Satan Meets His Match

With an interest to do a year-end ad, Match.com could have done one that was fact-based – listing the number of people they matched, how many of those couples are still together, and how effective they are at finding that special someone for everyone who joins.

Or they could have done something timelier, funnier, and more relevant.  Which is what they did.

Millions have viewed and shared the Satan ad online.  It begins at the start of the year, where Satan meets his match (her name is “2020”) then revels in what a dumpster fire things have been for everyone.  It’s very funny and memorable.  Its core attribute, though, is its relevance.  Every one of us thinks this was our year, too.  Looking forward, it ends with the tagline:  Make 2021 your year.

I’m always talking with shows about how important it is to be a reflection of whatever is going on right now.  Simply put, if you were to re-air the program your show did today in a few weeks, would it feel old, stale, and out-of-touch for those listening?  If the answer is “yes”, that’s a good sign because it means the content choices today were relevant to listeners’ lives.

This is why Match.com’s Satan ad works.  Anyone watching is nodding up and down because this is their life at this moment – we are thinking (and experiencing) it.  The absurdity and humor are the sticky parts to make it memorable.

One of our many strengths as an industry is to reflect back to the audience what is going on in their lives for connection.  When listening to shows, I screen how much of our content feels evergreen and if the topic could be done anytime, by anyone.  Was it something to do just to eat up time?  Or is the show in touch with what’s going on in the world right now and using those topics as content to do fun, interesting, contemporary, and unique things that no one else could do?  That’s relevance.

Sure the Match.com ad won’t age well down the road.  But, that’s the point.  That ad makes a connection with the audience (pun intended) and makes you laugh so it’s remembered because it’s about right now.  Affirming those images separates it from all the other dating services and, if you’re looking for love, you join them because they’re top-of-mind.

Doing a great radio show is a strategic process.  Encourage your talent to know the topics happening right now and to swipe right, using them to create relevant and entertaining breaks that makes the show meet the moment.  Visit our Hot List page here for a weekly starter list of those big topics – sign up your talent to get it each Sunday (that’s on the page and it’s free).

Tackling these topics from the talent’s point-of-view defines them.  Then doing epic shit with the Hot Topics creates a vibe where listeners will return each day out of a fear of missing something.  We look for relevance in every brand we interact with.  Your audience does, too.

Doing so makes your talent, their show, the radio station, and our industry matter to the lives of our listeners which means more occasions for higher ratings.

A Provocative Question With Little Time To Go

Truly great shows meet the moment.  They are exactly where the audience is for topics and tone.  Think 9/11, Covid (when it was new), or something fun like when the first American Idol was chosen.  Every show reflected the mood of the audience with tailored content for where the listeners were at that time.

There are other examples over the years – most not serious, some quite frivolous.  When your show is there, that’s called being relevant.

Here’s a provocative question I’ve discussed with every show in the last week:  what the hell will our show sound like on November 4, the day after the election?

There are three potential outcomes:  Trump’s reelected or Biden wins outright.  Or…we won’t know.  Under each circumstance, what content will your show do that Wednesday, how will you do it, and most importantly, how do you want the audience to feel when they listen that day?

With the one-year anniversary approaching of the Boston bombings many years ago, I proffered this question to two shows I work with in Boston.  We had to be on that topic on that day because that’s where the audience would be.  I asked the shows one month out this question so we could do appropriate content that day.  I did not feel that doing our usual Hollywood features, trivia games, and relationships-advice phone topics would be a match.

When I asked the Boston shows what emotions listeners would have and how we could reflect back that we were feeling that way, too, we settled on showing pride for the city – for what everyone had been through in the previous year and how they had emerged.  Someone on both calls said they wanted the audience to be feel Boston Strong again.  Knowing the importance of the topic and how we wanted listeners to feel made crafting that show easier.

Great shows happen at the point of wonderment in any relevant topic from your talent.  That’s when they are their most authentic and grounded in honesty.  And you stand your best chance that listeners will be interested and intrigued, too.

I would never presume to know how your show will sound on November 4, because I am not familiar with your brand and your talent.  But each show I work with has a game plan depending on what happens on election day.  I love strategies; my shows do, too.  Now, all we’ll have to do is wait and see and then execute the appropriate game plan.  And here’s the best part:  not one game plan we came up with at any show has anything to do with politics, Trump, Biden, or the issues.

Have you engaged your show on what they should do that day, too?  Or will you wake up that morning with the audience consumed by one topic and your show doing its standard fare instead?

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