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Better Strategy & Creativity Using "The Three B's" - Bold, Better, and Beneficial
June 5, 2012
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. Too often radio programmers make things too complex. It's actually this simple: Find out what listeners want, give it to them, tell them that you gave it to them, and take lots of credit.
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In the past 8 weeks we have highlighted a number of fantastic tactics for radio, and morning shows in particular.
We looked at great "needle moving" campaigns like "Date My Dad" and the "Morning Show Baby".....we talked about "The Emotion Of Radio" and we also heard some great morning show imaging.
This week.....let's take a step back.
Before the tactics are selected.... there are critical considerations .
The first thing to remember is that The Strategy Comes First. The Creativity comes later.
You need to think about what you are trying to achieve:
- Are You On A Quest For New Listeners?
- Are You Attempting To Get Your Current Listeners To Listen Longer?
- More Tune in's
- Using Social Networking as a "bouncing pad"
- Is It The Creation Of Market Noise That You Are After?
- Or Is It Something Else?
Only when you have clarity here can you select the appropriate tactics that can bring your strategy to life.
Any time you talk tactics you need to think about 3 B's...
B1 - being bold
- Doing the unthinkable.
- Doing the opposite to what people may expect.
- Stunning your competitors.
- Can I push forward effectively to tomorrow AND beyond?
- Am I fast tracking listener knowledge of the team?
For Example: You are about to run a station promotion where you would normally have an hourly winner.......just to be different, promote in breakfast that after 9, you'll be playing the game every 15 minutes. Your promos in The Morning Show can really set appointments and highlight the more chances to win angle.
"We're always looking for strong promotions to run across the day and that drives listening through the hours. The twist with one of our recent campaigns (the Big Payout) was playing the game every 15 minutes which heightened the level of tension throughout the hour."
- Duncan Campbell, Group Content Director, ARN AustraliaDifferent? Yes.
Listener Benefit? Yes.
B2 - being better
Whatever you do make sure it's at least 50 % better than what your competitor is doing. Challenge yourself and your team to deliver on this promise.
For Example:
If your promise is more music than the other guys…….make sure you really do play more music. One extra song will not do it.
If it's a station promotion, don't hide it. Do justice to it by clearing out anything you can, give it 6 or 7 hits per hour and add the creativity to make it standout, be interesting and quotable.
I recall the first time "The Fugitive" campaign was run in the UK on 964 The Eagle in Surrey, Program Director Peter Gordon stripped out all the station imaging and delivered 10 Fugitive 'hits' per hour in the launch phase.
You could not miss "The Fugitive," and the payoff was huge.
Conversely, when run in London on Capital, the station made the mistake of just adding a layer of content above and beyond what was already on the air.
B3 – being beneficial
Only if whatever you are planning really benefits your audience will you get the credit ...
This goes back to understanding your audience and their needs and wants....
- What kind of defensive wall have you put around the brand?
- What do you stand for?
- How are you unique?
- What is your point of Difference?
- What word or phrase do you own?
This kind of info helps you identify what it is that will be seen as "beneficial".
Too often radio programmers make things too complex.
It's actually this simple:
- Find out what listeners want.
- Give it to them.
- Tell them that you gave it to them.
- Take lots of credit.
How to use this ...............
I encourage the Programmers I work with to actually bring this document into planning and promotions meetings and during the brainstorming process actually discuss the 3B's.
This will help you take a good idea and turn it into a great idea.
Edward de Bono calls this process something different...... "The Creative Pause".
"Being creative may just be a matter of setting aside the time needed to take a step back and allow yourself to ask yourself if there is a better way of doing something."
Creativity costs nothing but a little commitment and a little time.
Try it.
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