WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAME UP SHORT (Part 2 of May’s article) Gord Marratto Well, the ratings are out and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that there were at least as many losers as winners. If you fell out of #1 or slid down the market ladder, don’t be disheartened. History tells us that 75% of stations are in the same boat. However, if we don’t pay heed to the warning and reassess our product, we’re condemning ourselves to a recurrence in the Fall. Let’s consider some points to help you get back on track.
Objective Assessment
Before you take any action, remember that you don’t want to throw out the good with the bad. There’s always the possibility that this book was just an anomaly and as long as you tighten the screws and paint the decks, you might just bounce right back without any major changes. Since you’re so close to the scene and likely approved most of your current product, it’s safe to say that you need a pro to do an objective analysis of your station. Most consultants will do an in-market monitor where they record you and your competition over a 2-day period and give you a summary report. Included are observations on your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to your station. The consultant will analyze your music, information, talent, imaging and promotion as they relate to your target demographic. The report will also give suggestions for improvement and underscore the things you are doing right.
Ask Your Audience - Music
Surprisingly, many stations are not hitting their stated target. Either through format drift or some bad judgment in selections, some of your music may not be appealing to the audience you seek, thereby chasing away those precious P1’s. Perhaps you need to conduct some music research and your consultant will advise you on this. There are many good research firms in Canada that will conduct a project in your market for a very reasonable price…..and the result can make the cost seem minimal. Once you have the answers, you and your consultant will be able to recreate or fine-tune your station to ensure you’re hitting the bulls-eye. It will also give you the opportunity to gauge your progress and get a fix on what your target demo group thinks of your product.
Examine Your Players - Talent
If you’ve had a ratings setback and your consultant and you believe it’s more than just an anomaly, second to the music in importance is the team. It takes a specialized talent to carry off a good morning show and the right person will have many different attributes than your midday jock or even your PM drive announcer. A good consultant can pick out the right presentation for the appropriate shift within minutes of hearing a show. Another critical talent factor is your news team and the way it presents its product. What you don’t need is long, boring newscasts with too few stories and too much detail. The consultant will show your newspeople how to make the stories leap out of the speakers and tell the listener how they will be affected by the facts.
Every one of your show hosts and newspeople can benefit from an educated, professional critique. Critiquing is an art form when conducted by a quality programmer. It is never about humiliation or put downs. It is always about maximizing whatever talent the individual has and making the reward for achievement a greater focus than the penalty for failure. Sometimes, it is also being able to conclude that the announcer just will never have the bare minimum of talent to do the job.
Remember the Rules - News
Successful businesses, like certain fast-food franchises, and many of the big box-store chains, have a list of rules for employees to follow because their research has determined how best to attract and keep customers coming through the door. If you’ve been at the top in your market, or at least higher in ratings than you are now, you likely know that you were following some important standards of radio broadcasting to be there. Being LOCAL, talking specifically to your target listener, regular show prep, getting out in the community and well-planned and well-delivered imaging are just a few of the principles of good radio that your consultant will instill in your staff.
Beyond the music we play, information is our most important product. What we say, who we say it to and how we say it makes up the character of our station. It’s fair to say that if you could parachute in the very best morning show host in Canada to your market for one day, he couldn’t be as good as the good morning person you have employed at your station. He wouldn’t know the street pronunciations, the community characters, the important events, recent local news stories, the hottest pubs etc. etc. Your morning person, if he/she is doing the job properly, would have it all over that star from a big city. That’s why it is so important for your morning team to equip themselves with all the tools to make 3 or 4 hours of super 20-minute segments. With audience turnover being what it is in the mornings, your AM talent must look at their show in this manner. Your consultant will show your talent how to inform your audience in a way that builds loyalty.
Credit Where Credit Is Due - Imaging
This may be an over-simplification but everything we do has one purpose….to get a check mark in the BBM diary. If you happen to be in an unrated market, I will re-phrase that to……making your station top-of-mind in your marketplace. Every good thing you do both on and off-air should have your name attached to it. Your consultant will show you contest ideas that work, production that sells and the use of clever words to make your brand leave an imprint on every listener. Last weekend, my wife and I drove past a Sleep Country retail outlet and my wife broke into song….Sleep Country Canada, why buy a mattress anywhere else? I was reminded of how important novel imaging can be and also, the subtle influence of the radio jingle. Aim to achieve that kind of identity for your station and you can’t lose.
The Next Best Thing To Doing Something Good... - Promotion
... is telling everybody you did it. (J.D. Rockefeller) Your consultant will tell you that ONLY after everything else is in place should you embark on a promotion campaign. We’ve addressed music, talent, information, and imaging and only after each of those attributes is in order do you plan your promotion. There’s no benefit to selling a bad product so after you have refined and retuned the station, look for the most effective vehicles to carry your wonderful new image to the public. As part of your strategy, choose the other media to capitalize on the strength of each. Make sure that if you want a certain demographic, you adjust your aim to the medium. If you want a young demographic, there’s no sense in advertising on 60 Minutes through your local cable carrier. Here again, your consultant has conducted these campaigns many times before and will guide you through the content and the media options. |