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Sometimes the best way to deal with an enemy is to make that enemy your friend. Certainly, that can be the case when a Radio salesperson is facing what many in our industry consider to be the ultimate enemy: the local newspaper. In this Sales Meeting, an excerpt from RAB's popular video training resource, "How to Steal Money From Newspaper," we show you how to find a point of entry with customers who are committed to newspaper advertising.

Tactic Number Nine: Address the Logical Issues
In your presentations to heavy newspaper advertisers, be sure to identify the logical or fact-related perceptions that they have in their minds. Address those perceptions in your presentation. What are some of those issues?

First of all, let's look at the issue of reach - particularly the perception most newspaper clients have about the broad reach of newspaper contrasted with the smaller reach of individual Radio stations. Most American newspapers enjoy a state of near-monopoly. Only a handful of cities in America today have more than one competing, separately owned daily newspaper.

Another issue to probe for and identify is the issue of visuals. Clients believe that they need to have a picture in order to communicate effectively about their products and services.

Another logical issue is that of tangibility. You can touch the newspaper ad; you can feel it; you can take it with you; you can redeem a coupon. Interestingly, the alliance of Radio and the Internet gives us the power to bring tangibility to Radio like we've never had the opportunity to do before.

And, of course, the last logical issue is the issue of results - the firm belief in the mind of clients that newspapers are effective.

Tactic Number 10: Identify and Address the Emotional Issues
Emotional issues may be just as strong as the logical issues in the minds of many newspaper advertisers, even though they don't have the factual support of the logical issues.

Highest on the list is ego-visuals - the firm desire of many clients to show pictures of themselves, their store, maybe even their family, in their advertising. You need to probe for and address the issue of ego-visuals when you make your presentations to clients.

Second is an issue of credibility, especially insofar as it relates to the advertising environment. There's a feeling among many newspaper advertisers that because their ad appears in a news organ, it will be more believable to clients as a result.

A third emotional issue is fear of loss - especially the competitive loss that advertisers fear they might suffer if they decrease their newspaper advertising, while their competitors continue to spend heavily in that medium.

Fourth is the emotional issue of habit. It's the perception that because a company has been advertising heavily in newspaper for all the years it's taken to build its business, they should continue to market themselves the same way forever.

And finally, fifth, is the relationship with the seller. Relationships between heavy newspaper advertisers and their sales reps are much longer in duration and in many cases much stronger than their relationships with reps in our medium.

A speaker at a recent advertising conference employed a seldom-used term to demonstrate the power that a media mix can bring to a marketing campaign. That term was co-opetition - in other words, the concept of harnessing the power of Radio with the additional impact that a competitive medium can bring to the campaign.

Is this sleeping with the enemy, or does this demonstrate Radio's professionalism in providing solutions to clients that will help them grow their business through a well-conceived marketing plan, even if it may include newspaper?

Here's how one cluster did just that.

This is a story of a cluster of four stations playing Oldies, News, Rock, and Country. And their challenge was breaking through to auto dealers. The dealers had a long-standing relationship with the local newspaper and the stations were having trouble even getting appointments. Sound familiar? Well, at the same time, the newspaper was having a hard time attracting new and younger readers. So the management at the stations brainstormed and came up with a special promotion that would combine the strengths of both media - and, in the process, give Radio an entree to the auto dealers and newspaper an entree to Radio's younger, more active listeners.

They called the campaign the "Car Cash Caper." Listeners could become eligible to win cars simply by completing an entry form found at all participating dealerships, available at the stations, in the newspaper, or on all participating Web sites. Moreover, to encourage traffic to the dealerships, the station supplied additional prizes from partnering businesses, which were displayed at all the dealerships. The Radio sales management actually conducted a sales meeting for the newspaper sales reps and provided them with spec spots, promos and cassette players. In essence, the newspaper reps were selling Radio to their auto clients.

All participating auto dealers were included in all newspaper ads and all corresponding generic promos that ran across all four stations. However, only those auto dealers who bought individual schedules received identifying tags and custom schedules.

Newspaper reps were given a non-priced, introductory offer to present to their newspaper clients. Radio reps were teamed with specific newspaper reps; if a dealer indicated interest, the Radio rep then met with the clients and presented and sold the corresponding Radio campaign to the auto dealers. The newspaper sales staff actually generated leads to the Radio reps.

At the conclusion of this four-week promotion, the winners were drawn on air with an auto dealer, newspaper sales manager and station management present. This is a great example of the co-opetition concept.

What are the benefits that were actually created for all of the parties involved?

• For the newspaper it generated up-sell sales opportunities for the newspaper's salespeople. The campaign also gave the newspaper great exposure to the audiences of all four Radio stations.
• The stations benefited through the implied endorsement of newspaper, the newspaper reps, and the introduction to the auto account, as well as new revenue.
• For the auto dealers, it created amazing buzz within the local auto dealer accounts.

Since Radio and newspaper worked together for the benefit of the auto dealers, clients perceived the added synergy as being very valuable to them. They experienced stronger traffic and they actually set sales records for the months during which the promotion ran.

As a Radio professional calling on heavy newspaper advertisers, realize that they have a history and comfort level with the newspaper. So you may find it to your advantage, and much more effective initially, to take the approach of combining the dynamic power of Radio with newspaper to generate results for your clients.

To order the video "How to Steal Money from Newspaper," visit the Radio Shop on RAB.com, or call Member Services at 1-800-232-3131.

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