The Kennedy Connection

Two summers ago, in a brainstorm in Boston with MIX 104.1’s Karson and Kennedy, we were tasked with developing a big, new idea to combat depressed summer cume.  Lots of folks were on vacation or not paying attention to radio and we all wanted to do something big to capture the imagination of the audience and create tune in.

In and around all the ideas being offered, I asked an odd question that kinda popped in my brain:  what is the longest contiguous street in Boston?  We fired up the Google machine and found out that Washington Street spans five towns and 14-miles.

I suggested we go on a long walk one morning for charity.  That became Kennedy’s Wicked Long Walk.  Kennedy just did her second walk and, in one day, raised over $70,000 for Samaritans, a local charity that serves young people who are challenged with mental health issues.  Kids and mental health are the show’s causes, with the latter being important to Kennedy, as she’s been quite open with the audience about her mental health.

To create talk and momentum, we developed a five-day story line to add drama, tension, and interest, with the walk being our final chapter.  Year one it rained, year two had even more of the feels.  This year, people walked along with her with their dogs, mayors of the towns greeted her along the way with proclamations, police departments lined up to celebrate what she and the show were doing, business owners said hello as she passed.  NBC10 in Boston even followed along (video here).  All of it live on their air, as they asked fans to donate to help the struggling charity Samaritans.

I’m not one for metrics but let me share some impressive numbers.  Over $70,000 donated from more than 700 individual donors in one day.  Samaritans provided to Kennedy the donor list and she wrote a thank you to every single one of them.  She shared where their money was going and what it meant to her that they cared enough to help.  Can you imagine how it felt for those who gave to hear from her?

Listeners wrote back to thank her for the show making them laugh on the way to work and how proud they were of she and Karson for being so open about mental health.  Kennedy shared that the replies were so moving, she’s saving them for days when she’s having a bad mental health day.

Kennedy suggested this blog and wrote me:

“At the end of the day, I think they felt like we had a connection.  Isn’t that great radio, though?  Connecting?  The only difference between us and A.I. is the ability to connect on a human level.  I’ve been crying on and off all day with what listeners shared back with me.  I’ve never felt so connected to our listeners in my life.”

There’s that word again – connection – the one word I keep using that bonds you to anyone in your life who’s important.  That’s how you create radio fans, too.

Here’s my point:  there is an immense amount of stress, negativity, anger, and tension in the world.  Running in the opposite direction, which is what this show (and all the shows I work with) do so well, is smart.  Listeners are begging to be around a brand that not only does good in the community, but creates opportunities for them to do good, too.

Seven hundred different people donating money in one day is amazing.  Yes, listeners gave because they love the show.  Of course, some donated because they’re philanthropic and care about the cause.  But a reason people give is also a bit selfish – they give, too, so they can feel better about themselves.  Karson and Kennedy create those opportunities for their fans and are rewarded in loyalty that translates to #1 ratings.  If you do more of that – support your community and a cause important to you – you will deepen the connection, give listeners a chance to feel good about themselves, and elevate the images of the show with those who don’t or can’t.

This show gets the big and small stuff – they do things with relevant content that create wonderful experiences in the moment and big things that cause talk and keep them top-of-mind.  Kennedy’s Wicked Long Walk is a new tradition for the show that asks listeners to help join forces for a cause that’s important.  It’s a bold, different way to give fans a chance to do so, too.  In turn, that deepens the bond – the connection- between Karson, Kennedy, and their Producer, Dan.

That.  Is.  Great.  Radio.  That is what we do well and need to do more of.  Taking are of the community and asking the audience to help.  Lean into that.  If you do more of this stuff with your big, powerful show and radio station, you’ll win bigger, too.

I helped launch Karson and Kennedy sixteen years ago.  Their show is successful for many reasons.  That they are so connected to the market and their listeners is central to all of it.  They’re up for a Marconi in a couple of weeks.  I hope they win.

Scotty Kay, US99, Chicago with A Party at Michael Jordan’s House

I love innovators and those who see ideas in the oddest of places.  That’s why I fell in love when Scotty Kay, US99, Chicago called to get my help on one of the quirkiest ideas I’d ever heard.  Scotty found Michael Jordan’s old Chicago house on Airbnb.  Think of how iconic it’d be for listeners to get into the house once owned by one of Chicago’s most famous people.  What to do?  Scotty decided to throw a concert at Michael Jordan’s old house.  The narrative was set.  The owner of the house said it’d be okay, his boss said no.  As a renegade, Scotty moved forward, finding a group to do it and mapping out the promotion.  One thing we don’t do enough of in radio any longer is capture the imagination of the audience and create experiences in our promotions that make listener’s eyebrows go up.  What I loved was the pure innovation of this idea, which came solely from Scotty finding the listing online.  Bravo.

Grandmas in the Haunted House

Does any local organization build haunted houses in your market to raise money for a charity?  If so, grab some grannies and do Grandmas in the Haunted House.  Take a bunch of grandmothers through it to see their reaction.  With a night vision camera, record the whole thing.  Air the best audio to intrigue people to head to social media to see the videos.

Karen Carson in the Morning, WNEW-FM, New York City with News Done Right

News features, when done on morning shows, are a smart thing.  The items tend to about whatever is going on right now (very important).  But the goal should not be conveying news items and facts.  Because there are credible news sources all around you, the win of these features now come in the conversation that happens about the story and the commentary offered by those in the chat.  You will define yourself and create a connection point when you’re honest about whatever is being talked about.  Yes, there are exceptions to this observation (how a talent feels about what happened to Charlie Kirk is a total danger zone so avoid that, as an example).  But for most items, when in conversation, the most authentic reactions always appear, shifting your trending feature from fact-based to observation/opinion-based thus engaging the audience more deeply.  Here’s a dated, but very good example of how this should be done from Karen Carson in the Morning on WNEW-FM, New York City.

The Robert Redford Role Swap

The actor Robert Redford passed away last week.  Go grab the audio of iconic scenes from some of this movies everyone knows and do the Robert Redford Role Swap.  Play that scene for the audience, then have a guy you work with do their version of him inside the scene.  Choose your grumpy engineer or opinionated male sales person.

The Daly/Migs Show, KISW, Seattle with Tyler the Hitchhiker

This could be one of my favorite character development breaks in the last few months.  Taryn Daly from the Daly/Migs Show, KISW, Seattle told the audience that she picked up a hitchhiker for the very first time in her life.  Right there we learn about Taryn!  She’d engaged a guy who’s mode of transportation broke down and he missed the ferry to get to a bachelor party.  The only problem?  The next ferry was four hours away.  So Taryn and her husband did the good deed of driving the guy to his party so he wouldn’t miss it.  Later that night, he figured out who she was and DM’d her on social media.  She could just tell the story on the show the next day and it’d be great, right?  She did things even better by asking the hitchhiker to join her to make it really sparkle.  Listen to this chemistry, a wonderful story, and very memorable break.

Beat Your Boss

Here’s a fun new trivia-based game called Beat Your Boss.  A worker convinces their boss to take them on in a trivia contest.  If the boss wins, you give them a prize.  If the worker wins, the boss has to give the worker a day off with pay!

The Blog That Saves Your Job

I’m told the story of the market manager who went to find the morning show at 10am to congratulate them on their great ratings the day prior and they’d already left.

Seriously, that still happens in radio?  Yup.

We’re not so much in the radio business as we are in the business of radio.  A mentor taught me years ago there are two seasons in that business world.  The season of “I need you” and the season of “you need me”.  He said we should always be in the season of “you need me”.

Given that, let’s talk about how you shift the seasons to protect yourself.

This blog’s for my on-air folks.  Which season are you in?  In an industry that’s contracting, having any advantage is smart.  There was a time when great ratings insulated anyone from a RIF.  Today, more is expected from each of us to create value for those we serve.

I got let go from an on-air job years ago.  Several weeks later, the manager wanted to re-hire me, but in sales.  I said no because that was real work.  I used to think that just having great ratings was enough to keep my job.  No longer.  Radio companies are “for profit” and we creatives must help.

Let’s help you move from the former season to the latter.  Let’s talk about two areas that help you get there:  the money and the culture in your building (how you’re perceived).  I’m not suggesting you’re not doing any of this or haven’t tried, but take these as reminders of ways you can become even more valuable in the building.

My friend Jim Ryan wrote a great blog on these pages a few weeks ago about how Taylor Swift took control of her career.  This expands that conversation.

First, let’s talk about the money.  If you’re close to it, you’re much more valuable to your cluster and company and insulated from a RIF:

  • What kind of relationship do you have with the AEs? This isn’t “I know them, and they like me.”  This is do you take them for lunch.  Do you actively engage them regularly to make their job easier?  Do you go on sales calls to close deals?  Do you know lots about their lives, so they know you care about them and their work?  You’re the star of the station to clients and can close a deal with your presence in a meeting.  But you must first have a relationship with the AEs to impact that.
  • Do you know and pay attention to the top local accounts on the station?  I’m aware of a talent who knows these clients and regularly finds himself on their side of town.  He shows up on occasion unannounced to say hello and thank them for believing in the station/his show with their marketing money.  What kind of impact does that have both financially to the station and to their image with station management when they find out?  This talent gives clients his cell and tells them if they ever need anything to call.  It always gets back to the AE and manager that the talent did this.  He’s respecting those clients and protecting them, too.
  • Do you have endorsements? They’re great, huh?  For the decision-makers on that side, do you know their birthdays and other important dates in their personal life and acknowledge them?  Do you regularly take them for lunch (on you!) to see how they are?  If you snag extra tickets to a local concert or sporting event, do you offer it to them as a gift for their belief in you?
  • Do what others won’t. Grab some personalized thank you cards online and every week, write a handwritten note to these folks to thank them (clients and co-workers) for what they do for you and the station.  I cannot express enough the power of doing this.  No one does this, which fuels why you should.
  • Do you frequent an establishment regularly? Why not extol the value of marketing to them and work with an AE to turn them into a client?
  • Could your content get better if you involve a client in an appropriate break? Building any value-added, with the AE and station knowing, helps you shift seasons.
  • Say yes, even if there’s no win for you. Showing up when you’re not expected is a positive.  Building that equity is long-term smart.  There are still talent whose first question when asked to do something is, “What’s the talent fee?”  In this environment, that’s a no-no.

Now let’s tackle being seen and being additive to your building’s culture:

  • When I was a baby DJ starting on a morning show, I lived close to the station. Many days, when out running afternoon errands, I’d show up at the station for a few minutes to say hello to everyone.  If you do a morning show, when was the last time you saw the afternoon folks?  It’ll scare the hell out of those there at 4pm, but being seen by everyone is important.
  • Work the halls. I know there might be fewer people in the buildings now, but walking around the station checking on everyone, seeing what’s up in their life, are connection points where they know you care for them personally.
  • How about that support person, promotions assistant, or engineer who did something to help your show? You know those personalized note cards I mentioned above?  Sending one to their home or leaving it on their desk saying thanks goes a long way to you shifting in the seasons.
  • Ditto the above, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. You feel special when someone remembers yours.  Go remember theirs!  That’s low effort, but high impact.
  • Internal marketing is important. Putting together a synopsis of your show for everyone, with links to audio, lets them know your pride.  I work with shows that do this.  It’s very powerful.
  • Do you regularly develop content that can be better with other personality’s involvement? Prove there are no silos by involving other talent in your content.  You’ll help make them bigger stars and they’ll end up returning the favor by talking about your show on their program.  This also works if any co-worker has a sense of humor or bold take on a topic.  Make them stars, too.

Doing even a fraction of the above moves you through the seasons.  It creates the season of “you need me”.  Then when budget cuts happen, they realize they can’t lose you.

I know there’s a lot here if you are on-the-air and it’s overwhelming to ask you to do more.  But, in the current environment in our industry, this protects you because it shifts you perceptually by the decision-makers from the season of “I need you” to the much more valuable season of “you need me.”  That’s the season you always want to be in.

The million-dollar talent and successful personalities I’ve touched over the years do all of this – it’s part of their ethos and personal business model.  If you do it, double down.  If you don’t, start today.  Then get saved.

Sue and Kendra, Magic 106.7, Boston with The Coach Who Never Talks Football

You live in one of America’s biggest sports city and target women.  Despite that, you’d never talk to the NFL coach in town because women don’t care about sports, right?  Well…not if you’re Sue and Kendra, Magic 106.7, Boston.  They wanted to talk to the new head coach for the Patriots so they asked if Coach Vrabel would come on.  Once the yes rolled in, the work began.  Because this audience doesn’t want to hear X’s and O’s or worse, sports cliches to the standard questions, they set about something different.  They wanted to learn about the coach as a human being – their entire chat was to show his genuine side.  Some shows would think just getting the coach is enough.  These guys set about asking what they wanted to learn about him personally, believing the audience would want the same.  What they got is a one-of-a-kind interview that connected with the audience.

The Travis and Taylor Wedding War

While they have yet to set a date, that doesn’t mean you can’t do content around Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s wedding.  This one is the Travis and Taylor Wedding War.  Find two wedding planners in town and tell them to put together a wedding for the couple.  Tell them that, because the two are super rich, there is no budget so they can spend whatever they want.  Check in with each wedding planner through the week.  They both come back to share the details.  Listeners then vote online which wedding is better for the celebrity couple.