Digital Dealer - February 2019 - 30

M A R K E T ING & ADVERT ISING: Tr a d itio nal

By Jim Boldebook
Founder,
CBC Automotive Marketing

The Power of
Aggressive
Broadcast
Negotiation!
This is the year to grind
out some of the best
broadcast deals possible.
Despite pressure on
grosses, increasing interest
rates, and competition from
every angle, you can hold
and improve EBITDA with
better expense control,
more effective marketing,
strategies, and 'Trumpian'
negotiating skills. 2019 is
THE broadcast year with
lots of avails and no political
ads that control rate
structure. 2020 broadcast
calendars will be loaded
with political ads that
command the lowest rate by
law, especially in the
second half of the year.
First and foremost, broadcast radio and TV still do
work...in fact exceptionally
well in certain demographics. While digital continues
to expand in national and
local spend, broadcast is
still a powerful force with
the right media buy and
the right creative. Even in
markets leading in digital,
such as Northern California,
there are some amazing
stories of traditional radio
and TV success stories.
30

FEBRUARY 2019

One import dealer in Florida, shared how cutting his
radio buy for several months
resulted in a dramatic drop
in average front-end gross.
On one of the biggest weekends of the year, the dealer

of the best ideas I've
shared with dealer clients
have come from the lips
of folks who are anxious
to make their bones by
producing trackable traffic.
Some years ago, on a

A STRATEGY TO
KEEP YOUR SPOT IN
THE PREFERRED TIER IS
AGREE TO THE HIGHER
NON-PRE-EMPTIBLE RATE,
BUT PACKAGE BONUS OR
LOWER-PRICED SPOTS
IN OTHER POSITIONS
THAT BRING YOUR RATE
AVERAGE TO THE LEVEL
YOU WANT."
added a strategic five-day
radio and cable buy, and the
greatest activity came specifically from an offer only
advertised on the broadcast
buy.
NEGOTIATING TIPS:
LISTEN TO EVERYONE!

Okay, you can't listen to
everyone, but if a broadcast
TV, radio or cable salesperson says he/she has a
great idea... LISTEN! Some

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

visit to a Michigan dealer, a
radio salesperson stopped
by the dealership to pitch
a package for the coming
weekend that not only provided a great deal on spots,
but the station was willing
to put an inflatable 50-foot
baseball tethered to the
roof of the dealership with
the words 'We're Playing
Ball.' Turned out the Tigers
were having a big game that

weekend. The station was
covering the game. We had
adjacent spots in the game
with 50 spots preceding the
game. We sold 75 cars that
weekend. It was the biggest,
best promotion the dealership had enjoyed in years,
all because we listened.
Listening costs you nothing,
and although most ideas
won't sail, every once in a
while, you'll hit a home run if
you just listen.
THROW THE RATE
CARD IN THE WASTEBASKET! The rate card

is the stations MSRP! The
deal can always get better.
Always. The proposal
is only an opening offer.
Counter with what you feel
represents the best value. A
common ploy by the station
is 'pre-emptible' spots on
several tiers. That's pretty
much how the digital world
plays. In other words, your
spot is never guaranteed
position (or search relevance) as long as someone
else is willing to pay more.
A strategy to keep your spot
in the preferred tier is agree
to the higher non-pre-emptible rate, however package
bonus or lower-priced spots
in other positions that bring
your rate average to the
level you want. If you're in a
larger metro area, don't hesitate to ask for bonus spots
on nights and weekends.
You'll be amazed at the
number of second and third
shift workers tuned in.
THINK P.I. (PER
INQUIRY). When broad-

cast radio and TV was in
its infancy, it was common
for stations to offer 'per
inquiry' or 'per sale' spots,
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Digital Dealer - February 2019

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