by Jim McVay
We know there is a morphing audience in the 35-49 year old demographic. A new generation is moving into the oldies format with songs they grew up with. On Dec 31, 2007, I turned 34-years-old. Although one year below the demo, the fondest memories of my youth revolved around the late ’70s through the early ’80s. One particular memory was in 1979. I was five-years-old; my father came home from a business trip. We packed up the canary yellow Ford Torino station wagon, with wood grain panels and brown leather seats that burned my legs in the summer heat as we drove down to Falcon’s gas station in Youngwood, PA, before hitching on the pop up trailer and going camping for the weekend.
The police officers checked the license plates to make sure it was the proper day of the week for the motorists to get gas. We were in the middle of the second gas crisis of the ’70s.The line was long, giving us a lot of time to talk, while listening to music on the Motorola AM radio with shiny chrome knobs. Just as the wait became unbearable, ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” came on the radio. We started to sing, and then talked about our up coming camping trip.
We all have memories of our youth embedded in our brains, and are relived when we hear the music played during that era, or a particular song, on a particular day. This is one of the reasons I feel strongly with the continued growth of the Oldies format. We need to remember what we are truly selling to the Oldies listener (“Super Hits,” “Classic Hits,” “Classic Top 40,” “Greatest Hits,” or as I like to call it, “Favorite Hits”) , since the music revolves around songs tested on a group of people recalling their Favorite Hits from their youth, teens, and 20s. Songs reflecting pivotal points in their lives, and making memories laying the corner stones of the people we all are today. Memories relived every time the music is heard.
Here are 10 tips to better promote on the air, and sell to your clients the Oldies format in your cluster, no matter what name you are using, or era of Oldies music you play:
- Remember to Sell Emotion – The music from the particular eras of music your station plays, and draw a visual picture of the people who listen to the music today, and what this will mean to your client regarding the audience they are trying to reach. Oldies is a format where you sell the emotion, not necessarily the ratings point.
- Non Offensive — The majority of oldies stations are non offensive in music and content, being safe for the entire family and at work listening.
- Active Listeners — My experiences have concluded that oldies listeners are brand loyal, to the station, the advertisers on the station, and are extremely active when responding to a call to action by the station, to a community event, or client.
- A Strong Community Presence –To Sell Oldies, you need to have a strong street presence, having a large amount of remotes, and the station being active at community events is imperative for successful sales, the station will sell itself, when your listeners, and clients see the station out in the community, even if you have remote vehicles drive around in the hot zips, handing out listener loyalty cards.
- Sell the Personalities — A successful oldies station needs strong personalities, even if part of your day is from a network, strong personalities are important. If your station is live, you will need to have your personalities out in the community, and have them read my article “At A Radio Station Everyone Is In Sales” as a reminder of how to properly represent your station, and overall cluster brand.
If your station is primarily network feed, I strongly recommend still having at least one live day part, and have the talent out in the community, station events, and going on sales calls with the AE’s as much as possible. (Remember to compensate them accordingly, and put this in their job description when being hired.) Selling the personality is an emotional sale. That’s what oldies is, EMOTION!
- Station Content — Always have compelling content in all day parts; make sure you are a source for your listener’s entertainment, and informational needs. Be a resource for your listener, not just a jukebox. Remember “Music, Information, Personality, and Promotion.” To make sure you are not lacking in these areas go to http://www.mcvaymedia.com/about/philosophies_mcvaymedia.pdf.
- New Media Presence — You can’t discount the importance of interaction with your active oldies audience. This is why a strong New Media Presence is important. Online Contesting, Loyal Listener Clubs, Email Blasts, and strong Photo Blog are a minimal must. For more details on a strong New Media Presence you can contact McVay New Media’s President Daniel Anstandig, daniel@mcvaymedia.com.
- Maximize Your NTR — With inventory being limited at times, don’t discredit the resource at your disposal to promote your station, and sell to your clients. From banner ads, client sponsored Newsletters, and Selling signage space on the station’s remote vehicles just to name a few. This can increase your revenue by 50% and still be tasteful (tying in some of the elements listed above).
- Emphasize Buying Power — The 35-54 core demo is responsible for making buying decisions for all ages. You can go after dollars of all stations, no matter format or demo. The lower half of the demo is starting to raise families, making buying decisions for themselves, spouses, and their children from birth to pre-teen. The higher half of the demo is starting their second families, exploring the single life again due to divorce, becoming empty nesters enjoying the freedom of life they haven’t had in years, or even becoming grandparents. Depending on the family structure the entire demo is starting to plan on taking care of aging parents. Don’t let yourself or your sales force pigeon-hole themselves; think of the life of the actual listeners. On your sales staff you will find stories fitting into each one of these examples.
- Strong Commercials — Make sure your commercials are entertaining and still informative; your audience has less of a chance of scanning, or going to another media source if you keep the flow smooth. Visualize a sail boat on the lake, and the music, and commercials are the water, if it flows evenly the sail boat sails on course, if the waters become rough, the boat will change course. I am a firm believer that you can give the “Who, What, When, Where, and Why” and still be creative in a commercial. No one likes a bland commercial. Remember that the people hearing the commercials (except for the client) doesn’t know how much the ad campaign cost. Put your best foot forward on all commercials going on your airwaves, and watch your audience stay with you through commercial breaks.
Jim McVay serves as Executive Vice President/Sales for McVay Media. With multi-talents in the broadcasting industry spanning 14 years, Jim specializes in syndication, marketing, sales, operations and corporate consulting. Outside of the media world, Jim has worked in the consulting arena for Ernst and Young aiding in the development and implementation of corporate team building courses. Contact Jim McVay at: 440-892-1910, email: jim@mcvaymedia.com
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