Thursday, March 4  

Tomato squashed

Howdy.

I've written before about a new radio station here on the Gold Coast, Australia. it's called Hot Tomato.

The people that own this new radio station originally started out with one of the worst marketing strategies I've seen. And it keeps getting worse.

They had different people do their print, TV and outdoor advertising. It was a mess.

1. The print ads were a retro cartoon look saying "No more than 2 ads in a row."
2. The TV ad was an old woman using a metal detector on a beach and finding a tomato. The end graphic said "No more than 2 ads in a row."
3. The billboard was basically the logo with the words "No more than 2 ads in a row."

Keeping your message consistent is good. That's critical. But not if your message is an idiotic "No more than 2 ads in a row." (And not if the branding is completely different for every medium you use.)

* They're basically promoting nothing.
* They're telling people what they don't do.
* They have never differentiated their product from others in the market.
* They haven't identified what radio listeners want and then given it to them.
* They have said "We know what you don't want, so we won't give you that!"

Not great. Not good. Not even close.

Anyway, on with the shoe.

So they've done the ratings. And found that they are coming last. Which is terrible. And it's terrible because a huge portion of people will sample a new radio station to see what they are like. And the station should be able to keep a high % of those samplers by having something new and something different.

The initial period should be the honeymoon period. But it's a nightmare for these people.

I listened to the station when it first started and I'd guess my reaction was typical. They're the same. So there is no real reason to change who I listen to. And I'd certainly not go to the trouble of changing the presets on my car radio for them.

And no web site yet

***** Just as an aside here. They were after this younger demographic but they haven't got a web site up and going yet. They've been going about 8 months and haven't developed a resource that could be a terrific asset. *****

No difference. No reason.

Okay. So they haven't differentiated themselves in the market. And they haven't given people a reason to tune in. And they get hammered in the ratings. (They were after the 25-44 yo demographic. That's because this age group is most attractive to advertisers.)

So now they make the worst possible decision they could.

1. They decide to go after a different demographic - call me cyncial, but what makes them think they won't just get another beating. It'll just be a different demographic they'll get a beating in!

2. They have announced that their new morning announcer is a woman called Suki Mead. And get this next bit. Suki Mead used to be an announcer on one of the 2 main competitor radio stations.

So now they're saying "Okay, we'll make our station exactly the same as the others."

Maybe they're hoping that people won't know who they are listening to and just keep listening.

Your product has to be different otherwise there is no reason for people to buy it.
The way your product is different has to mean something to your customers (no good being different by a guarantee if your product is a parachute jumping business!).
Then tell your market why they should buy from you.

Cheers

Brendon