Mark Ramsey is president of Mark Ramsey

Media, a strategic partner to many major radio,

media, and technology brands.
Strategy consultation, strategic research, and
public speaking: Those are the three things we
do.
We helped Apple understand the radio
broadcasters mindset. We help U-T SanDiego
develop their ongoing transmedia
strategy. We helped SiriusXM
round out their channel offerings.
We help Triton Digital create the
infrastructure for the online radio
marketplace. We help Clear
Channel and CBS stations increase
ratings performance and audience
engagement in local markets. We
help the Critics Choice Awards
establish its identity as one of the
earliest barometers for whats
Oscar-worthy. We helped San
Franciscos KOFY-TV revamp their
branding. We advise numerous
entrepreneurs on how to maximize
the impact of their audio-based
digital platforms.
What can we do for you?
Contact Mark Ramsey
+1-858-485-6372
http://markramseymedia.com
mramsey@markramseymedia.com
@markramseymedia
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ramsey
http://about.me/markramsey
Skype mramsey1
1. The Radio Ninja Cares Not for
Arbitron
Arbitron doesn't measure what people listen to. Those electronic meters simply tune in signals people can't
hear and call that listening. They do it while ignoring all of radio's competitors and substitutes who are
outside the clean definitions of "radio" as we have known it for a hundred years. And they do it with
embarrassingly small samples that must be heavily browbeaten and bribed to participate.
It is, increasingly, a game. One that benefits neither the future of your radio brand, nor the people who
consume it in its many manifestations across platforms, nor the advertisers seeking to connect with your
consumers in the halo of your brand.
Arbitron measures only the shadow of listening at a time when radio must be about much more than
listening (and much more than shadows). It measures passive consumption of a medium in an age where
consumers make active choices.
Tiny PPM panel changes produce wild fluctuations in ratings raising doubt about the veracity of the
methodology and - unfairly - the effectiveness of an industry that too often depends on it.
PPM favors transactional advertisers that raffle off their dollars to the lowest-priced and lowest-value bidder.
It gives zero indication of passion or interest or impact or relevance or even whether the ceiling fan enjoys
whats on the radio as the PPM gadget tied to it whips around in frenzied circles.
The Radio Ninja knows this. That's why she cares not for Arbitron.
2. The Radio Ninja Worships the
Consumer
Everything begins with the consumer and her desires and dreams.
The Radio Ninja has a keen and deep understanding of her brand's consumers, and she works hard to
keep that understanding finely tuned and up to date.
She makes no assumptions about what consumers want. She doesn't have to - she asks them. She is on
top of consumer strategic research. She monitors what they respond to on and off the air - in person, by
phone, by TXT, and by social media.
For something to be sold there must be consumers present who wish to buy. They must be the right
consumers interacting with advertisers the right way at the right time and place and in the right context.
That's why the interests of consumers come even before the interests of advertisers.
The Radio Ninja develops "personas" representing each type of consumer segment. She knows the
demographics, psychographics, and goals of each segment relative to her product category. Each
"persona" has a name that reflects their uniqueness, and every Radio Ninja knows what those names are.
The Radio Ninja asks daily: What new value is my brand creating for consumers today? Why should they
stay tuned to my brand across its various platforms rather than browse to YouTube or dive in to Facebook?
Why will they be drawn back to my brand despite the presence of Pandora and SiriusXM in their cars? What
am I doing to be worthy of their ongoing interest and consumption?
What's new - and why will consumers care?
3. The Radio Ninja Creates Unique
and Compelling Content
In a recent survey conducted by Mark Ramsey Media, a large and representative national sample of
consumers were three times more likely to disagree than agree with the statement "radio creates unique
and compelling content." Three times!
The Radio Ninja knows that in a world of abundance, a world of easy, personalized choices, consumers can
get virtually anything they want any time and any place they want it.
Being an accessible, familiar, and ubiquitous commodity is no longer enough. Now radio requires genuinely
unique and compelling content: Tiebreakers and choice-makers that pull consumers in rather than the lazy,
commoditized content that simply acts as a speed-bump to consumers who are already present - not bad,
not great, just...vanilla.
The Radio Ninja asks: What's unique and compelling about my brand today?
And she knows that "unique and compelling" is in the eye and the ear of the consumer, not in the eyes and
ears of radio management. "What you think doesn't matter," the consumer tells us, "it's all about me now."
The Radio Ninja is always on the hunt for fresh unique and compelling content. She scours social media
and places where young talent explodes - podcasts or YouTube - for tomorrow's talent today.
She asks "what can we do that no other radio brand has ever done?"
She does not ask "Where has that worked before?" because she does not care, and if the answer is
"nowhere" that simply makes it original, not unwise.
4. The Radio Ninja's Brand is a
Platform, not a "Radio Station"
Choices are proliferating and attention is increasingly scarce. It's harder than ever to stand out
A platform is not simply a distribution channel, like a radio frequency. Consultant and author Michael Hyatt
defines a "platform" as "your tribe - people who share your passion and want to hear from like-minded
people."
In other words, your platform is defined by the relationships you have with your consumers and your
advertisers.
And that platform is not just on the radio: It's online, it's mobile, it's in person and its over the air.
The Radio Ninja knows that a platform provides three benefits: Greater visibility, amplification that allows you
to be heard by more people more often, and connection between you, members of the tribe, and each
other.
Platform thinking puts the emphasis on the consumer relationship everywhere - on the air, but also on social
media, podcasts, email, TXT, etc.
"Platform logic" is what enables radio shows like This American Life to create books and audio for sale,
leading to a first look deal with Paramount, leading to a TV series on Showtime, leading to an independent
film, etc.
But the Radio Ninja knows this level of platform success is possible only when the content at the center of
the platform is truly unique and compelling.
5. The Radio Ninja Connects
Consumers and Clients in the
Presence of the Brand
There are no sellers and there are no programmers. There are only brand managers.
In the world of consumer products, brand managers are responsible both for branding and for sales. How
can it be any other way?
In radio, it used to be that the job of sellers was to clutter the air with spots no matter what consumers
wanted, while the job of programmers was to protect the interests of consumers no matter what the clients
wanted - knowing that without the support of clients, everyone is out of a job and the consumers lose their
favorite radio station.
But today, we are moving into a post-commercial world. A world where advertisers want to connect more
deeply with your consumer tribes and don't simply want to interrupt their experience with spots.
The Radio Ninja knows that any initiative can be sold only if it attracts consumers and there's no point in
creating initiatives that attracts consumers unless they can be sold. The Radio Ninja knows that happy
consumers make for happier clients because happy consumers patronize those happy clients.
In this model, the brand is the sandbox where consumers and clients play with the ideas created by the
Radio Ninja to benefit both groups.
"Here are our problems," the client tells the Radio Ninja. "What ideas can help us resolve them which can
also delight your consumers in the presence of your brand and ours?"
6. The Radio Ninja Knows Every
Consumer - by Name
We are all individuals with individual tastes. The Radio Ninja knows it is incumbent upon all brands to
recognize those individual tastes and satisfy them as best as possible.
This begins with knowing every consumer - by name.
Do consumers provide registration information to access elements of your platform? If not, why not?
Virtually everything of value online requires some degree of registration - that's what releases the value of
the product or service being registered for. In other words, until I know you I can't tailor my products or
services to your tastes, and I'll always be vulnerable to those brands that do.
This is not "database marketing," it's relationship building.
The more we know about our consumers, the better we can solve the problems of our advertisers and the
more targeted and personalized our interactions can be.
In this era of "big data" the Radio Ninja takes advantage of every opportunity to learn more about the
individual behaviors and preferences of every consumer to whatever degree privacy concerns and legal
restrictions allow.
This is the "i" in radio.
7. The Radio Ninja Tries, Fails, and
Tries Again
"I don't have time!" "I'm stretched too thin!" "I'm not incentivized to do this!"
These may all be true to one degree or another, but they are all excuses for inaction. And the Radio Ninja is
immune to inaction.
Action requires risk - it means trying new things which may or may not work. I know, you are probably not
rewarded for taking risks. But this type of experimentation is intrinsically satisfying to every Radio Ninja
because the Radio Ninja lives to create and experiment and try something new.
Anything less may be "going along to get along," but it is also means surrendering your true self to the
whims of a boss who doesn't deserve it.
And the Radio Ninja does not surrender her true self to anyone.
"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment," wrote Emerson.
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them," said Einstein.
The Radio Ninja tries, fails, takes it in stride, and tries again.
J, K, Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected in short order by twelve different publishers! She tried,
failed, brushed off the failure, and tried again.
Thirteen times!
8. The Radio Ninja Embraces the
Unnecessary
Strictly following the so-called "Rules of PPM" (and the rules of a tight radio budget) would have you remove
everything from the station but that which makes the lowest-common-denominator happy enough to stay
put.
Only do what's most important, the thinking goes, and banish everything else - everything unnecessary.
But what is the packaging that lovingly surrounds an Apple product but "unnecessary."
What are the TV screens on the back of every JetBlue seat but "unnecessary."
What are the triangle-shaped corners of the toilet paper roll in your hotel bathroom but "unnecessary."
The Radio Ninja knows that, very often, it's what's not important that sets one brand apart from another. It's
what's not necessary that can transform a utilitarian experience into a must-see and must-hear experience.
It's the imperfections, the extra flourishes, that something small, that little bonus, that thing you didn't have
to do but you do it anyway.
And why? Why do the unnecessary?
The Radio Ninja knows: It's because consumers notice. It's a pure reflection of a brand's passion for itself
and its fans.
And nothing inspires love like being loved.
9. The Radio Ninja Embraces Youth
Sean Hannity is over 50. Rush Limbaugh is over 60. Michael Savage is over 70. No surprise, then, that a
third of Talk Radio's audience is over 65.
Even familiar "young" names like Ryan Seacrest and Carson Daly have been on the radio for a generation or
more.
It is rare indeed that the "hits" or "stars" of an older generation spark the passions of a younger one.
Indeed, the process tends to work the other way around (as any fan of popular music knows).
That's why the Radio Ninja is obsessed with relevance to up-and-coming generations of consumers - the
very people with the most choice and the most control over their attention.
The very people at greatest risk of leaving radio when something brighter, shiner, more feature-packed, and
more personal comes along.
The Radio Ninja asks "What are we doing to remain relevant in a world where younger consumers make
and shape all the trends and have all the control over their media attention and the dollars that will invariably
follow that attention?"
This means being in touch with trends as they arise and anticipating how those trends will shape the future.
The Radio Ninja is always "on trend."
10. The Radio Ninja seeks Fans, not
simply "Listeners"
Fans care, fans choose, fans pay attention, fans spread the word, fans patronize advertisers, fans seek out
their favorite brands no matter how cluttered the options become - no matter how many choices may live
on an auto dashboard.
Listeners who are not also Fans (and most aren't) do none of these things. They tune in your brand on radio
only. They are passive, often listening in spite of choice, not because of it. They don't pay attention, they
don't spread the word, they are less likely to patronize advertisers, they will not seek out your brand on a
crowded dashboard.
The Radio Ninja seeks Fans, not simply "Listeners."
Fans happen because we seek them out and build brands for them. Not by accident or happenstance.
Fans are attracted to content which is unique and compelling and suited both to the fan and to the
platform, whatever it may be.
Fans are not necessarily attracted to loyal listener clubs - those are for contest players. Fans are present for
the brand they came for, in all its shapes, sizes, and forms across platforms.
The Radio Ninja knows that fans are made and nurtured by giving consumers more of what they want in the
first place. A richer, deeper experience of the brand.
More ways to join that brand's "community" on more platforms and in more places. More ways to
experience and enjoy the brand.
Mark Ramsey is president of Mark Ramsey
Media, a strategic partner to many major radio,
media, and technology brands.
Strategy consultation, strategic research, and
public speaking: Those are the three things we
do.
We helped Apple understand the radio
broadcasters mindset. We help U-T SanDiego
develop their ongoing transmedia
strategy. We helped SiriusXM
round out their channel offerings.
We help Triton Digital create the
infrastructure for the online radio
marketplace. We help Clear
Channel and CBS stations increase
ratings performance and audience
engagement in local markets. We
help the Critics Choice Awards
establish its identity as one of the
earliest barometers for whats
Oscar-worthy. We helped San
Franciscos KOFY-TV revamp their
branding. We advise numerous
entrepreneurs on how to maximize
the impact of their audio-based
digital platforms.
What can we do for you?
Contact Mark Ramsey
+1-858-485-6372
http://markramseymedia.com
mramsey@markramseymedia.com
@markramseymedia
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ramsey
http://about.me/markramsey
Skype mramsey1