From the first time I spoke with Tracy, I could tell he was different from other morning show coaches.  He is highly engaged and passionately wants every one of his morning shows to win!   He’s available whenever I need him to pick his brain or gut-check a decision I have to make.  He’s become an invaluable advisor and partner to me in growing Tad and Drex on B98.5

Chris Eagan, VP/Programming
Working with Tracy Johnson has been pretty fantastic. He helped our show level up in the way we focus and present our content as well as helped us hone in on our character development.  Emotion is the key! Tracy is always super responsive and has personally given me more confidence in my writing, storytelling, and presentational skills.
Kara Wilson, Producer & Cohost, B98.5/Atlanta

Tracy started by helping us identify our characters based on who we actually are.  He has since guided our show to be more relatable and consumable to the audience.  The exciting by-product of working with Tracy is that our show now has incredible chemistry and is actually easier to perform now that we are all rowing in the same direction! 

Tad Lemire, Host, B98.5/Atlanta

Tracy isn’t just a consultant, he’s the 4th member of our show! He helped us identify our strange, fun and unique personality traits. It turns out, that’s exactly what our listeners were looking for!

Drex Rener, Cohost, B98.5/Atlanta

The Challenge

Tad & Drex (and cohost Kara) worked hard, prepared in-depth, and executed with precision. So what could possibly be the problem? The show was technically near-perfect but was not connecting with listeners emotionally.
To grow, this show had to become less perfect and more excellent, which is at the center of the philosophy of Prepare Tight But Perform Loose. That’s a hard message to deliver to a group of talented, dedicated folks.
But it was clear that the show would reach its potential by focusing less on being a better show, and more on being more relatable personalities.

The Process

We focused on digging deeper into show prep to find an emotional connection with an emphasis on how to perform the content rather than what content to perform. The hardest part of this process was learning to tell stories through the things listeners will most respond to.
This is a difficult process that changed how Tad, Drex, and Kara gathered and curated their material. We didn’t change much about the execution of the show (that was already excellent), but everything about the way it was presented evolved.
A key adjustment was integrating producer and cohost Kara into a more involved personality in each segment. She’s the ideal voice of the audience and fits perfectly with the guys.

The Growth

This was like changing a golf swing after years of swinging the sticks the same way. The show was good but wasn’t special. But with the leadership of Cox Media VP/Programming Chris Eagan, the show figured out how to create relatable content by allowing individual personality traits to resonate. This sounds simple but is incredibly difficult.
The show has transitioned from focusing on trying to be perfect to a show filled with comfortable, spontaneous, emotionally-charged touch points. It is now a destination show, providing another reason to listen to this market-leading AC station.

 

 

 

 

 

Read More Case Studies: