What is your definition of family?

I remember how excited I was in the Spring of 1987, I had just been hired to be part of the morning show at WPHR Power 108 in Cleveland. I was receiving my staff shirt and the Program Director said "welcome to the family". Somewhere there is a photo of me smiling ear to ear in that shirt with Curt Monday who was the Morning host who really was instrumental in giving me my break and a news person who I can only recall as Dawn. I can't find that photo so here's one from 18 months earlier with my genetic family on the night I graduated High School.

So 18 months after this photo of children suffering bad haircuts was snapped I was welcomed into a new family. It's a family so I knew things wouldn't be perfect. Fights, misunderstandings, jealousies would all pop up, but I expected to live out the rest of my days in Cleveland with my new family at Power 108. But on Christmas Eve, I along with Curt, Dawn, Ray Mariner, Mars Frehley, Jeff Kelly, Tony Rizzo, and some other names I'm forgetting were kicked out of the family. AKA Fired. We weren't even in the family long enough to make the WPHR Wikipedia page once the internet was invented by Al Gore years later. As a matter of fact I never even saw any of my former siblings ever again except for Ray and that was just by accident. The guy who gave me my break's name wasn't even Curt Monday. Turns out his real name was Curt Boykin. I found that out a few years ago in a radio trade magazine announcing his death. What a crappy brother I was to not only not know his real name but that he was dead! 

The point I'm making is that I have been welcomed into dozens of families and escorted from their dwellings through the years. WBLI, WKCI, Universal Records, WQGN, WRUT and so on and so on. Places of employment are not your family. And for those of you arguing that your co workers treat you a lot better then your genetic family I would agree that just because we have the same ancestors it doesn't mean we are family. You can absolutely have people in your life that have no link to you other than you chose them, and they chose you and you are now family. After all that's what a spouse is. Family needs a new definition. I suggest something like "a group of individuals who have made a commitment to support one another even if that requires sacrifice". 

Don't let the emotion of "welcome to the family" allow you to be taken advantage of. We can't just be family 9-5. We are family all the time. Intruding on each other at all times of the day and night. Calling for favors etc. Start calling your new family members about helping you clean the pool or whatever and see what kind of sibling you have there. Of course it usually starts with you making the first sacrifice so show some people you want to be kin with them by loving them sacrificially. But if that love is denied then just move on. They can be pals or coworkers or associates but they're not family.   

I always love to hear your feedback! kellynash_99@yahoo.com

What is the real purpose of a celebrity spokesperson?

I sit in meetings with advertising executives, business owners, promotions people and assorted others on a regular basis. The reason they have me in these meetings is to discuss my possible contribution to their bottom line. Yes it really is about the bottom line in everything, including charities. Some like to fool themselves into believing it's about "building a brand", "crafting an image", or "generating good will", but the reason they're interested in any of those things is to improve their bottom line. They've heard stats like the one Harvard put out a few years ago that endorsements from celebrities can increase sales 20%. Or the Forbes Report that showed companies turning themselves around by hiring a celebrity endorser. Activia, Jenny Craig, Burger King, and many other saw sales going down and suddenly turn around when a strong ad campaign with a celebrity was launched. But does it always work? Of course not! If it did then all ads would be done by celebs. So the question of what made certain ones work becomes key.
There are 2 things that must align for your campaign to work. First the product and the celebrity need to match. In 2007 the Florida Dept of Citrus spent $90,000 to hire Tom Selleck to do  a 15 second and a 30 second commercial. They also promised him another $90,000 to do 4 more commercials in 2008. He has since earned several million as the voice of the OJ commercials. He never says this is Tom Selleck to tell you about OJ. You never see him on the TV version of the commercials. That would sound and or look like an ad and people would tune it out. Instead they hear the voice of someone they grew up with (target demo is females 25-49) and he's describing the simple health benefits of orange juice. It's like their dad reminded them to get some OJ to keep them and his grandkids healthy. That celebrity matches the product. An example of a celebrity not matching the product can be seen in the disaster that was the Beyonce/Pepsi deal. December 2012 the ad world was stunned to hear of a $50,000,000 deal between the two! Pepsi had put all their eggs in the Beyonce basket. She would be on their cans and bottles, special vending machines featuring her image would be created, radio, print, billboard, internet and TV ads would all feature her. The campaign would be launched around a massive Super Bowl halftime show and 3 ads to air during the game as well! She was the biggest pop star in the world and pop music fans are the number one demo for soda. Pepsi figured they had hit a home run.

There was one thing they hadn't factored in. Beyonce was close with the first lady Michelle Obama. So what? Well Michelle was pushing to get soda out of schools, and out of kids hands all together. And helping her in that effort was Beyonce. But certainly a few appearances, a few years earlier would be forgotten by the general public once they were inundated with a never ending Pepyonce Blitz. (Yes I created a new word there). No they were not forgotten. And Pepsi went on to have it's worst first quarter in decades, shrinking 4-7 percent because their celebrity didn't match the product. 

The second thing that has to be there is the truth. In 1912 the McCann advertising agency registered the worlds first advertising trademark.

McCann recognized that you need to tell the truth about your product. But you need to do it in a creative way. Here in Columbia most everyone knows Joe Pinner. For those of you outside of our area Joe is like the local version of Willard Scott. Joe has been on the NBC affiliate for over 50 years! He hosted a kids show called Mr Knozit (Knows it) from 1963 into the 1990's! Plus he was the weather guy on the nightly news. 

He's been semi retired for about 15 years, but still is on TV and it seems like any big event in town Joe is there. So Joe's voice is instantly recognized by people from Columbia and he is awesome as the spokesperson for several different companies including Agape Senior Health Care Center and Wade Culler Roofing. They are marketing to people 40 and up and Joe is a trusted voice to the people who grew up here. He also can creatively cut through all the crap an advertiser wants to get on the air and get to the actual point that will make people want to choose their product over the competition. That is the purpose of a celebrity spokesperson. And one day I hope to be half as good as Papa Joe!

So when you want to discuss a spokesperson for your product discuss those 2 things first. Will they work with the demo and our product. And what is the truth that makes our product or service better than our competition. Once you have those answers you're well on your way to a success. Good luck!

I always love to hear your feedback. kellynash_99@yahoo.com

Chasing your dreams

I had a 10 minute discussion with a young lady today who "works near her dream". That was her phrase for explaining why she is selling radio commercials when she really wants to be a press person in the hip hop genre. That actually would seem like torture to me. To be near the field you want to be in, with no real hope of getting there. I explained that if she was serious about wanting to be in PR she should focus all of her efforts on getting into a position to learn and network with people who are doing what she wants. It may require a pay cut, but you'll feel more alive than ever knowing you are on the path to do what God designed you to do. And you can't put a price on that.

Of course you also need to take some inventory before you begin the dream chase. Some good questions;
Is what I'm about to chase physically possible? That explains why my modeling dream died.
Is this a dream that helps others? If your sole goal is to help yourself not many folks want to help.
Does my dream line up with God? Your dream of being a drug king pin will have the blessings of satan and addicts. Your dream of being a pharmacist gets the support of our Creator and Lord.

I'm a firm believer that God created all of us with dreams He wanted us to chase to help each other. Artists, Doctors, Athletes, Soldiers, Politicians etc. Everyone adds to the tapestry of human life and when we work together in harmony we begin to form an image of what heaven will be like. So stop denying yourself... and us the gift of your dream. Get after it! Let me know how you're doing. kellynash_99@yahoo.com

I'm back

My last post was March of 2009. So if you've been refreshing for 6 years your patience has been rewarded! In the past 6 years I have ended my marriage. Started and ended a political talk show. Started a business. And become the sole guardian of my autistic son. I also painted my bathroom.

For all you doubters who didn't think I would or could paint my bathroom by myself over the weekend...ta da! pic.twitter.com/NKrDAHNa
— Kelly Nash (@KellyNashRadio) February 18, 2013

So we have a lot of catching up to do!