MStique Marketing... Reaching Women One At A Time

What If We Thought More Like Martha?

I’d like you to ask yourself a question and please answer it before you read on. If someone who never heard your radio station would ask you to describe your station, what would you say? Think about your answer, don’t cheat and skip forward until you have that conversation in your head.

How many of you described your station using a list of the type of artists you play or by a certain female demo? In asking this question to many programmers and marketing directors recently, most used those types of examples to create the picture of their station.

Now, think about this. Do you think the two top female media brands use those types of descriptors when talking about their brands? Does Oprah say I have a TV show that appeals to women and we do shows about health, celebrities and self improvement? Or does Martha Stewart say I have a magazine that does articles on cooking, gardening and crafts? I don’t think so.

What would happen if we changed our thought process and quit thinking like radio people and really adapted to the changing media landscape? That is, what if we began thinking of ourselves as a women’s entertainment brand? Just like Oprah used her TV show and Martha used her magazine, we used our radio station as the anchor.
But then we developed all of our media channels to become a true women’s entertainment brand?

Oprah has the TV show, but she also has the off channel shows, O the magazine, the website and all kinds of other community and charity involvement. Martha has the magazine, TV, radio, books and retail tie-ins with countless marketing opportunities. Neither woman ever limited their thinking to one channel, but instead, they are constantly thinking of ways to use all media to drive the brand. The brand is what connects with women, not the channel it’s delivered on.

In order for radio to survive and thrive, perhaps an adjustment in our thinking is required. Instead of relying on playing the same 700 songs over and over again, maybe we should begin thinking more about what goes in between the songs. Maybe we should begin to think about the total entertainment and connection experience. And just maybe we should realize that if we don’t begin to expand the experience we give our listeners, the amount of time they spend with us will continue to decline.

Radio is still too much of a one way communication channel. We put out the message and hope someone cares. But, if we begin to expand the content and create ways for our audience to connect and communicate with us, we can begin to be a brand that women look to as a total experience. Not just a place to find their favorite songs.
And we can begin to reclaim the revenue that leaving traditional media and going to new media. We have to embrace change and let us work for us, reinvent ourselves to make sure that as a business we continue to be relevant.

If you want to talk about the future and how to make your radio station into a brand, not just a tune machine, give us a call.

Who's The Best Trend Spotter?

Emerging trends. Some people are just born with the sixth sense of spotting them before they are trends. It’s an ability to take the pulse of your audience and know what they are thinking before they really think it. One of the best is Oprah. She has hit a nerve with her new show The Big Give. I am seeing it in other research, but Oprah saw it months ago. When people are feeling anxious or unsure about the future, they feel better when they can help other people. And what a great way for you to connect with your audience! It’s an idea that can create great buzz and word of mouth for your station.

The idea? Just focus on making someone happy. Sometimes as radio marketers, we get so focused on getting people to listen for x number of quarter hours or playing games with recall that we forget a basic marketing principal. Make people love your product and they will tell their friends, family and co-workers. And the number one way that women connect with new products? Word of mouth, they trust their peer’s recommendations.

So, how can you create that buzz by making someone happy? It’s really not that hard. Instead of giving away $100 every hour, create a concept of making people’s day. For example, send your morning show out on the town with a credit card and a business card that say’s We Just Wanted To Make Your Day. Have them pay for people’s gas, their lunch or their groceries. Do it randomly and get a buzz going about when and where they might be that day. Believe me, if your morning show steps up and pays for my $65.00 tank of gas, I am going to tell everyone I know.

Get involved with your community. Don’t just talk about a charity event, get involved and get your hands dirty. Over half of all women volunteer for some charitable cause every year and 70% donate money. Most women have a favorite charity and it is their favorite because of an emotional tie such as breast cancer or an animal cause. Connect with those women by helping them support their cause. Instead of giving away $1000 a day, give away $500 and another $500 to their favorite charity.

To create word of mouth buzz about your station, you must do things that emotionally connect with your listener. What does your station stand for? What are you doing everyday to be relevant in your listeners’ world? If you are not part of your listeners’ conversations, you are not part of their sphere of influence. You cannot buy buzz, you must create it.

Need help creating some buzz? Give us a call!

MStique Marketing For Women
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Help... My bottle of Tums is empty!

I was talking to a marketing director the other day who was so overwhelmed that she didn’t know which way to turn. And it was a situation I have seen more frequently lately, corporate pressure to do more, no increase in budget and no increase in staff. We spent a good half hour on the phone talking about all the things she wanted to do, changes in the way she should be marketing her radio station and how the basic principals of marketing to our consumers needs to change. As the conversation progressed I could hear her giving up. Her words to me were, “I can’t get everything I need to do now done, so how can I even begin to do more?”

The more we talked, the answer started to become clear. It wasn’t that she needed to so much more, it was that she needed to stop doing many things that she had “always done.” When looking over her typical week, it was full of events and appearances that really weren’t that productive. She didn’t have a true marketing plan, it was really just a budget. And most importantly, the station’s marketing team was still using the “let’s do everything and see what works” planning method. Be everywhere, give away everything, spend a big chunk of our marketing budget on television and let’s hope that something works. No wonder she had a huge bottle of Tums on her desk.

That type of marketing worked for many radio stations in the past, but it is not going to work in the future. And it is really not working today. Why? Because there are too many choices and too many media channels. If radio doesn’t start making better connections and stickier relationships, we are going to suffer from the same problem TV is trying to hide from right now. Our individual piece of the pie is going to continue shrinking to the point that advertisers will not need us. Just as our listeners have many choices, so do our advertisers.

So what is that overwhelmed, Tums popping marketing director to do? She is going to learn to become a real marketing director, not just a radio marketing director, but a brand managing marketing guru. And the first step is going to be evaluating how she is really spending her time and assign an ROI figure to that time. Secondly, she is going to do the same with all of their current marketing plans and also assign an ROI number to those. Anything that isn’t positively bringing something to the bottom line is going to be gone.

And thirdly, we are going to help her develop an honest to goodness real marketing strategy based on today’s marketing principals that focus on the tools available along with understanding what really makes her radio station connect with her listeners. We will help her create channels of communication that are not just one way communication coming out of the speakers, but two way communications that make her listeners feel connected to the station.

And that television budget? We will have recommendations for that too. The latest study by BIGresearch shows that 41.2% of people channel surf during TV commercials. The ROI on TV spots for radio stations is usually not worth the money. As we discussed with her, just imagine if you took that money from the budget and used it to actually connect with your listener?

Put on your dream cap for a moment and imagine a radio station/online media channel that provided a way for your listeners to become connected to the station through listener conversations via blogs or message boards, listener provided content, real listener feedback to understand their wants and needs, highly focused events that appealed to specific niche groups in your audience and revenue generating opportunities that put listeners who want to buy together with advertisers who have just what they need.

The other thing the BIGreseach study confirmed is that media multitasking is continuing to grow. No one does just one thing anymore. One of the most popular combinations continues to be listening to the radio and going online. So instead of making your website just a rehash of what is on the radio… make it entertaining, create content that your listeners will find entertaining and fun and create enough value in your site that they keep coming back. Don’t look at other radio sites for guidance, look at social networking sites that are interactive and provide great content. IVillage.com, GirlfriendsCafe.com and Facebook all provide great ideas. Martha Stewart is just getting ready to kick off a social site on MarketingVox. Connect, connect, connect. That is the future of marketing. So put away the Tums and reinvent your station’s marketing. Tomorrow’s success depends on what you start today.

8 Marketing Rules For Women, Part Two

And now… Part Two of 8 Great Marketing Tips for Women

#5 Add The Little Extras
Reward loyalty by giving those heavy users and database members something extra. Cosmetic companies know the value of adding a few samples to the bag when I am purchasing that $60.00 moisturizer.

Coldwater Creek is a perfect example of a company that knows it’s female customer and how to keep them loyal. Their clothes are not cheap but they do an unbelievable business, and 70% of their customers make over $80,000 a year. Through a very well designed email marketing strategy, they constantly provide customers with targeted discounts, discount gift cards and gifts with purchase such as a free watch with a $100 purchase around Mother’s Day.

The Gap with it’s younger cliental offers free, Gap branded music CDs with catalog orders.

The little extras work for radio too. If you are managing your database correctly and tracking results, you should be able to isolate the group of active users in your database of listeners. From free events to bonusing those people with extra prizes, your own branded CD to doubling their prize in call in to win contests… there are hundreds of ways to add the little extras to your relationship with your listeners.

And if you need some ideas, let us know. We’ve got a million of them!

#6 Tap Into the Emotional Power of Music
Radio plays lots of music, but do we ever really focus on the emotion of that music? Music is the soundtrack to a woman’s life. They remember special events with clarity and detail, and many times a song is part of the details. Ask a woman what a song on the radio reminds her of, and most times she will have an answer.

When using music to market your station, from TV to on air promos, think about the emotion in those songs and make it work for you.

Women love stories. Combine the two and make the package an emotionally complete package. For example, on Valentine’s Day have listeners call in and record a short story about their significant other and include the song that is part of their moment. Most songs are about love in some form and they are memorable because the hit an emotional cord. You can use that emotion to your advantage. And remember without some emotion, there is no bonding.

#7 Create Listener Evangelist
Listeners love a sense of ownership in your radio station, because to them it is not your station, it is “their” station. How can you use that sense of ownership and have them become part of your marketing team?

•Gather feedback and then use that feedback to create events, promotions and station features. People are becoming used to having input in their own media. If you don’t allow participation, they will find another way to get the entertainment they want, on their terms. Surveys, Listener Advisory Boards, blogs and message boards are all ways for your listeners to add input into “their” station.

•Make it a point to share knowledge with them. If you have just done a music test, make that an item in your next email. Talk about some of the songs that everyone seems to love and anything else that will make them feel part of “their” station.

• Build word of mouth networks. Women talk, believe me. I sat at lunch a week before Thanksgiving and listened to a whole table of women talking about how mad they were that their favorite station was already playing Christmas music. It stressed them out and reminded them of all the things they had to do and it wasn’t even Thanksgiving. I know that conversation continued elsewhere. Make sure you are blogging or offering your listeners a chance to communicate with you and you with them. That way, you have some control over the word of mouth generated about your station.

• Encourage your listeners to meet and share. A station I have worked with in the past has created a partnership with a business womans networking group. The group is very large and their events well attended. The radio station uses that group as a way to network and create events for a big part of their audience. The women love the group because they get a lot out of it from both a knowledge base and through social networking. So it is a win/win for all parties.

How can you get your listeners together in ways that is a win/win for both your station and your listeners? Spa nights, educational events, exercise events and family events are all ways for your listeners to meet and share. And that will begin the circle of good word of mouth!

#8 Form Good Brand Alliances
No brand can be everything to everyone. As much as we’d like our listeners to spend 24 hours a day with us, we all know that is not possible. So how can we spread our brand and create new alliances so we are still part of our listeners lives even if they are not listening to us at the moment?

What do women do and where to they go? Find the places in your market that are natural attractions to women and become part of that attraction. For example, Curves is a women’s only exercise club. Can you provide the music for them or special workout shirts for their members? Or what about creating a special blend of your morning show’s coffee and selling it through a local grocery store with all proceeds going to a women focused charity? Extend your brand through good alliances and you’ll become more than just a music machine to your listeners.

Next time… Marketing to Women Mistakes to Avoid.

8 Marketing Rules For Women, Part One

8 Marketing Rules For Women, Part One

These 8 marketing rules are tried and true… proven by the best marketers in the world today. We can all learn a lot from their success.

1) Stay away from stereotypes, show real women in real situations.
Women don’t want to be labeled as soccer moms, super woman executive or mini- van carpooling mom. When producing your TV spots and on air testimonial promos, stay away from canned “visions” of women. Use authentic women in real life situations. Women react when they have a “that’s me” moment. One of the most effect TV spots this year are the Volkswagon spots where they survive the unexpected accident. Especially the spot with the two couples chatting about the movie… then BAMM, they are broadsided by another car. That is a “that’s me” moment that every women reacts to. Find that connection so your audience is saying… “that’s me!”

2) Focus on the Connection
In general… women want to get along. They prefer to connect, for everyone to win and for everyone to be happy. So when designing your events… find events that everyone can participate in and feel like winners. Do things that make your audience feel good. Most radio stations do not take enough advantage of working with charities and promoting community benefits. Find the charity organizations in your city that help women and help them. Provide ways for your audience to help too.

For example, there are a number of the franchises in almost every city, the place where you can go with your friends and make dinner for your family for the week. It’s a great idea and most women love the fact that they can have fun and do something good for their family. So use that client to your advantage by creating a special day where women can go with their friends and make dinner for less fortunate families. It’s a great opportunity for women to work together doing something fun and rewarding. Women want to connect with other women. Put your radio station in the middle of the connection and you will brand your station in a way that really matters.

3) Tell stories… relate to her life.
The best on air personalities tell great stories. One of the funniest bits I have heard that demonstrates this was done by Kelly McKay at WZPL in Indianapolis. She had been talking about her program directors mono brow… something women can relate to. We all want to do something about the mono brows of the world. So she talked her PD into getting his mono brow waxed. It wasn’t a huge deal, just a properly placed phone call seconds before they ripped the wax off his head… and then the scream we all knew was coming. Women get their legs and lips waxed all the time. So we could feel his pain… and enjoyed the mental picture greatly.

Tell stories that relate to what women do everyday. It isn’t how many songs you play in a row… it is what you are saying that relates to her life that creates the connection.

4) Make it multi-sensory
Women do not think in straight lines… they think of multiple factors all at once. They listen to the background music in a store, they notice the colors in your logo and website and they smell what is going on in the grocery store. What can you do to make your radio station more multi-sensory?

Take the time to write promotional copy that creates a real picture. If you’re doing a trip to the Caribbean… then your copy should make them feel warm, see the blue water and smell the coconut suntan lotion. If you can’t close your eyes and see, smell and hear the destination… keep writing. Connect by touching all the senses. Remember… radio is still theater of the mind.

Next issue… Part Two. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Time Is The New Currency

First it was 40 is the new 30. Then it was 50 is the new 40. Now… it’s time is the new currency. Women will spend more, give more and appreciate more if they can exchange something to gain more time in their day.

How can you make that work for your station? Remember this… 95% of all household decisions are made by women. From trying to get the dog to the vet to picking up the kids after practice, shopping for groceries to figuring out who gets what for Christmas. Women do it all and it makes them over stressed, grumpy and dreaming of a way to find more time for themselves. Keep that in mind when designing your next contest.

Christmas is coming and women focused products are seeing great results by reflecting that in their marketing. MasterCard realizes that there is a great tie in between promoting their brand and appealing to the over stressed woman. Last year, they created a promotion that every time you used your MasterCard, you were entered to win a private shopper and $5000 for Christmas gifts. It was a huge success and appealed to women on many levels.

When designing your upcoming promotions, ask yourself the question… what can we do to make our listeners lives easier? Instead of giving away a cash prize, dress it up and frame it in a way that appeals to your listeners’ need for more stress free time. Instead of a $500 shopping spree… think about a maid for a week along with catered dinners for the family and a chauffer so she doesn’t have to hunt for a parking space at the mall when shopping. Go for the emotion of relieving stress and making life easier… connect and relate to your listeners on a level that matters to them.

It’s not about hype… it’s all about relating.

How Does Your Station Smell?

Sometimes it’s hard to make retail success stories translate into radio marketing ideas… but here is something to think about. Bath and Body Works is incredibly successful. No matter how many times I run in to buy just some shampoo, I always leave with 10 other things. Why is that? Why can’t I just get the darn shampoo and get out of there?

It’s because women make decisions with all of their senses. When you walk in the door, it always smells so good. There is soothing music playing that creates a relaxing atmosphere… perfect to slow down and smell some more. There are samples of everything, creamy lotions that feel good and smell really good too. And the result… I have to have one of everything.

So how can we learn a radio lesson from that? I think the answer to that is to ask yourself… how do you make your listeners feel? They can’t really smell you or feel you… but you can create emotional ties by paying attention to the senses.

Diet Coke’s marketing is not a list of its ingredients. It focuses on how the Diet Coke lifestyle makes you feel. Does positioning your station by its “ingredients” create emotion? Telling me that you’re playing lite rock favorites from yesterday and today is really just your ingredients. And I can get those same ingredients, without the ones I don’t like on my iPod.

So what is the secret? How can you create smell and feel, touch and taste on your radio station? Many times they are the subtle, but really important little details that can make a difference. Do you ever test your station’s “voice” with listeners? Have you noticed that more and more female focused products are using females voice overs?

Look at your contesting. Is it something that really appeals to women, presented in a creative way? Or is it just the same old thing you did last year? And does the prize really fit the target? I just heard a female targeted CHR giving away a snowmobile. And their competition is giving away spa weekends. Who do you think is going to win that one?

And don’t forget your website. Poor color choices, too much clutter and too many fonts can be the visual equivalent of 12 screaming kids at Chucky Cheese… not an emotion you want to create. Logo colors, bumper music, contest methodology and good content can all create that on air feeling of… Ahhh, I want more!

Your ingredients are set. You do a music test and those are the songs you’re going to play. It is everything else you do that creates your station’s smell.

MStique Marketing helps clients smell good everyday. Let us know if we can help you create that Ahhhh, I want more moment for you too.