Remarkable Radio Part Two: The Big Moo

This month we pick up with more of my observations regarding the book, “The Big Moo” edited by Seth Godin (click here to read part one).  It centers its theory on the headline on the cover, which is “stop trying to be perfect and start being remarkable.”  The start of this memo is actually focused on that end.  There was a chapter in the book titled, “The Remarkability Of Memories.”  This chapter deals with the fact that sometimes we must go out “on top” of our pile or industry.  The reason why is yesterday’s blockbuster could very well be getting in the way of tomorrow’s blockbuster. 

The cash cow makes it easy to resist the temptation, and risk trying something new. Unfortunately for those of us who are afraid, sometimes being remarkable is about knowing when it’s time to move and force your team to invent the next great thing, instead of milking yesterday’s hit just a little too long.

In 1998 the cast of “Seinfeld” decided it was time to end its amazing run.  The show is what was holding up NBC. The network saw its ratings crash for the entire network, after Seinfeld left.  The loss of Seinfeld and the television show “Friends” both stuck nails in the coffin of NBC, who continues to fight to rebound from those loses. 

The people in the Seinfeld show decided to go out on top.  They knew that if they would continue they would start to fail expectations of their viewers.  Instead they went away while their halos were still shiny. The cast of Friends held on one season too long, but the memory of most is that they went out of top.

Barbie, that disproportionally endowed doll from Mattel, is off in sales and struggling to meet expectations.  This year alone it lost $14 million.  Mattel should accept what consumers are telling them; slow down, we need a break, they need to stop bringing out new Barbies and instead focus on the basic Barbie they have and give the consumer and their creative team a break.  Know when its time to move on and know that moving comes with risks.

The Three Rules Of Life And Everything Else . . .

1. Your attitude is your life.  You can choose your attitude and your attitude changes you and those around you.  Rarely does a bad attitude solve the problem.  Typically, when something goes wrong, or feels unpleasant, we get crabby and yell at the wrong people.  I know that my poor bride and children felt much of my frustrations over the years.  I wish I could take that back.  Words are like bullets and once they’ve been shot out of a barrel of your mouth, it’s impossible to retract them.
2. We may solve the problem but the crabbiness is an unnecessary extra.  Solvethe problem without the crummy attitude and everyone wins.  I have learned with help and advise, to put a muzzle on my mouth.  When I feel the frustration swell to the top of my head, I try to pause and allow it to subside
3. Before I open my yap. Maximize your options.  When we lock ourselves into one possibility of how things must be done, our business, lives, and those around us get stuck.

 Maximize your options.  Before you settle on just the right thing, play out a few more possibilities.  In all things big and small, open yourself to the possible options.  Maximize your options before you settle on just the right thing, play out a few more possibility.  In all things big and small, open yourself to the possibility of options.  Then just yourself to choose the right one for the moment.

Don’t let the seeds keep you from enjoying the watermelon.  Tell this to yourself everyday.  It will help change your attitude. 

There are many aversions I have in my life.  I don’t like snakes.  I tolerate spiders.  I kill them both because my wife and children scream, when they see them.  I really hate hotel rooms that are dirty.  I don’t like to stay anywhere that keeps me from exercising the next morning.  Nagging siblings and relatives can put a damper on my mood.  I dislike people who try to control my calendar and my clock. These are things that I fear.

The thing I fear most is failure.  This book suggests that it is okay to fail.  Making the wrong decisions is bad, but making the wrong decisions slowly is worse.  The 33 authors of “The Big Moo” encourage us to fail fast and fail cheap.  Fail often.  Fail in a way that doesn’t kill you or put you out of business.  Of course, they’re right. Failure and trying over and over is the only way to learn what works and what doesn’t.  You’re going to make wrong decisions in your life and in your business, no question about it.  Make them fast and make them cheap.

One of the articles in the book talks about becoming more in tune with your product and how your listeners (they say customers) use your radio station.  In the early 90s the brand managers and advertising executives that made Leggs pantyhose were almost all exclusively middle-aged men.  These men decided just how high the control-top should ride on a woman’s waist and they decided on the demand for reinforced toe.  Many based their decision on past sales, retailer’s competitive offerings.  Others like Bob who is a senior executive in the company occasionally wore the product to try and understand how the design change affects the comfort.  For all his good intentions, his natural plumbing prevented him from truly understanding the true benefits of an improved cotton panel to breath.

Doug, another executive, according to the author who worked for the Leggs ad agency did something that was much better.  He allowed Bob to wear the pantyhose.  Doug conducted research and focus groups and asked women for their perspectives.  He polled his wife, female co-workers and even his mother almost daily.  He made it his job, both formally and informally to listen to people who actually wore panty hose.  Doug was a good marketer. 

Yes, there must have been lots of questions, especially for those of you who are involved in programming female-targeted stations. If you have a high level of testosterone, you need to be talking to women.  Follow the lead of the female target and not the lead of your male peers.  In my opinion someone else can wear the pantyhose.  I’ll be asking women about the product.

Next month we will conclude our three part series on “The Big Moo” by focusing on broadcasters, clients and friends of McVay Media who are “more than remarkable.”