At the 2023 BNM Summit, one of the final panels of the conference featured a Shark Tank style competition for three news/talk brands competing to win a $4,000 advertising contract from Direct Results and Omaha Steaks.
Contestants in the live version of Shark Tank had three minutes to present their pitches to “sharks” Direct Results Founder/CEO Jill Albert, Andy Bloom, and Peter Thiele for why Omaha Steaks should place a $4,000 buy with individual radio station.
The contestants included 93.1 WIBC Program Director David Wood, Audacy Buffalo Market Manager Tim Wenger, and Guaranty Media President Gordy Rush.
After each contestant made their pitches and were asked difficult questions, the “sharks” ultimately decided the Tim Wenger and 930 WBEN was named the victor of the competition.
“It was interesting to be able to make up a pitch for one of our brands, and I just thought it was important to bring to the table the passion that the people have on the air for that town, and it goes two ways the audience has a passion for the people and the personalities on the air,” Wenger said.
Wenger’s pitch centered on the station’s role in informing the Buffalo community during a blizzard that killed 47 people on Christmas weekend in 2022. He shared the station’s role in helping save the life of a listener who had been stranded in his car for two days and how six employees volunteered to spend three days inside the station to inform the community.
“We proved that last year in very extreme circumstances. And ever since, every endorsement campaign that these guys have done have been super successful. The clients love it. No one leaves. We have a waiting list. So I mean, this is awesome news. And the other two presentations were were great. There’s no losers here. It was a fun way to present something to this audience.”
“I think that we always choose people that we trust — first and foremost — over the excitement and the numbers and the ‘Wow‘ that goes along with with personalities,” added Albert. “So it’s important to have a great personality that’s super passionate, but it’s also important to have a sales team that you believe in that can stick with you that describes their their product in a way that is believable provides connectivity and allows for partnership.”
When asked how rare it is to view the connection with listeners as bigger than seeking strictly scale and broadest audience, Albert said connection has always been an important factor.
“When it comes to marketing and strategy, it’s all about connecting with people. And in this world right now that we’re in where everybody is so fragmented in their time and their attention, we have to figure out a way to connect with them,” Albert, the Direct Results Founder and CEO, concluded. “And that can only be done with some time some thought and some leaning in to do a great job.”
