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May 11, 2009
Mining Your Loyalists
I am a big fan of Internet radio station, Radio Paradise, run by Bill Goldsmith who used to be a DJ/Music Director on traditional over-the-air radio. Radio Paradise is a little unique in that it does not run ads...eschewing promotion in favor of "listener-support." Over the years (the station started in 2000), the platform has evolved into a rather sophisticated effort, fueled by its periodic requests for donations.
Their latest effort at promotion, is a great example of current trends in social media. "The Great RP YouTube Challenge" is an effort to get listeners to post a video to YouTube, Vimeo or other service, then get 1,000,000 views. For your efforts, you can win...$1,000, or for a few runners-up, a bag of RP goodies valued at $100. Obviously, people won't be doing this to become rich and famous. But, for the little band of loyal followers, the contest is a great chance to leverage their social graph to promote the station they love.
This very loose, yet really true-to-the-brand, contest is a great example of promotion without advertising...of facilitating the movement of a message by leveraging word of mouth. It will work because there is a loyal following, and because from Day 1, Bill Goldsmith has worked hard to make RP listeners feel like a family. RP makes extensive use of affiliate links and other Web tools to capture revenue wherever it can, while maintaining its consistent avoidance of advertising as we know it.
In a world where advertising simply can't support everything, and where getting an ad message through to people is getting harder and harder, engaging loyalists is is the essence of marketing. And leave it to a little two-person "radio station" in Paradise, CA to demonstrate to many larger, more resource-rich marketing departments, how it's done.
Posted by jcioban at May 11, 2009 9:57 AM
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