Today, I spoke to Jerry Springer, who is best known for the Jerry Springer Show. He was also the mayor of Cincinnati, and is a political pundit, lawyer, award-winning newscaster, country recording artist, and international emcee and TV personality. In this interview, Jerry talks about how to stand out in a world filled with endless choices, how to keep people’s attention, why not all press is good press, and much more.
In a world where there are unlimited choices for media, such as TV, radio, blogs, newspapers, etc, how can you get your name out there? What’s the best way to do so?
Well, it depends on what you’re trying to get your name out there for. The important thing is to recognize what your niche is and then that will in a sense define where you should go for your audience. The internet may not be for everybody. If you’re going for an old audience and a lot of them still aren’t going to websites, then that’s a waste of time going there. Figuring out who your audience is the first thing you have to do and then you have to figure out how much you can afford. If you can’t afford much, then how can you make news with what you’re doing. Again, target the audience. That’s the most important thing and where most people waste most of their money. Sometimes people will advertise for something because they want to see themselves on a billboard or in a television commercial but it’s not reaching the audience they want to reach, so it’s more for ego than actually helping their product.
Once you get people’s attention, how do you get them to come back for more?
Well you gotta be good. It has to be something they want. It’s not like the early days of mass advertising. By now, people are inundated with hundreds of messages a day. We’ve all become experts. We are so sophisticated in knowing when we’re being played, when we’re being tricked and when there is something of substance worth paying attention to. Very rarely can the public be fooled. In the end is there any worth to what you’re trying to sell. You can’t fake that anymore. You can’t say that it’s not a real good product but if there’s a lot of good commercials people will go for it. That’s very rarely done anymore. For any one success there are literally thousands and thousands that fail.
The most powerful advertising is word-of-mouth because when you hear it from a friend or someone you’re passing by on the street or doing business with, they don’t have a hidden agenda in telling you that. So therefore you give their statement credibility. If you see something in a commercial, you know they are trying to sell you something so you put up your defenses right away. In the end, it can only be overcome by the fact that wow this is really special and I would like to have. There is no shortcut to that. Have a good product that you’re trying to sell and then it has a chance. If it’s not a good product then it may get a momentary blitz if it gets an office and but then it dies. It’s why for example yo use some movies advertised. They go crazy advertising the movie but if the word of mouth isn’t there, the movie is dead. All that money for nothing.
Is all press good press? Why or why not?
Obviously not all press is good press, but it depends on what the product is. All press gets you recognized, but again, just being recognized means therefore that people are going to like what they hear or see. Momentary bad news can be overcome if it’s a good product or service. All press gets peoples attention but it doesn’t necessary make the sale.
There have been careers that have been ruined by a lot of press because people really knew who they were. For example, Tom Cruise got a ton of press a couple years back but all of a sudden it didn’t matter that everyone knew who he was because the kind of press he was getting was turning a lot of people off so that had an economic impact. No I wouldn’t say that all press is good. All press gets you in the door and you still have to have something to sell.
Do you like how the media has portrayed your personal brand throughout your career?
Well I think it’s accurate. I mean it’s a silly show I do. Again, the audience is people tuning in to see something silly and outrageous. I think it’s been very accurately portrayed.
Is being controversial a short-term play or do you feel that is has brand value long-term?
No I don’t think being controversial necessary a good thing. It may get you noticed but it doesn’t necessary get people to want to buy your product. Again, what you’re saying, be it a political idea, product or service, whatever it is, in the end has to be something that people really want. You can advertise you want, you can have all the press you want, it’s not going to make people make the sale. You can be totally known and not particularly liked. In the end you need to have something that people want. If it’s controversial that doesn’t mean that someone won’t want it.
In your career, how did you stand out from all the other talk show hosts? What tips do you have for people who want to stand out in their careers?
My show was obviously the silliest so it was easily identifiable. It was probably the first show to be crazy. WE created a niche, that’s all our show did. Surely I’m not more talented than the other hosts. I’m not better looking. It was just that I had a crazy show. I’m reasonably bright but I’m not talented.
Be good at what you do. If you’re good at what you do people will notice. In the end, that’s it. There are no shortcuts to that. You can have all the technology in the world but if people don’t like the product they’re not gonna tune you in. You can get something that you can get on cable, direct TV, the internet, cell phone, on your iPod, but if they don’t like the product, the means of getting it are irrelevant.
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Jerry Springer has become a cultural and civic icon throughout an illustrious career. In addition to talk show host, he has been the mayor of Cincinnati, political pundit, lawyer, award-winning newscaster, country recording artist, and international emcee and TV personality. He has been in movies and on Broadway, he’s a progressive talk-radio broadcaster and recently Springer won America’s heart with his ballroom dancing. Today, because of the lasting popularity of his talk show, Springer is a favorite guest speaker at college campuses throughout the U.S. In recent years. “Ringmaster” hit bookstore shelves in November 1998; penned by Springer, it was a personal account of his experiences along with remembrances from his childhood and professional career. In November 1998, Springer made his first venture into feature films, starring in “Ringmaster,” a fictionalized movie chronicling his television talk show. In 1999, Springer teamed up with Mike Myers, where he portrayed himself in the hit movie “Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me.” He has also graced the cover of Rolling Stone, Esquire, New York Magazine, among others, and he was recently featured in Vanity Fair’s “Vanities.” Barbara Walters chose Springer as one of the 10 Most Fascinating People in her 1998 special. In 2007, Springer hosted “Nothing But The Truth,” the forerunner of Fox’s “Moment Of Truth.”
