I grew up in Island Park, New York, a very small island town in one of the bays off Long Island’s south shore. When Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast in the fall of 2012, my little hometown—where my parents still live in the home they raised my sister and I in—was devastated. Looking back, I … Continue reading COVID-19 Lessons from Superstorm Sandy
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Ever feel like you’re chasing formats? Sometimes you hear about radio stations that change formats after trying one for a year or two, or even after just a few months. You may know of stations that have flipped formats multiple times in a calendar year. Maybe this time the lucky number will come up. One … Continue reading Flippant About Formats
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All the way back on March 17th, we tweeted about a new billboard campaign our client in Edmonton, K-97, launched: Since then, brand after brand is getting in on the action. This includes Coca-Cola putting some distance in their logo for their Times Square billboard: Miss Chiquita is missing from the banana brand’s iconic logo: … Continue reading The Marketing of Social Distancing
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A logical approach to programming strategy during just about any time other than the present would likely suggest that playing Christmas music in March would be a pretty dopey idea. But if one were to adopt an Outside Thinking philosophy–considering your brand from the viewpoint of your consumer–it may not be quite as nutty as … Continue reading Christmas in the Time of Corona
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As the world has turned upside down for the foreseeable future, the team at Coleman Insights has been engaged in conversations with our clients about how to navigate the new landscape. We recognize the ability of radio stations and other audio-based media to shine in moments of crisis, and there are already numerous examples of … Continue reading How to Connect With Your Audience in a Crisis
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What a difference a few weeks, days and hours makes. Before the travel bans, before sports and concerts cancelled and before schools closed, I paid a visit to Syracuse University for my college radio station’s 35th annual reunion. I returned from that trip just nine days ago. The keynote of the WJPZ Alumni Banquet featured … Continue reading Interview With Brent Axe: Coronavirus and the POKE Scale
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My favorite marketing book of all-time is “Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It” by strategist Al Ries, and one of the most important lessons in the book involves one simple question. What’s your word? Consumers make product decisions on words, not visuals. When you look at or think about products, you don’t … Continue reading What’s Your Word?
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The North American sports landscape is littered with failed launches of major leagues to compete with the established players. In basketball, the ABA collapsed, and four remaining viable franchises joined the NBA in 1976. A similar thing happened in hockey three years later when the WHA failed in its effort to take on the NHL. … Continue reading Outside Thinking Gives the XFL a Better Chance to Succeed
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Last Tuesday evening, my colleague Sam Milkman and I had the pleasure and privilege of presenting our findings from a recent study to a room full of Country industry folks—performers, agents, publishers, reporters, etc.—several stories above the streets of Nashville. I’m admittedly bad at estimating numbers of people in a room, but I counted a … Continue reading Changing the Country Radio Conversation
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When the HQ Trivia app was released in the summer of 2017, it was an instant sensation. It was #1 on Time’s 10 Top Apps of 2017. Partnerships with brands including Nike, Google and Warner Brothers brought in millions in revenue. The popularity of HQ influenced internal discussions about what lessons radio shows could learn … Continue reading Three Reasons Why the HQ Trivia App Failed
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