Leadership Q&A

How does radio as a medium maintain its relevance in an era of continued media fragmentation?

Radio reaches more than 93 percent of Americans – 234 million people – on a weekly basis. Few other media can make that claim. Our audience is growing, even in the face of fragmentation: Americans spend an average of 19 hours a week with radio. We consistently deliver targeted demographics to advertisers and help them grow their businesses in a cost-effective way that is superior to other media. I remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for our industry.

Bob Neil – President & Chief Executive Officer, Cox Radio

What is Cox Radio doing to strengthen its stations even in the face of one of the most challenging environments for radio in history?

We do what our audiences do – we listen! Taking our cues from advertiser and listener feedback is the best way for our stations to compete. Based on what our customers have told us, we continue to invest in the best sales training so our people can serve as integrated marketing consultants. This enables us to develop customized marketing solutions that span traditional spot advertising, Internet marketing, special events and promotional activities. The desired result is to form a partnership with advertisers that is based on helping their businesses. It’s a real win-win.

Marc Morgan – Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Cox Radio

What strategies are you deploying successfully to work with advertisers in this economy?

A number of our markets are addressing the challenging economy head-on. Cox Radio in San Antonio, Tulsa and Birmingham are partnering with the Center for Sales Strategy to present “Elm Street Economics” to the advertising communities in these markets. Through partnerships with the local chambers of commerce, station groups provide a half-day working seminar to educate advertisers on the changing habits and perceptions of consumers in the economy based on our experiences. This is a useful marketing seminar designed to help our advertisers better market their products and services.

Ben Reed – Regional Vice President, Cox Radio

In order to continue to be in the market leader position, Cox Radio is focusing on four key strategies. First, and most important, is our Key Account Strategy. We bring new advertisers into radio by developing custom marketing solutions for them. Measurement and tracking of this effort are keys to its success. We also are focused on hiring the most talented people possible who have the ability to identify, develop and present outstanding marketing solutions. Effective use of our advertising inventory is also important to get the highest possible yield in these challenging economic times. Finally, a specific marketing plan, which positions Cox Radio as the best place to do business, helps generate new leads for our key account strategy. These strategies are not just focus areas; they’ve become embedded in Cox Radio’s culture.

Rich Reis – Group Vice President, Cox Radio

Cox has experienced a lot of change in the past year. As the company changes, will there still be room for associates to develop professionally?

I’ve been fortunate enough in my career with Cox to have been given five jobs in three completely different fields. I love to come to work every day because I feel like I am still in college. And that’s the great thing about working for this company – opportunity abounds. If one embraces change, and operates from an opportunistic point of view versus a fear platform, growth becomes a self-fulfilling path.

Gregg Lindahl – Vice President, Interactive and New Technologies, Cox Radio

What do you believe sets Cox apart from other companies in terms of its commitment to employees?

One of my favorite parts of my job is helping recruit great people into our company. We believe that happy employees are productive employees and if you feel good about your company when you get out of bed in the morning, you’ll do a better job all day long. The voices of our on-air announcers will sound more upbeat coming out of the speakers, salespeople will have a spring in their step when they’re meeting with our advertisers, and our promotions teams will have a smile on their face when they’re interacting with our listeners on the streets.

The benefits and long-term incentives at Cox are aggressive and the best in the industry. Talented people want to work alongside other great people, so our high performance standards make it easier to attract the very best people in the industry. The best people in the radio industry either already work here or want to!

Kim Guthrie – Regional Vice President, Cox Radio

What are some examples of innovation at Cox Radio during the past year?

In 2008, Cox Radio Interactive began to apply speech-to-text conversion technology so we could append the audio stream with text transcripts, making our broadcasts discoverable by search engines, which will lead to more consumption of our brands. As the first radio company to employ this, we have allowed other avenues for the broadcast content to be monetized.

Gregg Lindahl – Vice President, Interactive and New Technologies, Cox Radio