Ten Take Aways from Hivio Audio Future Festival (20-Somethings and Radio? See #8)

Audience, content and platforms – notably podcasting – were some of the more frequently discussed topics at the Hivio Audio Future Festival 2016 last week (see Hivio word cloud).

Mark Ramsey Media's annual Hivio event is a “hive” of audio ideas and actions shared by people who normally wouldn’t collectively make up a typical radio convention agenda – from NPR to ESPN to content providers to podcast sellers.

Becky Brenner (@BeckyBrenner) attended the LA event in person, I watched via the online stream (thanks, Mark for providing that!).

Here are ten of our takeaways:

1. Commercials: be relevant, funny and clever. Tell a story with a surprise. 15-second spots scored better than any other commercial length (Mark Ramsey and Novoodoo).
2. Apply the “rat in a maze” approach – allow audience to shift platforms but keep them on your content (Howard Lapidis)
3. The goal is to translate the best of what is happening in the talent’s life to Radio, TV and the web. Make a determination on how best to distribute content - from podcasts to building what the talent needs (Chris Balfe, Red Seat Ventures)
4. The focus on digital has been transformative – radio is an amazing medium and we can still be vital and fabulous. Podcasting is not detracting from the Radio Listening.  It is actually growing the audience. (Anya Grundman, VP Programming and Audience Development for NPR)
5. Rise above the noise by creating your own wave or riding waves around you. (Todd Beck, Beck Media and Marketing)
6. Podcasts are generally too long, not “social sized,” and it is an increasingly crowded universe (1,400 new podcasts per week) David Silverman Co-Founder Clammr
7. There is stupid money out there right now for these types of projects in video and audio. Peter Kafka, Senior Editor, Media, Re/Code
8. I don’t have a radio at home. Radio is ancient – it is like having a laser disc – I have so many ways to listen to radio without having to have another device.  Convenient and compact is what everything needs to be, nobody wants excess baggage. (Heather, Millennial)
9. Podcasting revenue been highly underrepresented in the press…probably $85-$100 million last year and it is going to be exponentially higher this year. Sarah Van Mosel, Chief Commercial Officer, ACAST @sarahvm
10. Content, Content, Content.  You can’t say it enough, or focus on it enough.  It was lost in deregulation and it has to come back into focus. (Advice for radio from Traug Keller, ESPN Audio

Albright & O’Malley & Brenner’s Becky Brenner has full notes and slides in the Clients Only section of AandOandB.com.

Comments paraphrased.

Look at Me! Lok at Me! The Power And Value of Spectacle

Professional wrestling, Lady Gaga and Jeopardy – they all “get” the power of “Spectacle.”

Spectacles cut through noise, attract attention, generate audience, and cause talk even if for just a short period of time.

Last week’s Jeopardy “Watson” spectacle combined myth (“man vs. machine”), familiar characters in unfamiliar roles (retired champions not only playing each other but a machine), tension, backstory, showmanship, someone (or thing) to root for (or against), plenty of advance promotion, and multiple iterations (in this case three episodes) to further build the story, hype and audience.

The Jeopardy spectacle was apparently enough to change a significant number of viewers’ habits as the show scored its highest ratings in six years, with the first night alone up some 25% over its average, finishing second for the day.

There may or may not be a lasting benefit for Jeopardy, but the point is the spectacle was a much talked-about change agent that resulted in a lot of people breaking their media consumption pattern even if for a short while.

If you’re not already doing so, think about spectacle as part of your audience-growing strategy.

A Business Class from "Professor" Zac Brown

The Zac Brown Band made the front page of USA Today’s Life section this week but it could have just as easily been the business section.

The piece offered a look at some of the band’s goals and visions which read like a “how-to” on how to please the fans you have and grow by attracting new ones.

Here are nine take-aways:

Have a vision. According to Zac, “We plan on going out and conquering every music lover we can find.”

Let your passion show: "We love to play," he goes on to say, "whether it's for 50 people or 15,000. If there's people we need to win over, we bring them in, play for them, feed them."

Think outside the box: Zac says, “We’re here to gather music lovers…I don’t know why everybody wants to put everything in a box. It’s almost like profiling.”

Use collaboration to foster greater creativity and originality. The ZBB has played/partnered with Alan Jackson, Jimmy Buffett, Kid Rock, CDB, Mac McAnally and Leon Russell.

Choose your partners carefully. “We don’t play with people we don’t like to play with,” stated drummer Chris Fryar.

Know and play to your strengths. “As long as we have four or five songs on every record that can live on country radio, we don’t plan on going anywhere,” says Zac.

Constantly find new ways to delight your fans. Eat and Greets give fans a chance to interact with their favorite performers on a different level, but the ZBB’s Eat and Greets go far beyond expectations. No soggy egg rolls or nachos; you’re talking beef filet and pork tenderloin. And then there’s the four-hour show. “The idea is to make the concert experience full-sensory and to make everyone really feel like they got their money’s worth.”

Be future-thinking. What can be done differently to endear a brand even more? The ZBB hopes to one day to control the concessions so they can offer everyone a high-end dining experience complete with family recipes.

Have a distinctive logo. Two words: stocking cap.

Inspired to find new ways to grow and delight your fans? Me, too.

I’m proud the Zac Brown Band plays on country radio.

Photo credit Josh F. Anderson for USA Today