Stationality, Part Two

It is impossible to create a steadfast definition for good radio. Many people point to ratings and revenue as the measuring sticks for radio stations. While these are important numbers, they are merely reflections of a battle won or lost long before any Arbitron diary is filled out or a new client order is written. Successful radio operators understand that the real competitive battlefield is in the minds of their listeners.

The perception of your brand in the listeners’ minds—your stationality—will ultimately manifest into ratings and revenue, for better or worse.

In this Three Part Series on Stationality, we are exploring the relationship between listeners and their favorite radio stations.

In part one of this Stationality series, we discussed the importance of empathy in a programmer’s effort to connect with his or her audience. The second tenet of strong stationality: It is imperative to understand the target listener’s world of experience.

In my personal quest to enhance this empathetic understanding of the audience—and assist radio station clients in connecting with their audiences, I consulted a Forensic Psychiatrist and asked him to review some of our focus group tapes.

Combining his experience with astute observation of the focus groups, he remarked about how clearly overwhelmed many of the respondents appeared in their everyday lives. When participants were asked to share an account of their average day, many conveyed a sense of feeling overdrawn and overcommitted.

Their testimonies call upon radio to sell one of the medium’s most solid attributes… Radio is a portable time-saving device.

Radio can save people time because they can listen while they are doing other things, like driving, running errands, jogging, and working. While they're preoccupied with something else, they can get information on the weather, news and information, conversational fodder, information that impacts their safety and family life, and endorphin-causing music. Radio can offer all that out of a little portable speaker.

For an example of entertainment with a clearly defined time-saving and life-changing benefit to the listener, spend some time listening to the John Tesh Radio Show. John Tesh does a tremendous job of selling the benefit of his show to listeners with the tag-line "Intelligence For Your Life." His topicals on ways to screen baby-sitters, how to save money on electricity, ways to lose weight without fad diets, and other similar topics draw listeners in and promise to improve their lives in return for the time they spend listening to the radio.

Another key headline in the expert’s analysis of our audience is the underlying motivator or driving force behind listeners’ hectic lives. Virtually every listener’s brand choices are driven by a search for approval, validation, and a sense of belonging.

Successful stations give listeners a sense of belonging by validating their values and lifestyle.

Douglas Atkin, author of The Culting of Brands, became fascinated by the fierce loyalty of brands like Apple/iPods, Harley, Snapple, Saturn, and eBay. He conducted a study of brand communities and “cults,” looking at the psychological similarities in people who joined either group.

He found that members of brand communities and offbeat social groups are in search of belonging. Themes of community, devotion, and advocacy arose in his study.

Remarkable stationality gives listeners a sense of belonging and validation—a greater sense of purpose. What perceptions does your audience value about themselves? Answer that question, and validate their positive beliefs about themselves through your imaging, personalities, and promotions.

Stella Schwartz, Program Director at KOST/Los Angeles, has done a terrific job of implementing this particular principle with her “for your family” imaging campaign. Through a series of short imaging between songs, she validates the lifestyle of parents. Her imaging features comments from authentic moms, talking about the role of a parent and how KOST fits into their lives.

Different brands have different ways of making people feel at home. Among many tactics, Starbucks has created its own language. “Iced Decaf Triple Grande Vanilla Non-fat with whip latte” is Starbucks for “decaf coffee on ice with whipped cream.” They even have a LATTE LINGO section on their website (www.starbucks.com). Starbucks has earned mind equity by infusing new words into our daily lexicon.

Heart 106.2 in the United Kingdom brands themselves with the slogan “You Can’t Help but Feel Good.” In Part III of this three part series on Stationality, we will talk about how some of the world’s biggest radio stations—like Heart-FM in London—have transcended simple cliché slogans and tag-lines, instead creating remarkable listener experiences. You will find new insights on how you can earn prominence in your listeners’ minds by creating sensory experiences and evoking emotion.