Did Negative Talk Do It?

Did Negative Talk Do It?
Recession Advertising Talking Points
 
 
We've all heard the notion maintaining that negative talk accelerates a recession; that if people would only stop talking about it, it might not occur. And sure there’s some truth to it; we transmit positive or negative energy to one another and talking about negative stuff will produce more even negative stuff.

However, it's more complex than that.

Witness some undeniable reality including this week’s announcement by the Chicago Federal Reserve that the R-word has probably begun. There’s economic reality everywhere including foreclosures, airlines taking planes from fleets, Delta laying off 2,000. I have three friends who speculated a bit too much last year, who are now losing three spec houses plus the home they're currently living in. Look at our own business; do you see anyone investing money for product improvement at this time where we could really use it? Finally there’s the biggie, the goings on on Wall Street.

Did Talk Do This? Would it not have occurred if we hadn't talked about it? So the question is, OK, where do we go from here?

We can SELL our way out of this.

 
Recession Talking Points
 
Talking Point to ADVERTISERS

* There are three parts of a recession: Decline, Bottom & Recovery. Most economists agree that the average recession lasts about eight months. Therefore, one might assert that we've been in the Decline portion for a couple months; we are therefore a month or two from the bottom.
* The start of the Recovery portion ought to begin in just a couple months.
* On-air rates are the cheapest they've been in years. Get in now.
* Stations haven't yet discovered the Platinum-level value of their Websites. Get in now.
* Daily newspaper circulation and readership aren't declining - they're in a dive. One morning, you'll (Advertiser) wake up to find the results that you’re depending on weren’t delivered.
* (Advertiser) How many of your competitors are cutting back? There is concrete documentation of businesses that advertised during a slowdown that wound up competitively superior when it came back.

Talking Points for RADIO PEOPLE

* I don't think we can TALK ourselves out of this, but we sure can SELL ourselves out of it.
* In talking to Joe Schwartz, President of Cherry Creek, yesterday, he reminded me that it’s common for the market’s daily newspaper to do more revenue than all the stations – combined. That’s our competition.
* It’s going to take a couple more calls per week, a couple more presentations, a bit more creative presentations, a bit more creative creative.
* More Directs. Prospecting account categories out of radio’s past successes. Examples, Large Employers, Government agencies.