RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, December 10, 2020 – Coleman Insights is announcing the return of Kimberly Bryant as Field Coordinator and Stephanie Harper as Assistant Project Manager, and the departure of Associate Consultant Jessica Lichtenfeld.
Bryant has had multiple stints with Coleman Insights, culminating in her move into the Field Coordinator position in 2018. Harper joined the firm in 2018 after attending and working in various positions at Central Christian College of Kansas. Bryant and Harper’s positions were eliminated due to temporary market conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the company is restoring the responsibilities in the Field and Research departments, respectively, due to increasing demand for projects into next year. “I’m thrilled that the commitments our clients have made to us for 2021 have increased my optimism about the industry’s recovery and allowed us to bring these two valuable employees back,” says Coleman Insights President Warren Kurtzman.
Lichtenfeld is leaving her role as Associate Consultant to pursue another opportunity, which will be announced soon. Says Kurtzman, “I really wish Jessica well with the next step in her career and thank her for four years of valuable contributions to our success.”
Bryant and Harper will both be in place in their roles in January. Lichtenfeld’s last day with the company will be Wednesday, December 23rd.
To put in perspective how impressive that is, consider that Back In Black–the album often considered their magnum opus that has sold over 50 million copies to date–peaked at number four in the United States.
Power Up features the triumphant return of lead vocalist Brian Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd, who had left the band due to hearing issues and legal issues, respectively. It is the first studio release since the death of founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young in 2017. But AC/DC was unable to ride the wave of publicity that would generally accompany such a reunion event, because plans for their giant world tour are on hold until 2021 thanks to the pandemic.
Yet, here’s ol’ AC/DC, besting number two album Pluto x Baby Pluto by Future & Lil Uzi Vert and knocking previous number one Positions by Ariana Grande back to number four.
So, how did they do it? Since streaming didn’t exist when Back In Black was released in 1980, you would think it would be harder than ever for a heritage band like AC/DC to top the charts. AC/DC notably resisted streaming for years, refusing to sell its albums on download stores such as iTunes until 2012, and you couldn’t stream an AC/DC song on-demand until five years ago.
Of the 117,000 units that comprised Power Up sales in week one, album sales accounted for 111,000. The number of Streaming Equivalent Albums (SEA) was only 5,000, which came from 7.8 million on-demand streams. Compare that to the number two album by Future & Lil Uzi Vert, which racked up 105,000 units–99,000 of which were SEA units, coming from 136.11 million on-demand streams–and 5,500 in album sales. The top two albums are basically polar opposites in how they got there.
Think no one buys CDs anymore? Sixty-four (64%) percent of the 111,000 albums AC/DC sold were CDs, but not just any CD. They offered a $49 deluxe version of the CD that displays the band logo in flashing neon and plays the opening riff to the album’s first single, “Shot In The Dark”, on a built-in speaker.
Despite having their tour sidelined, AC/DC worked hard to promote Power Up. One could argue the band did it in some decidedly un-AC/DC ways. This included a November 10th interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and an appearance on NPR’s Morning Edition on November 18th. Considering AC/DC wouldn’t allow its music on Apple less than a decade ago and NPR isn’t the media outlet most associated with hardcore rock, you’d have to say these were notable shifts for the band.
But they were brilliant shifts. AC/DC knows it can’t top the charts via streaming the way most Pop stars do today. They’re also keenly aware the CD is going the way of the buggy. But by recognizing their fan base is still willing to buy an actual album and by offering a collectible edition, they played the chart game their way. Embracing an interview with Apple allows them to reach new audiences, while recognizing many of their fans have aged into NPR-land ensures they reach the ones that have been there for them the whole time.
Even though your brand may offer a consistent product (Power Up sounds like it could have come out in 1980), it doesn’t mean you always present it in the same way or that you reach your target audience using the same old methods.
In fact, as AC/DC just proved, even the old dogs learned new tricks.
When Howard Stern announced he would move to Sirius Satellite Radio sixteen years ago, it was a game changer. Not just for Sirius, which had 600,000 subscribers at the time (it merged with XM Satellite Radio in 2008 and today has over 35 million). It was also a game changer for all the radio stations that carried Howard Stern, forcing them to find replacements for the most dominant personality in the business and/or an attempt to reinvent their brands.
The examples of game changers is long.
Netflix to Blockbuster.
Digital photography to Kodak.
Facebook to MySpace.
Amazon to Borders. And Sears. And Macy’s. And….
There are game changers happening everywhere in the content business. A big one happened when HBO announced it would release the new Wonder Woman film on its HBO Max platform on Christmas Day at no extra cost to subscribers.
Last year, Jon Coleman wrote in Tuesdays With Coleman’s “Can HBO and Radio Have it All?” that HBO found itself at a crossroads. Its signature series Game of Thrones was ending, and the network was planning to expand premier content beyond its traditional Sunday night benchmark, where it had trained viewers the best shows would be for decades. The risk was that great content is now available everywhere, and HBO Sunday Night was a differentiator for the network.
Then, earlier this year, HBO introduced us to HBO Max, their new streaming service. Between Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access, NBC’s Peacock, Disney+, Apple TV (not to mention OTT offerings from Starz and Showtime), and now HBO Max, you could $7.95-$12.95 yourself into debt. They all produce award-winning original content. So how do you differentiate as a streaming network?
HBO Max launched in May with content that included reruns of big sitcoms like Friends and Big Bang Theory, movies from TCM (whose streaming service went dark after two years in 2018), Sesame Workshop, Crunchyroll, and access to HBO. One could argue that HBO’s shift from HBO Now (the network’s standalone streaming service) to a content-rich platform that went beyond HBO was a game changer. But it may be sea changes nudged to fruition by the pandemic that end up really changing the game.
The upcoming installment in the Wonder Woman franchise, WW84, has had its release date pushed back multiple times due to circumstances surrounding COVID-19. WarnerMedia, which owns HBO and Warner Bros. (the division releasing WW84,) is able to use the film as a vehicle to attract new eyeballs to HBO Max.
Despite the fact that consumers can still go to a theater to watch WW84 (in markets where the pandemic isn’t currently keeping them shuttered,) the fact that the follow-up to an $800 million plus blockbuster will be accessible for free on HBO Max is a big deal.
And not just for HBO Max, which will turn a large number of new subscribers into regular subscribers. It’s a game changer for other streaming services and a tornado for movie theatres, which could always count on being the place you saw new releases first. How much of a long-term game changer this is won’t really be known until the pandemic is over and theatres completely re-open. It seems likely we’ll see more future big cinematic releases continue to focus on streaming (as Netflix did with The Irishman last year or Amazon did with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm a few weeks ago).
It’s a reminder that status-quo and tweaks don’t move the needle, and often go unnoticed by the consumer. One way to truly get the consumer to notice your brand and alter perception and behavior is to introduce a game changer. That game changer has to be conducive to the positive perception of your brand, and they are few and far between—you can’t just make a game changer fall from the sky.
But sometimes, potential game changers come along (we’re looking at you, Blockbuster) and you miss them because you’re stuck in the status quo or you think the audience will care about your tweaks.
With all the news lately, you may have missed one of the all-time greatest examples of a brand-content mismatch.
The Kraft Macaroni & Cheese “Send Noods” campaign.
Yep, that Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. The one you remember eating as a kid. The one your kids ask for by name. The brand that’s part of warm family memories around the dinner table.
The campaign encouraged consumers to visit enjoynoods.com (don’t bother, it’s gone), posts on the brand’s social media sites (they’re gone, too), and using the hashtag #sendnoods to get free boxes of Mac & Cheese to send to family and friends.
Creative and impressively designed marketing pieces includes blurred out images:
Wordplay…
And a video (since deleted from Kraft’s official pages) starring former SNL cast member Vanessa Bayer laying beside the fireplace encouraging you to send noods, not nudes.
The campaign was scheduled to last from October 6th-11th, so by the time Kraft removed the content in response to outraged parents claiming they were sexualizing mac & cheese, it was already over.
So, was the campaign successful?
Kraft says they delivered over 20,000 boxes of mac. They certainly got some buzz, though it was likely limited thanks to everything else going on in the world.
For certain brands, a campaign using innuendo and double-entendres designed to surprise and grab attention makes perfect sense.
But for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese–a brand built on pretty much the opposite image–it doesn’t seem like the greatest move. On our Brand-Content MatrixSM, we’d put this campaign in the upper left quadrant. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese has an incredibly strong brand, but executed poor content out of sync with its images.
Brands should aim to be in the upper right quadrant of the Brand-Content Matrix.
Would they have had even greater response if, for example, they launched a campaign inviting parents to send pictures or videos of their kids saying “cheese”? If there’s one thing I know, it’s that parents love showing off their children, and that’s an example of content that’s perfectly in line with the brand. That would be in the upper right quadrant.
Kraft is a big brand, strong enough to easily move pass a branding faux pas. Not every brand would be.
Do you agree? Did Kraft miss the mark or was the campaign worth it?
The Coleman Insights team loves to bat provocative or thought-provoking topics around just for fun. We used to do it with regularity at lunch, but in pandemic times we’re relegated to GoToMeeting and email.
One such email was circulated on September 16th which took note of the new “Apple One” subscription plan that had just been announced the day before, which is scheduled to hit the market this Fall. The question posed: if people buy the subscription that includes Apple Music, how will that affect other subscriptions, like Spotify?
Since that email exchange:
Spotify debuted a brand new morning show, “The Get Up,” combining news, pop culture, and entertainment, with music personalized to each listener;
Don’t expect the “great content rush” to end anytime soon–the options and consumer choices just keep expanding. But while Apple and Spotify have established brands (although you can argue they’re expanding the definition of what their brands mean to the consumer), anyone in the content business should keep in mind that great content is never enough–it’s the strongest brands that win.
In the world of brand building, never forget that perceptions associated with your brand can last a long time. A very long, long time.
There are a great many positives that can result from remaining consistent in your brand building initiatives. For example, the longer you use the same logo and repeat the same core messaging, the more opportunity you have to build brand association. If the images are positive, you build loyalty.
Brothers Dan and Frank Carney’s first Pizza Hut opened in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas. But it wasn’t until 1969 when the company was looking for a way to differentiate its brand, that Pizza Hut unveiled its first restaurant with a red roof.
Pizza Hut added the red roof to its logo and used that version until 1999.
The pizza business went through massive changes thanks to the widespread convenience of delivery. Today, less than 10 percent of Pizza Hut’s sales are dine-in. The market changes led to smaller stores and abandonment of the big restaurants with the red roof.
A visit to Used To Be A Pizza Hut features a map of North America where you can find locations of repurposed red roof Pizza Huts, some of which (shockingly) didn’t make it. Many of the roofs are no longer red, but the architecture is unmistakable.
Where Pan Pizza, salad bars, and family memories were once made, the Spyce Gentlemen’s Club and After Dark Adult Store would later hold court.
“You know that place that used to be a Pizza Hut? Great seafood and chicken, fast.”
“I remember eating at that Pizza Hut when I was a kid. I get my diabetes medication there.”
If you remember eating in a Pizza Hut, one look at any building with the signature Pizza Hut design likely evokes the brand images you remember, positive or negative. They stick with you. It’s an image any business that takes its place in the old building lives with.
It’s also a reminder that your content is not everything. You may have the best gentlemen’s club, seafood and chicken or pharmacy in town, but because of the power of a brand, it will always be in the old Pizza Hut.
Although your brand may not be building distinct structures, you are always building your brand. Never forget how long those images can last.
After 20 dormant years, Pizza Hut brought back the old classic red roof logo in 2019, evoking nostalgia and a taste for the familiar. Perhaps considering what 2020 has ended up bringing us, it was a timely decision.
Coleman Insights President Warren Kurtzman recently circulated an email with a piece of audio attached. In the clip, a man named Steve called in to Chicago’s Classic Rock station 97.1 The Drive and left a voicemail that said, “You guys are doing such a great job, I just had to call.” Everyone has time to complain or say something negative these days, but who takes the time to pay a passionate, emotional compliment to their favorite local radio station?
I called WDRV Program Director Rob Cressman to learn more about what inspired Steve from Chicago. He said, “That particular audio represents hundreds of equally passionate others who have emailed, called the request line, or called and left me messages on my desk phone.”
Just what, exactly, inspired this wave of emotional response?
The national anthem of the United States, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
In our conversation, you’ll discover how 97.1 The Drive didn’t just play the national anthem a few times–the playing of the anthem became a COVID-inspired benchmark, airing four times each day, and it continues to be played daily at Midnight and Noon.
WDRV Program Director Rob Cressman
Rob and I took a deep dive into the thought process behind the playing of the anthem, the delicate execution, the remarkable response, and the brand building lessons learned to find more passionate listeners so deeply inspired by their local radio station, they just have to call.
Below are highlights from our conversation, a link to Steve from Chicago’s voice mail/our full interview audio, as well as a sampling of emails received by 97.1 The Drive.
On whether he’s ever seen a listener response like this:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an outpouring that’s been this consistent and strong. I think probably after 9/11 would be the closest. I was working in Memphis at the time, and we did something similar that indicated unity and brought the community together. People were prone to reach out and say thank you, but not at this magnitude. This has been surprisingly overwhelming.
On the delicate presentation of the Star Spangled Banner:
It does play without additional fanfare or commentary. I was very cautious because I didn’t want to be perceived as pandering or being political in any way. That’s a tricky widget.
On how playing the national anthem changed listener behavior:
People were setting their internal clocks. They’d hear the national anthem and know it’s either 12 or 6, AM or PM. So many of them stop what they’re doing, observe this couple minutes of silence while they listen to it, no matter what they’re doing or where they are. It’s gratifying to know that we can still do something in 2020 on the radio that absolutely changes and affects people in such a way that changes behaviorally.
On generating listener passion during and after a crisis:
It’s about being in the minute, being connected to a community, and thinking the way many of your constituents do. It’s about super serving fans who are experiencing some of the worst times of their lives, and trying to affect a change of mood, a change of attitude, something that’s unifying, something that people can feel is tangible and makes them part of a larger group. It’s having arms outstretched and welcoming people into the club, without those people having to jump through one hoop.
On having the right people on the team:
It’s important to not only have a staff, but having the staff who has been coached to a level to understand the importance of aligning with the community and understands the importance of amplifying a particular mood or spirit. When things change culturally, when things change politically, when things change surprisingly, we’re able to pivot and adapt so we can be in the moment with so many people in Chicago and beyond.
Listen to call + interview:
A small sampling of messages received by 97.1 The Drive listeners:
Who ever decided to Play the National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner) at the end of your playing segments /sessions deserves a raise /pat on the back. I listen to The Drive at home and in my Jeep. So keep the good work / forward thinking up. Thanks again for being a Patriotic station.
Being a father of two service men, one in the Army and one a Marine /now police officer, I am very pleased to hear at the Noon hour that you have not caved in ,and are still playing our wonderful National Anthem everyday. I always stop my noise making and listen when it comes on. Thank you so much for your support of this wonderful country, and PLEASE don’t ever stop. Thank you.
Sending you an “attaboy” for playing the National Anthem. Inspired. I sang along. Loudly.
I’m a patriotic nam veteran, and TRULY appreciate the playing of our fantastic national anthem. I’ve heard it at Noon, and at 6pm. I have spread the word at my American Legion, and VFW.
As I traveled my work route at noon today, The Drive played the Star Spangled Banner – in its entirety! I turned up the volume and rolled down my windows. I was proud to listen to it and proud to be an American.
I was driving home from church today and enjoying the music when I realized I was hearing our National Anthem! That amazed me!
You are always thinking of ways to get more listeners. How to best promote your talent. Which contests to run. How to make your brand “sticky”. We often see in our research that sticky brands–brands that do memorable things and become top of mind for those attributes–are more likely to grow their audience.
You can generate lasting, memorable images of your brand with great brand marketing. And the best part? Much of the brand marketing you can do to build those images is free or low-cost. The imaging on a radio station. The cover art you choose for your podcast. The name of a streaming channel. The home page on your website. These are not just opportunities to promote your brand, they are opportunities to build your brand.
Every piece of imaging you produce, every video you record, every photo you release, every blog you write should go through your brand filter. Does this support my brand and will it build my brand?
A memorable, in-your-face positioning statement: “Murder Your Thirst”.
The “Contact Us” button is labeled “Summon Us”.
Their rewards program allows you to “Earn Skulls”.
There’s a blue button on the top right that says “HELL YES”. I didn’t know what the hell it was, but I had to find out.
And….
I’m not going to leave out the best part: the Killer Baby Namer. Enter your last name, gender (or select the “death to gender” option), pick from a list of hilarious desired occupations for your child, and you’ll discover your baby’s name. (If I was going to have another kid, Rock Murderdome Nachlis sounds pretty sweet). Scroll down, and you’ll see that the company will send you an 18-year supply of Liquid Death if you upload a copy of the birth certificate with their killer baby name.
This brand knows exactly who and what it is, and you can only imagine how much fun they had putting this together.
What if your audio brand barreled in with this kind of chutzpah on the website? What brand-building game could you put on your site that’s not “Enter your name and listen for it?” How would you relabel your navigation tabs? What fun outfits could your talent wear in photo shoots? What memorable hashtags (like Liquid Death’s #DeathToPlastic) could you come up with?
Read the “About” page and check out their description of unnecessary things (“Jumping over 14 Greyhound buses on a vintage motorcycle”, “Cat videos”) and necessary things (“Breathing”, “Colonoscopies”).
This makes me want to write a promo right this second.
To be clear, your brand may be (and probably is) way less “aggressive” than Liquid Death. The lesson here isn’t to be like Liquid Death. It’s to be your brand and all the essence that goes with it. Be your brand bigger, better and stickier. And maybe, just maybe a little more fun. Couldn’t we all use a little more of that right now?
Liquid Death doesn’t have the advantage of having been around long. Liquid Death doesn’t have a 100,000 watt transmitter. You can’t tell Alexa to play Liquid Death. Liquid Death doesn’t have an app, or a roster of amazing talent that have cemented a bond with its listeners.
But you might have one or two of those things. Maybe you’re fortunate enough to have all of them.
Now brand like your life or Liquid Death depends on it.
Brands around the world have been feverishly trying to figure out how to pivot during the age of COVID-19. How should we change our offerings? What tone of voice should we use? How should it look?
Enter the master of the moment, Taylor Swift.
Swift’s transition from Country darling to Pop superstar is well documented. From 2006-2010, she sold millions of albums and won countless awards with her sweet, melodic Pop Country sound. 2012’s Red was the transition album that led to 1989 two years later, her straight-ahead Pop album.
The releases of the three monster Pop albums in a five-year span–1989, Reputation and Lover–were lessons in large-scale, bombastic (and effective) marketing. Swift teased 1989 on social media in August 2014. She did a live stream. She teased the artwork. There were “secret” listening sessions in hotel rooms. Songs were “leaked” early.
There was no marketing let-up on Reputation or Lover, including more secret sessions, partnerships with UPS and Amazon, an exclusive playlist on Spotify, a new line of clothing and her own music festival, Lover Fest, which, until the pandemic derailed plans, was to play stadiums this summer.
Now, Taylor Swift has delivered a master class on how to pivot your brand in a crisis. In a world filled with marketing extremes–either brands running over-cliched ad campaigns or ignoring the pandemic altogether–Taylor Swift did something so smart, you’d almost think it was done by accident.
She released her new album, Folklore with no fanfare at all.
The album was announced 16 hours prior to its availability. There were no singles released early to promote it. According to Swift, “My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world.”
Taylor Swift mastered the moment because she recognized and mirrored the mood of her audience. So much content we’re currently seeing and hearing was, of course, recorded long ago–they couldn’t have predicted where we’d be today. Folklore feels in the moment because it was recorded during the pandemic.
What techniques can your brand adopt from the “Folklore” launch?
Do something surprising. No one saw this album coming, so it felt like a gift, which made it feel more special.
Dial down the hype. Be wary of overloading with information because we have so much coming at us from every angle.
Be an Outside Thinker. When you put yourself in your consumer’s shoes, you win. From the stripped down music to the lessened hype to the somber black and white photo shoot, everything about the Folklore release feels like a recognition of where the listener is emotionally.
When will it be time to get back to normal and flip the old hype machine switch back on?
We can’t be sure, but you can bet Taylor Swift will know when it’s time.
They charged me for bags. My flight wasn’t on time. They lost my bags. That change fee was ridiculous. There’s no leg room.
The morning show isn’t funny. They talk too much. They play the same songs over and over.
Whether you’re talking about airlines or radio stations, negative images are part of doing business. How you handle it is what sets you apart.
In 2009, Southwest Airlines took on one of those typical negative images about airlines (unreasonable bag fees) head-on. At first, it simply offered free checked bags and assumed the passenger would notice. If the fare between two airlines were similar, the shopper would be saving money on Southwest thanks to the free checked bag. But that logic assumes the consumer will think that through when shopping, even though the bag savings aren’t listed in the fare.
Southwest deployed a marketing campaign called “Bags Fly Free”. But while you likely remember it now, even that campaign wasn’t successful until it was deployed like a sledgehammer, from being plastered on its own planes and baggage carts to stadiums and airports around the United States.
Radio stations often make the same mistake Southwest initially made–assuming consumers will notice when you make a change. You added a song category. You’re playing more songs per hour. You’ve got a new morning show. You’ve got less repetition. Then you wonder why it didn’t make a difference. Why it didn’t move the needle.
Maybe it’s because you didn’t really tell anyone about it outside of your already loyal P1s.
Sure, if you consider being named the least respected brand in America great. Because a 2013 study revealed Delta was one of the least respected brands in America.
Just ahead of Phillip Morris.
How in the world did Delta go from being one of the least respected brands to one of the most respected in just seven years? The answer is two-fold.
First, of course, Delta had to change the way it did business. These were the internal changes. Changing the culture. Hiring the right people. Buying new planes.
But I’m here to tell you there is absolutely no way that Delta goes from worst to first if they don’t tell anyone about it. That’s why everywhere you look, from the airport to the plane, from the website to the emails, Delta boasts about being the “most awarded airline”. Delta is only able to change the negative images into positives with a consistent, sledgehammer campaign.
Like Southwest’s “Bags Fly Free”.
So, if your radio station (or any brand for that matter) is doing something different, something great, and you are assuming the consumer will figure it out on their own, you’re wrong.
Shout it from the mountaintops. And just when you think they’re tired of hearing it, shout louder.
Then never stop shouting.
BRANDING, CONTENT & RESEARCH STRATEGY
Subscribe to our weekly blog delivered fresh to your inbox every Tuesday.
AC/DC’s new album, Power Up, 
