“A mobile strategy isn’t putting your station stream on the iPhone.”
That was the gauntlet thrown down by Clive Dickens, COO of the U.K.’s Absolute Radio at the “Actionable Mobile Strategies” panel held at the NAB/RAB Radio Show, Sept. 30.

The panel followed Fred Jacobs’ heavily attended “Goin’ Mobile” session, which concluded with a series of interviewees praising Pandora, compared to only one earlier passing mention of an individually branded FM station app. Dickens, who was joined by NPR director of product development Michael Yoch, Corus Interactive’s David Huszar, and Airkast’s Sean Sires, noted that, “You can’t imagine people in that video getting excited about any of our linear listening applications.”

Asked if there was any way to compete with an app that allowed both the ability to skip songs and a far lower spotload, Yoch said, “With NPR Music we’re exploring whether there’s a lot of value on editorial judgment. Pandora has simplicity on its side…and if you want 500 songs in the same melancholy mood, you’re good to go. [We are looking to offer] editorial variances that resonate with people.” And Dickens told the audience, “If your strategy was 40 minutes of music in a row, look for a new strategy,” instead encouraging broadcasters to offer “more talk, more sports, more engagement.”

While saying that Absolute was still looking for the right paid app that would motivate listeners on a grand scale, Dickens did cite the success of Absolute’s branded alarm clock app – a strategy that allowed Absolute to defend morning listening at a time of greater choices.

Other issues raised at the panel included the difficulty of explaining a digital sales strategy to a staff trained to sell the on-air product (Yoch talked about the effectiveness about sending his staff on sales calls), whether broadcasters were too focused on apps and not enough on text-based contests, and the problem of smaller stations getting enough attention from their vendors. “It’s like pulling teeth with a provider to even get an hour of time” said Jackson Radio Works’ Bruce Goldsen.