Patti Marshall is Managing Director of Branding and Content for Hubbard Cincinnati. She also handles the day-to-day programming of Q102, which is today’s featured brand.
The DNA of Q102 is made up of personalities and Cincinnati.
“Local Personalities, a curated playlist. We straddle two different format lanes, Hot AC and Top 40,” said Marshall. “We are a personality-forward radio station. And we have a show in mornings and we have a show in afternoons.”
I wanted to drill down on the idea of a team in afternoons and how that evolved from the days of Hot Hits and the 7-second break. Marshall has “Roy, Nat & Freddy Mac” in the afternoons.
“We’ve been doing this for a very long time. Very soon after I became program director in 2004, I teamed up Brian Douglas with our traffic person at the time. And they began that back in the day.”
“ That helped build the foundation for what we have today, which is a radio station that’s built on fun and friends in Cincinnati. We are not just about the music. Although that is a big part of our DNA. But at the end of the day, it has really helped us that we started a long time ago to build this idea that you come to us for this unique experience. You’re not going to get that experience anywhere else in town.”
Marshall believes that it’s a lot more than just pairing two people and calling it an afternoon show.
”You could be up against a competitor that’s playing a lot of music. So, you have to make sure that your content is worthy. It’s funny and it’s targeted and entertaining. You’re not going to get there with just two people talking about what remote you’re going to do on Saturday.”
”It takes hard work. It’s not just this is, and that was. Otherwise, you might as well just do the seven-second Hot Hits kind of thing.”
Meeting listener expectations is at the top of Marshall’s list.
“ For a radio station like Q102, which is built on personality and contesting. We have a lot of levers to pull, and I think the people that listen to us have an expectation of what we’re going to deliver when they come to our station.”
“And we’ve spent the last 21 years that I’ve been program director building that expectation or feeding that expectation. I expect that people do come to us to hear the latest music. We still believe in exposing our audience to new music.”
Admittedly, Marshall gave me something to think about when I suggested that the audience might already know the new music from social media sources.
“ Let’s not forget that they may know about it from us. I think that radio has taken this kind of backseat attitude that, well, they’re going to get that on this platform, or they get that there. Or they’re going to be exposed to it over here, so I need to react as a result. How about we do what we think our audience is interested in and not worry about where they might see it first.”
Q102’s Morning Show is “Jeff & Jenn.”
”I’m so blessed to have a show of that caliber in this market. They’re such pros, such just absolute conversationalists. They’re the people that you want to get trapped in a road trip van with because it is going to be fun. It’s going to be interesting.”
“ I don’t think there’s any way that you can argue their dominance in the marketplace. They’re just great to listen to. And they’re not fast. They talk a lot. They talk about all sorts of things. This morning, they had a whole conversation about what you’re taking to your July 4th cookout. They’re just interesting people.”
Marshall hit on another interesting point when I brought up the subject of young people and their seeming lack of interest in radio.
”I think it’s fricking cheeky as hell of radio to go we need to target the younger demographics when we flat abandoned them 30 years ago when we decided that advertisers only wanted 25 to 54. So, forget 12-year-olds and their taste in music. We did that with conscious intention; we said we don’t care about teenagers anymore.”
“And now we look back and go, well, what are we going to do to get them back?
Strategic marketing is important to Marshall and Q102.
“I believe in marketing, and I believe in strategic marketing with partners like Point to Point. I’m a big believer in direct marketing and Tim Bronsil in particular. He loves radio and the way he views it. I’m lucky that he lives in Cincinnati. The way his brain thinks and the way he targets. I think he’s super special. And he’s one of the pieces of secret sauce for our radio station.”
“Along with our app. Our app is a part of our secret sauce. The not-so-secret sauce is the air personalities and the talent that work at this radio station. They’re extraordinary, every one of them in their own way.”
With all the competition for the ear, Marshall recognizes she is not competing against just other radio stations or Spotify.
”Anybody can plug into their car whatever they want. Whether it’s some downloaded music they have on their phone, it’s not just Spotify or Sirius. It’s also audiobooks and podcasts.”
“ The onus is on us to provide a level of entertainment that people feel like they’re going to miss out if they don’t hear this thing that you’re offering on the radio. The other thing that we have to compete with is the phone.”
”You’re trying to call and connect with your mom. Call and pick up the kids, and call your husband on the way home. There are relationships that happen in the car, on the phone, every day. We have to play harder to be one of the people in our listeners’ relationship circle.
Any final thoughts?
“ I work for a company that, at its core, believes in talent. Believes in the local management decisions and input. It’s a rare thing. The company I work for, Hubbard, has been an amazing chapter in my career. I can’t thank Ginny (Hubbard), Greg Strassell, and Dave Bestler enough for believing in us.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
