the ‘disloyal cume’

I've always believed that a radio station, like any product, has to be wrapped up in great packaging to get the buyer, or in this case the listener, to embrace it. 

Getting the message right in your sweepers & promos is so important. I hear so many weak repetitive breakfast messages on radio stations during the day. Programmers aren’t thinking about what I like to call the 'Disloyal Cume'.

The Disloyal Cume is the audience who listen to your radio station, but spend more time with your competitor. They don’t get the breakfast bits highlighted in a promo as it’s generally played out of context. If you don’t have some great bits from your breakfast show to use in sweepers don’t waste your valuable promo time with inferior material. Think about what’s right for your Core Listeners, but also your Disloyal Cume. Your job as a programmer is to retain your current listeners, regain listeners you’ve lost & take what you can from other stations.

Hollywood movie director Steve Stockman from Custom Productions (www.customproductions.tv) created a number of television ads for Austereo in the 80s & 90s including the famous ‘Fish in the Blender’ spot. I learnt a lot from Steve. One of the things he taught me was the importance of using promo time to run a focussed campaign for the radio station.

The most important thing you can ask your listener is "what do they want in terms of your product?"                                                  

A great opportunity for strategy & creativity to work together in selling a particular benefit of the radio station.                                                      

Don’t overcomplicate the campaign with multiple messages, just stick with one key message with many creative variations, and schedule the campaign like a major advertiser would.
 

Greg Smith