Radio Makes People "Happy"

By Kellie J. Lala

A client of ours sent me an interesting article from England.  A new study from across the pond concluded that “listening to the radio makes people happier than watching TV or surfing the Internet”.  I knew I loved London and Princess Diana for some reason!  J  Anyway, 1000 Brits participated in the study using their smartphones to respond to questions regarding their media consumption.  Radio is a life support system for listeners.  We tell you the weather and if your child needs a coat while waiting for the bus.  We give you updates on the traffic issues on I-380.  We alert you to potentially harmful weather (we have real live people in the building 24/7/365 to do just that). 

Ask yourself-why do you listen to the radio?  The study’s participants said that the whole idea of listening to the radio was to “gain companionship and, at the same time, enjoyment”.  We all like to listen to music.  Music makes us feel good.  You select the station playing the music that best suites our tastes.  That is why there are so many different stations around-a nice variety that will serve the mass population. Radio is much like ice cream.  “You choose the station that tastes best to you-the flavor you like the best is going to give you the most enjoyment”.  Radio also supports people’s daily activities.  Getting you up in the morning, motivating and keeping you company when you are cleaning the house and a friendly voice in the car on those long road trips.  The study also said that radio is more “resilient” than ever.  Radio continues to “embrace social media and smart phone technology to interact with their listener”.  Radio has the ability to drive it’s over the air users to digital platforms thus making the advertisers happy.  In fact, go to http://www.kzia.com/ and see how you can download an app for your smart phone and Z102.9 can go wherever you take your phone.  How cool is that? 

“Radio is such an integral part of our daily lives that perhaps we’ve forgotten how it truly affects us.  A lot of new media gets the attention and buzz, but people use radio more and more every year”.  Thanks for tuning in!

(Article in the Huffington Post 7/20/11)

Social media has potential downsides too

By Chris Law

Sure social media has an upside, the biggest of which it allows us to reach our potential customers and talk about our business for free.  But with all that flow of information it certainly has a downside as well.

We’ve probably all heard stories in which information contained on someone’s social media sight landed them in hot water.  The person whose significant other saw recent pictures of them out with the ex or the new college grad that lost out on a great job because of pictures posted on their Facebook page.  Those stories are so common that there are companies springing up that make money charging others to do social media research on individuals for them.  You can read about Social Intelligence here. 

It’s important that local business owners think about the impact of social media on their business as well.  Often times the owners of local business are the face and voice of their stores.  As the face of your business it’s important to remember that you remain so, even after the doors are locked for the night or weekend.  I’m not advocating that everyone who owns a business should be a teetotaler, but you might want to think twice before tweeting about that wild night, or worse putting pictures of that wild night on your Facebook page.

I recall a prospective client financial advisor client I met early in my career at the stations.  Prior to our meeting I conducted my typical meeting research which of course included Google.  One of the first things I came across was his Facebook page which featured an image of him dispatching a beer bong while at a tailgate party. 

While an image like that might not stop me from associating socially with that individual, it certainly might give me pause if I were about to let that person assist me in planning for retirement and ultimately be in charge of thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of my hard earned dollars.  Ultimately we never did business together but I’d like to believe I helped him by giving him some things to think about when I asked about those pictures in one of our meetings.

I’m aware that Facebook allows many different levels of permissions which in theory allow some folks have access to everything while others only see what we want them too, but is it worth taking a risk that something goes wrong?  I’m not sure it is.

Do you hear the dinner bell?

By Kellie J. Lala

 

Consumers are slowly returning to dining out for their evening meal.  Since the 2007 recession, consumers had cut their “dining out” budgets in efforts to add more dollars to their families’ bottom line.  More meals eaten at home mean leaner sales for restaurants.  Nation’s Restaurant News (6/27/11) reports that dinner visits increased 2% for the first 3 months of 2011.  That continues a 3% upwards trend from the last half of 2010.  This improvement may reflect some folks going back to work and an increase in consumer confidence.  We might also like to think it is the pent-up demand that is bubbling up.  The biggest jump is in fine dining (up 5%) compared to quick service restaurants(up 1%).  How has your family eating habits changed over the last 3-4 years? Have they changed in the last few months?  For me when I ate out, I was more careful of what I ordered and maybe didn’t add that glass of wine (but I’m not whining).  Why do you dine out?  Convenience, time to bond and have conversation, too busy to cook?  All of these are valid reasons to dine out.  For me, I just don’t cook.  The only reason there is a stove in my house is that it was there when I bought it!  However I love to get a deal.  With all the coupons, punch cards and deals available be sure to see if there is a way to save at your favorite haunt.  Right now there is the Red Lobster’s $15.00 seafood feast.  Panchero’s punch card to earn a free burrito.  Taco Bell’s daily taco deal.  Whatever your stomach is growling for-feed it in an effort to “feed” our economy.  It’s dinner time somewhere!   

Radio Listening up, up and away......

By

Kellie J. Lala 

First quarter 2011 shows an average of 241.6 million listeners who are 12 plus tune in to conventional radio stations in any given week.  That figure shows an increase over 2009 of 2.1 million people (USA Today-3/22/11).  According to Arbitron’s executive VP of sales and marketing, Carol Hanley “Radio is much stronger than the general perception has been”.  How come?  When radio is challenged by satellite and web-based audio services how can radio listenership be on the rise you ask? 

Radio can shift their programming very quickly.  I hate to brag but KZIA-FM is one of a very few stations that has people in the building 24/7/365!  And-we have been doing it for over a year now!  When severe weather hits, we let our listeners know.  When Osama is taken out, we let our listeners know.  When an area sports team does good, we let our listeners know. 

Good radio is still relevant and helps you get thru the day.  Weather, school closings, traffic issues….we tell you about it and that can make your day just a little bit better.  I would say that is a good thing….how ‘bout you?

Quack Quack!

By Kellie J. Lala

Don’t let the title mislead you.  I am talking about the new Aflac duck.  He’s got a new voice and it just happens to be a radio guy!  Hurray for radio!  After an extensive month long search that auditioned over 12,500 voices including celebrities, actors, professional voice-over artists and the general public, Aflac announced the new voice for the duck is a radio station sales manager from Hugo, Minnesota.  Dan McKeague, 36, is a married father of three and submitted his voice track online. His first ad was called “Pigeon” and you can find it on Aflac’s Facebook page.  You might be wondering what happened to the previous duck’s voice.  Actor Gilbert Gottfried was fired by the huge insurance company after making offensive comments on Twitter regarding the Japan earthquake.  Aflac gets 75% of its revenue from the Japanese market. Opps! 

As the saying goes…..be careful what you say and who you say it to.  You never know who you might offend or hurt.  Social media makes that even more true.

Mother's Love Bling

By Kellie J. Lala

Mother’s Day jeweler sales improved over 2010 (according to the National Jeweler).  Even with the price of silver and gold at record highs, $37.00 an ounce and $1500.00 respectively, many retailers were pleased overall.  Some popular items for moms this year included multi-gem birthstone “mother's rings”, basic gold earrings and chains, Pandora bracelets, diamond earrings and cross pendants.  White gold is still the popular choice over other metals.  

What did you buy your mother?  I love shopping so I always go for the multi gift purchase.  My mom got an outfit, plants for spring potting, candle, restaurant gift card and a funky blue kitchen spatula.  My mom does a lot of me, in fact many of my friends say “poor Donna”.  She does enjoy being able to help me out and I am always grateful for it.  My mom is so sweet that she was telling people that “every day is Mother’s Day living next door to my daughter”.   

What a nice thing to say. 

So-the question to ask yourself, what have you done for your mother today?

 

The Lesson of the Alpine Slide

By Glen Gardner/ Z102.9, 1600 ESPN Marketing Consultant
The changing seasons are really one of the best events to market around.
It gives people a reason to shift focus and start thinking about new
products and services that the change helps usher in. It's always a good
idea to think about how your product or service can benefit from the
change in behavior.
Sometimes the benefits and course is obvious. If you own a shop that
sells ski equipment, the summer might not be the best time to sink a lot
of marketing dollars into getting people to buy ski gear, but it doesn't
mean there is no opportunity.
One of the best examples I can remember brought me back to my New
England roots about 30 years ago. There were several ski areas in
western Massachusetts and Vermont that were trying to figure out ways to
use their facilities in the summer months. They had the real estate, a
lot of vertical drop, ski lifts and ticketing facilities. It all sat
idle and rusting all summer long because there's no snow.
Then one of the areas had the bright idea to install something called an
alpine slide. The alpine slide was a removable track that could be
installed over the ski runs down the mountain. People would slide down
those tracks on a sled that had wheels, a brake and looked a lot like a
bobsled.
These things became a huge hit and allowed these ski areas to turn a
huge seasonal negative into a huge positive. People were waiting on line
to slide down the runs on what used to be deserted slopes in the summer.
Soon many ski areas featured alpine slides and a new revenue source was
born!
As the summer approaches are there ways you can reinvent and re-market
your business or service to use what Mother nature is handing us? Think
about it, the right answer could be as fun as a thrill ride!