers, they inevitably respond “ I don’t want to cannibilize my broadcast money, and I don’t want my sellers chasing Web dollars. We’re in the RADIO business !”

This is where I cautiously launch into my patented reply: “I understand exactly what you’re saying. Many broadcasters feel the same way. Yet, I know of a growing list of broadcasters that are starting to realize: We’re really in the business of connecting marketers to consumers.  We enable commerce, and luckily, we have the ubiquitous power of the Radio transmitter to help enable that advertiser/consumer relationship. Let’s use ALL of our assets: spot, promos, Web, database, live remotes, and events to accomplish that.”

Traditional ‘spot’ revenues for Broadcasters are mainly flat or slipping. This puts local traditional media companies in a tough spot. Do we put our nose down, and work even harder at selling our traditional advertising inventory, or do we re-direct some of our sales efforts towards growing our interactive share? A somewhat sobering take on this issue is well communicated by Ken Dardis from AudioGraphics here.

Radio is in a much better position than they think. It’s easy to see from the graph above. Traditional media needs a strong gameplan to go after these growing online dollars. As more dollars are being allocated to ‘measured media’ like the Internet, some smart broadcasters realize that they own some pretty powerful tools to grab a piece of fast growing Web expenditures.

Radio’s not so secret weapons:

Relationships with media buyers/planners, especially on the local front. Broadcast reps will always have a shot to pitch interactive or cross platform programs. They already have a built-in trust with the buyer. All the while, the exploding volumes of pure-play dot coms are finding it hard to get in front of these key decision makers. There is only so many hours in the day for media planners to take meetings with the growing list of online-only media sites.

The Broadcast transmitter and tower. Think of how valuable it is, to be able to promote a client’s online destination, or a sales based promotion that is housed within the broadcaster’s website. Radio has it’s very own megaphone on steroids; the transmitter. The dot com pure-plays don’t have this luxury. They have to pay for offline promotion.

Broadcasters are well positioned to re-invigorate their business by leveraging the assets they already have in place. Now all they have to do is put more skin into the game. How? Devote appropriate resources, and make the Web a strategic part of every sales, programming and marketing innitiative……. not just as an ‘add-on’.

Took a break from posting for a few days due to some business travel in the Sunshine State. And as you could imagine, there are some nice benefits of having clients in Florida: getting a tan, taking a swim, and visiting the Orlando theme parks. Nothing like putting the Blackberry away, turning off the cell phone and getting lost in fantasy land for a bit.

But being the communications/marketing nerd that I am, I found myself noticing all of the interesting and creative ways that Disney and Universal studios were utilizing product placement within their attractions and rides.

One of the most compelling examples of this, was how Volkswagon was integrated into one of Universal Studios most popular rides: Revenge of the Mummy. See slide show above.

While this marketing investment from the German car maker was most certainly from a national budget, it lead me to believe that this was yet another example of the creative fragmention of marketing dollars. I bet that some of these dollars used to primarily go to Broadcast and Print.

If you have a local online Media property, are you doing more that just offering banners and pre-rolls to your clients? Are you coming up with innovative ways to embed your clients brand or message within your content? Maybe you are building special sections, or landing pages? How about unique podcasts, contests, or video programs ?

Yes, amusement parks are now one of your many, growing list of competitors.

Didn’t get a copy of the new Philly Ad Club Magazine? Here’s my latest article that they published.

Using ‘Local’ to Win on the Web 

“The action on the local media battlefield is focusing on the Web.Newspapers are scrambling to make up losses in classified advertising.TV stations are scrambling to cover declines in automotive and political ads. Radio operators are worried about a future in which audioprogramming comes from computer speakers and iPods instead of radios”   (Borrell & Associates. What Local Media Web Sites Earn: 2007 Survey ) 

As I read the latest report from industry expert; Borrell and Associates, it validates what I have been seeing first hand. The competitive environment for local media has dramatically changed. It’s not a down cycle as some say. Rather, it’s a full blown paradigm shift, where new rules are being written, and old ones being thrown away.  

More similarities, than differences

For more than half of my 15 year media career, I’ve been helping local Broadcast, Newspapers and advertisers move online, and build new revenue streams from these efforts. One of the biggest takeaways I’ve learned is how these traditional media platforms have more in common than originally thought. And maybe more importantly, the competition is not just the other TV station across the street, or the competing Newspaper, but rather, it’s the outside of market competitor called Google, and other “pure play” companies. Depending on which research you prefer, GOOGLE, YAHOO, MSN, and AOL take well over 60% of online media dollars out of the local marketplace. Is it because they are better at reaching local consumers? Not necessarily. Maybe it’s that they have been focused on Internet advertising longer than most, and by default, have captured a sizable amount of local dollars.  

Still crazy after all these years

We are all familiar with the rock radio wars of WMMR vs. WYSP, the newspaper skirmish between The Inquirer and The Bucks County Courier Times, and WPVI’s Jim Gardner vs. all other Philly TV news anchors. Ahhh, the good old days. But those days my friend, are slowly coming to a close. It borders on insanity how many local media companies still beat each other up over an advertising buy, only focusing on taking share from other local media outlets. It’s like fighting over a bigger slice of a shrinking pie. Everyday we see those celebrating the fact, that they took a few dollars from the other station in town, yet ignored a big chunk of money that was looking for a local online home. Those dollars likely got scooped up by one of the portals. Maybe it’s time for local media to start getting more serious about keeping local online dollars…local. How best to accomplish this? Quite simply, maximize everything ‘local’.  

Local; the secret weapon.

Most would consider going head to head with Yahoo to be suicide. But by focusing on what local media can do best, it has the best chance at getting back into the game of growing online media share. Local media’s greatest strength is not just in the local platforms of broadcast towers and printing presses, but rather in its unique local attributes: local relationships, local database information, local reporters, local sales reps, local video, local content, etc. These are assets that the Googles and Yahoos of the world only wish they had more of. To be sure, I am not anti-Google. I use it everyday. But I do believe that the local advertising community should be aware that taking a passive, wait and see attitude towards the web, will likely marginalize the local advertising business, and allow the pure-play interactive companies to gain an even bigger, more sizable lead in this space. By then, it could be too late. 

To win with local online, here are some items for traditional media to consider:  

• Adhere to Internet Advertising Bureau standards. ( see http://www.iab.net) Avoid odd-sized banners, button and logos. There should not be an overload of advertising/marketing messages on any one page.
• Build up online video, audio and other multi-media assets and resources. Big bandwidth and hi-speed connections are now the norm. Take advantage in order to tap into growing online video advertising budgets, and other streaming/rich media opportunities.
• Realize that poor site design, layout, navigation and ‘advertiser friendliness’ can affect your online success.
• Teach your offline staff the basics of online programming and advertising. They will be surprised to find out that 95% of their current skills apply to the Internet.
• Thinking of a broadcast or newspaper website as just a brand extension is short sighted. In the very near future, these sites will be a primary way the next generation will engage in what local media companies have to offer.
• Simply putting TV/Radio/Newspaper content online is not enough. There must be web-only content as well; deep, hyper-local and always up to date.
• The Internet has its own set of rules. What works offline, won’t necessarily work online. Learn the basics of Web 2.0. Hire those who get it. Dismiss those that fight it.
• Traditional media buyers are being urged by clients to explore and buy online. Budgets, whether TV, Radio or Print, are being replaced simply by “marketing budgets” that will be sliced, diced and allocated in any which way. More and more of it will go online. Is your staff ready for this?
• Understand how to leverage, or become part of, a ‘network’ of similar websites. This will allow local media/niche sites to get on the radar of media buyers looking for scale, reach, and contextual relevancy. Centrally served online campaigns, with one point of contact/one invoice, will allow both the buy and the sell side, to enjoy a more effective, efficient, and successful experience.