It's Time for Some Sirius Marketing

From March 12-26, Sirius XM (SIRI) is offering a free preview of its service on all of its radios nationwide. By my estimation there are at least 15 million deactivated Sirius and XM radios. This is a great opportunity for the company to regain lost subscribers that may have canceled or failed to renew at a time when the company faced an uncertain future. Unfortunately, the company seems to feel that this information is on a “need to know” basis. The company has apparently sent out e-mails to many of its former customers, most of which ended up in SPAM folders, as some of our readers have pointed out.

In the conference call held just days ago, the company blamed a drop-off in retail and OEM subscribers partially on the media’s talk of doom. That is certainly a likely reason which was only accentuated by a poor economic climate. This hypothesis begs the question; what has Sirius XM done to counter the negative perspective that had been created by the NAB controlled media? The answer is: NOT ONE SINGLE THING! In fact, Sirius XM did nothing to promote its exclusive NFL coverage last fall. Sirius XM literally has billions of dollars worth of talent and yet it does absolutely nothing to promote any of it including Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Opie & Anthony, not to mention its sports packages in which I include Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. Like a secret society, only current subscribers are allowed to know that Sirius XM will broadcast the entire NCAA tournament in a matter of days.

There has been talk of Sirius XM attempting to renegotiate its current contract with MLB, which any investor certainly welcomes. As a Sirius Everything subscriber myself, I would probably upgrade my service to gain access to MLB games. That was of course, until last week. Amid absolutely no fanfare, and hidden deep within a conference call that analysts and investors were privy to, Sirius XM quietly announced the availability of the world's first INTEROPERABLE Radio; The Sirius XM Mirge! That’s right folks, the very same radio that caused a 6 month delay in the merger process, and the single most anticipated satellite radio product in the history of the world, is now available. The one radio that makes it possible to get ALL the programming that Satellite Radio offers and yet somehow, someway, Sirius XM’s marketing department has failed to put together so much as a small classified ad in a local newspaper to announce this monumental occasion!

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The same should be asked of Sirius XM’s marketing department.

Position: Long Sirius XM

Comments

[intermyc:]

Very nicely pointed!
It's like that the best that Siri has to offer is a secret....
Hopefully the Sirius XM’s marketing dept. will read this!

Mar 15 01:40 PM

[HCSKnight:]

Agree regarding marketing, but this is an "easy" fix. And I think you could have added that SiriXM users are the greatest affirmation asset. Everyone I know who gets SiriXM, really likes it. And we are talking adults, not 20 somethings and below.

One thing, your "By my estimation there are at least 15 million deactivated Sirius and XM radios.".... it's a weak point. How many are deactivated because they are old and users have traded up? I know I have two accounts, one built into my new truck the other in my house and can mount in my car. But I also know there's an older model long relegated to the trash bag. There's also the fact that one tends to either love or not care about SiriXM type technologies. In effect they can get by with what's "free".

So by my math, I dont think the 15 million deactivated "raidos" are a target rich environment.

Mar 15 02:03 PM

[tech man:]

O.K. MEL, WE NEES SOME ADVERTISEMENT ON T.V. ABOUT SIRI-XM, AND WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO. GOOD PRODUCT, BUT THE WORK NEEDS TO GET OUT. THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO KNOW. GET THE MARKETING DEPT. ON THE JOB. T.M.

Mar 15 03:04 PM

[tucknroll:]

Valid points, has anyone figured out yet why Mel continues to undermine SIRI. ADVERTISE...ADVERTISE....

Mar 15 03:54 PM

[BigVinnie:]

There is no money for advertising. Sirius/xm owes more in debt, than the cash made on hand.
Marketing? What marketing?
All the people for marketing were laid off months ago back in oct...LOL

Mar 15 05:47 PM

[Denmen:]

Most new car ads have SiriusXM mentioned in their commercial. True there are less new car ads right now, but I think Mel is riding on these car ads to get SiriusXM on TV ads. Still would love to see more Satradio ads with a must have feel to their spots.

Mar 15 07:56 PM

[iPuck:]

As a share holder is on my interest to have people subscribe to SiriusXM, so I will be adding this information to all my blogs and site.

Mar 15 08:55 PM

[Come on Guy...:]

I been adding videos everyday on youtube promoting Sirius

Mar 15 09:30 PM

[Merdock:]

Yes, it would be nice to see more advertising from Sirius XM but for you to trash the company AGAIN is worse! I see that it is admitted that the media trounced them down when it may not have been completely warrented but then ask what are THEY doing about it. What are YOU (the media) doing about it!! The media trashed them relentlessly and were wrong. Time for the media to do something about it! You stole the bone from the dog, now is the time to feed him some scraps, not take his water bowl too!!

Mar 16 05:25 AM

[ojarthur:]

Sirius DOES need to market its fabulous product.
- There is all kinds of talk about whether or not people are/should be willing to pay for the monthly service. It's a no brainer. For the cost of one CD a month you gain access to an incredible array of CURRENT top quality music, news, and more.
- Sirus is the BEST value in entertainment! If you only listen during your 1/2 hour drive to and from work you get 30 hours of entertainment for the cost of a CD. An awesome value. Compare that to a $10 movie ticket for 2 hours of entertainment, or $30 baseball ticket for 3 hours, or $100 for a monthly TV subscription, or even $15 for a CD where you can listen to the SAME exact music over and over and over again.

Mar 16 09:07 AM

[ScroogeMcduck:]

All of these factor into whether Sirius XM will meet, beat, or miss the -.06 to -.08 range for the quarter, with the consensus being -.07. For each of the last 2 years, Sirius had surprised to the upside in Q4 by .02. With this in mind, I am projecting another upside surprise of -.05, as earnings are expected to be reported soon.

GOOD PERDICTION BRANDON ONLY .02 CENTS OFF

Mar 16 09:50 AM

[GetSIRI:]

Again this past weekend I walk into Best Buy, decide to look for Sirius and have to reach the deepest bowels of the store.

More people are in the market to add Sirius then they are an aftermarket head unit. Lets get them seperated and moved a little.

Mar 16 10:23 AM

[Sherwyn:]

Great article, Brandon! The value of strategic marketing is consistently underestimated by most American companies. Siri needs to get the word out on all of these great new developments. I was not aware of the new interoperable radio. Also, did not know about the free preview of Siri service during March 12-26. Keep pushing them.....I think it is starting to have an effect.

Mar 16 11:48 AM

[lightning:]

I have a suggestion concerning the free preview being offered. It sounds like a great idea, but lets take it one step further. Offer one or maybe two channels accessible to anyone without a subscription-all the time. This/these channel(s) would be supported by commercials similar to terrestrial radio. This would encourage some to buy sat radio (without subscribing), especially in rural areas, and put to use existing satellite radios whose sub. expired.
This would heighten the awareness of sat. radio (at a lower buy-in cost), offer another revenue stream and lead people back into subscriptions.
And, oh yeah, ADVERTISE!

Mar 16 11:53 AM