by Fred Deane
Buzz Knight
When Beasley Media Group acquired Greater Media over two years ago the blending of the two staffs was an inevitable part of corporate life. As one of Greater Media’s key execs, Buzz Knight had obviously made the cut at Beasley and transitioned into a similar executive programming role with his new owners.
Buzz had been with Greater Media for 14 years and his commitment and loyalty to his former company was highly rewarded as he was named to a high-ranking EVP post at Beasley. Knight’s penchant for innovation and forward-thinking ideas and initiatives merged well with the overall Beasley philosophy instilled in the company by CEO, Caroline Beasley.
It simply became a matter of Buzz putting into practice the work ethic, knowledge and dedication he had acquired throughout his entire career, and applying it to a broader set of assets and personnel resources with the same winning goals in mind.
How has your role evolved over the past two years from your Greater Media days to your current position at Beasley?
The core of my role is still what I will always be most passionate about, which is helping our markets with the strategic direction that enables their brands to stand out in the marketplace.
Over the last year the job has evolved into another area that always excites me which is innovation and the potential new opportunities that occur from these initiatives. Innovation is a core value for Beasley Media Group so it all dovetails nicely together.
How do find the culture at Beasley and are there significant parallels you can draw between the cultures of the two companies?
I really enjoy the culture at Beasley and the way that (CEO) Caroline Beasley runs the company. She very much feeds the entrepreneurial spirit and knowing the role innovation has to play in strategic thinking. It’s something we constantly discuss and incorporate into our decision-making process.
There are absolutely similarities between the two companies that have resonated with me. The family atmosphere, corporate philosophy, autonomy of markets, belief in localization. When it came to combining the two companies, they were very equitable in their selection of executive and creative personnel. They took the best of both companies and assembled a remodeled staff. They really walked the walk in that area.
In what underexploited areas do you envision ample opportunities of growth for our industry going forward?
Certainly, the automotive area. What we’re finding is that the automotive companies, in their quest to further define themselves in the new era, are awash with data and, in a way, they don’t know what to do with it all. We hope that over time we can gain new insights into the trends in behavior that are going on in cars, and also ways by which we can devise methods that tie everything together around ad attribution, and bring everything sort of full circle.
For example, what do people do when the ad is played and how effective is the ad. We then can take that as additional information to clients so we can prove our effectiveness and raise our value.
Do you see the relationship between the two industries elevating somewhat?
That’s the hope and intent. It’s been fascinating to observe that the auto companies are still trying to figure out a lot of variables themselves, like we as an industry are. If we can help in any way, we certainly are willing to, because if we can further collaborate with them as partners in one respect or another, it helps our entire industry in general.
This process has been interesting to watch develop. At times it’s been moving slower than we would like it to, but I think it indicates some new opportunities for our business. We as an industry have to be in that game.
Regarding audience measurement in general, how diverse is your portfolio of markets regarding the types of measurement overall?
We are mostly in PPM markets, with some exclusive diary markets, and some markets that blend both diary and PPM. We have a lot of brands in those PPM markets, and we’ve found that there are strategic applications we can utilize in diary markets that are successful tactics and philosophies in our PPM markets.
It’s all about audience aggregation, and the principles learned over the years with PPM measurement have broadened our horizons in optimizing our overall audience goals on several levels.
What have you learned from PUMM (People Using Measured Media) and its importance in strategic thinking ion this area?
It’s critical that we fish where the fish are. So when it comes to how best to execute our brands in the system, following PUMM data and the paths that it leads us on is a vital source of our overall thinking.
When we look at this aspect in a global sense, in some cases PUMM levels are declining and that obviously means there are new opportunities for audiences to consume content, which means that we just have to be that much better.
What is the biggest difference maker between radio and other forms of curated digital entertainment in its various forms?
Plain and simple, it’s the talent. Our industry must continue our quest to grow, nurture and retain talent. It’s probably one of most important areas of need. We can never lose sight of what a critical differentiator it is, especially with respect to how we are consumed in the car.
Is the industry doing enough to recruit and cultivate new talent?
The talent piece certainly represents new challenges as well as new opportunities. We have to look in different places for the next generation of talent.
You have always been an advocate of unity among competing companies in the industry for the overall good of our industry. Can you elaborate on this concept?
I root for all companies to succeed in our business. I would like to see all companies be financially strong and competitive enough to add to the collective strength of our industry as a whole. We need all companies to do well to solidify this space. It’s best for the industry in general.
