The Power of the Purple People
A couple of weeks ago, former Coach Tim Walz asked me to sit next to him at a high school football game in my hometown of Raleigh – he bought me popcorn. JD Vance stopped over last week to see if I owned any cats. Kamala’s coming by on Thursday for coffee (I hear she likes a splash of hazelnut). Trump wants me to stop by the Applebee’s on Hillsborough Street next week to look at some discounted watches.
I live in one of the seven purple states that will decide who the next president will be. They are here All. The. Time. Asking for my vote. It’s powerful to be a purple person!
Retail politics (showing up and asking for the vote) is something we’ve gotten away from in radio. It’s now a powerful differentiator for shows and stations that truly are live and local. Having actual eye contact, shaking the hands of fans and asking those who aren’t to try out your show.
If you’re a talent who desperately wants to win even more, create space with your competitor with a year-long commitment to meeting fans and would-be listeners in your market.
Here’s what I’d love you to consider: develop a 2025 campaign to do just that. Maybe call it One Hundred Thousand High Fives or Fifty Thousand Fist Bumps. Or come up with your own name. Then bring it to sales to find a title sponsor so they can make some money (you’ll be more valuable to the cluster if you do). Then commit to do it twice a month.
Do you need to actually fist bump 50,000 people? Nope. But craft in-person appearances to meet as many people as you can. Your competitor won’t and it will be a difference-maker for you.
Hint: don’t ask them to come to you. The “I’ll be at Jiffy Lube this Saturday from 9-11” won’t work. Ain’t no one going out of their way just to meet you. Instead, where are people you can go to? Set up outside an arena before a big game or concert. Find the busiest intersection with foot traffic and go there at lunch for a half hour.
I know we ask a lot of you as talent. And I also know what you’re thinking. You won’t be paid for this. But meeting as many people as you can (wherever they are) and asking them to give you a shot works. That makes you more powerful as a talent because of the higher ratings and revenue opportunity you created. Those will be your wins.
I’m not sure who’ll get North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes. But whoever does, it’ll be because they were here a lot paying attention to us purple people.
You do that, too, and watch what happens.