It was the success story to top all success stories. The RAB hit a big-time home run bringing in two Lifelock executives who could not say enough great things about radio. The fact that they have a great product, they know how to use the frequency of radio, and they know how to tweak radio to make it work, certainly helps. But there’s no doubt about it, Lifelock is “all in” when it comes to radio and every manager in America needs to hear their story.
Six years ago, Lifelock started out using radio, primarily in the Talk format, then they branched out to music formats and focused on live endorsements. They now have 35 network hosts and 35 local hosts reading their spots. On stage during the Advertiser Breakfast with the Lifelock executives at the Radio Show, Thursday, were Premiere’s Bobby Bones and Hubbard’s Eric and Kathy. They spoke about the close working relationship they have with Lifelock to make sure their live reads sound authentic. Bones pointed out that if the listeners know he’s just in it for the money, just reading spots, not only will they not use the product he’s endorsing, he’ll lose the trust he’s built up with his audience. “It has to be authentic.” Eric added you have to weave it into the content, make it part of the show.
Lifelock VP for offline Media and Marketing Lina Calia said radio is a huge component of Lifelock’s media plan. “We use radio in every way, shape, and form. It’s a pretty impressive piece of our mix. And, we look at results on a granular level every day.” Through promo codes such as “Bones,” Lifelock knows immediately how each of the hosts is performing. If someone isn’t doing well, they don’t just pull out and say it didn’t work. They try to figure out why and what needs to be done to tweak the copy or the delivery to make it work. Because they know radio works.
For the most part, Lifelock provides the hosts with copy points and asks them to weave it in using their own personalities. However, they also have a robust engine to manage their advertising with radio. There’s one dedicated person that downloads and listens to all the live reads, from all the hosts, every day. They have a scorecard of green, yellow, and red. Green means they are 100% happy with the delivery. Yellow is someone they think they need to keep an eye on. Red is typically someone missing a disclaimer. Calia said the results are 85% green lights. “I’m actually so pleased at what we have. It sounds so good.” Lifelock Radio Consultant Kathryn Kercher said radio is the best way to reach a lot of people, “and we need heft.”
I needed to leave a comment, man do I have a difficult time writing
a blog. Im seeking to kick start one on my website and I must
say
its challenging at all. I do admire people like yourself
who are
able to write about anything easily. Keep up the nice work!
Not sure that I’d come before a convention of people who have a habit of taking precious information, altering it to their own failure-ridden biases, and taking it to the street for a poor prospect, thereby ruining the case.
I have 7 clients who use radio exclusively, no other media, and nearly all of it on my stations. They are on every day in all day parts, 7 days. I would never ask them to do a testimonial, thereby revealing their confidential marketing scheme all all competitors. I never discuss their spending with any other radio salespeople I work with. Only the station owner knows the plans. I’m working on three other clients for a similar schedule in the New Year. Radio people talk too much and clients know it.
Marshall McLuan is misquoted as having said “The medium is the message.”
What he actually said was, “The medium is the massage.”
No matter. (Sticklers will insist on the distinction.)
The point to be taken away from the Lifelock experience is their attention to the messaging and the messengers – two sides of a gold coin.
Most readers will, I presume, agree that, day-to-day, those elements are the last to be addressed – if any attention is paid to them at all.
Radio works, we can agree. But, if we want it to KILL – we need to start paying attention to the messaging.
Besides, the results will feel better than a massage – longer term. 🙂