Coleman Insights' Warren Kurtzman: "We need to unleash the creative capabilities of our people and have them build compelling personality content."

In your research across markets and formats, you've seen firsthand the impact radio has on listeners. As you look at the feedback, what themes consistently emerge?

Warren: When it comes to the research we conduct for radio stations, while things have changed dramatically over my 24 years with Coleman Insights, the most consistent theme I see is that strong brands win in the long run. Too often we’ve seen radio stations sacrifice long-term brand building by engaging in tactical practices like promotions targeting ratings participants or adding high-profile morning shows to stations without strategic positions. Stations that are well-known have brands that evoke passionate responses from large numbers of listeners and are perceived as offering multiple attributes are the ones that enjoy consistent long-term success.

You mentioned that things have changed dramatically in your time at Coleman Insights. How about in the last 10 years with the rise of smartphones and social media?

Warren: I’m not sure that the theme of big, healthy brands winning has changed, but what defines a strong radio brand in 2019 is vastly different from what it was 10 years ago. For example, when access to compelling audio content was limited to radio, CDs, tapes and records, the value of a music station owning a music-defined position (such as “the Country station” or “the station that plays the best variety of music”) was greater.

Today, however, when smartphones, social media, streaming, podcasting, etc., allow for ubiquitous access to audio content, just being seen for what we at Coleman Insights refer to as a station’s Base Music or Spoken Word Position is not enough. All of this new competition creates the need for radio brands to mean a lot more to consumers than just being a source for a particular music genre or a specific type of spoken word content.

The upper layers of the Coleman Insights Image Pyramid℠ -- which include imagery for personality, specialty programming, contesting, marketing, news and information and community involvement -- are becoming more important because the delivery of music and other compelling audio content can be easily duplicated, if not improved upon, by competing platforms.

In the increasingly fragmented world of media consumption, what makes the Image Pyramid essential to local stations?

Warren: The Image Pyramid still provides the framework for building strong, multi-dimensional brands for radio stations. Despite what I said above about the increasing importance of the layers beyond the Base Position, it is still important for radio managers to understand that they need to build the base before they add the other dimensions to their radio stations. This is not unique to radio; strong brands in virtually every product category address the base motivation that consumers have for using them and then they augment that imagery with other attributes consumers find compelling. There are different Image Pyramids for streaming, podcasting and even laundry detergent.

I say this while acknowledging that why consumers use radio is undergoing changes based on demographics and competition from new platforms. The Image Pyramid that we encourage our radio clients to use is still right for current users of the medium, but we need to accept that the size of that audience is declining. The configuration of the ideal Image Pyramid for radio one, five and/or 10 years from now may look a little different.

Radio is the 800-pound gorilla of audio. How does brand depth help leading stations evolve and grow?

Warren: As big of an advocate I continue to be for radio, and as much evidence as there is that radio is still the leading source of audio entertainment for consumers, I think the 800-pound gorilla mentality is dangerous. Radio leads, and radio managers should communicate that leadership to advertisers, but the explosion of audio consumption options and the resulting increased choice for consumers will not lead to significant increases in radio consumption in the long run. Brand depth will help radio stations maintain strong connections with listeners so that they continue to listen to them in significant quantities; the stations with the deepest brands will compete best with other stations and with new competitors for audio consumption.

Since the arrival of TV, disruption has been an ongoing threat to radio. What are the biggest opportunities you see for the industry over the next three to five years?

Warren: The opportunity for the industry is content creation. Radio stations that are merely distribution platforms for content created by others will decrease in value over time. We need to unleash the creative capabilities of our people and have them build compelling personality content, specialty programming that engages listeners and promotions that attract attention and listener participation. This content should be put on stations with brands that have strong enough Base Positions to support the development of other imagery and distributed via other platforms, such as streaming and podcasting.

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