On the agenda were the challenges of the current economic climate, the opportunities arising from new media and new technology and creativity. Topics that are very relevant to the readers of this blog too….

The general perspective is that the overall economic climate will remain bad for some time to come. This will have a severe impact on the advertising income, traditional the main source of income for radio-stations. Advertising will move more and more to digital and on-line media, as those are relatively cheap and have very good accountability.

On the other hand for music radio stations, these new media and distribution challenges have some serious issues that comes with those:

• The recession will put pressure on advertising income in the ‘core’ business…
• New media and on-line distribution rights for music are still in the infancy phase and the music industry and rights organisations are developing the models as those happen. This creates a challenge for commercial radio station owners as it is difficult to plan the business around uncertainty…
• Advertisers and media agencies are not that familiar yet with new media and tend to stick with traditional mass media and the advertising models around those…
• New media and on-line distribution adds additional cost to a radio station and the limited revenue that comes from those is not immediately covering these cost…

In my upcoming posts I will share more on these individual challenges and how those impact the business and what might be ways around those issues.

The advantage of a recession sometimes is that you will have to think smarter and smarter to make your business work and innovation and creativity are key…

What Park says is not at all dissimilar from the sentiments I posted here a few weeks back. There is a lot of talent to be celebrated. There is even more waiting to be developed, if stations are prepared to take the time to do it. And there is absolutely nothing the BBC can do against a well-constructed Indie station that is rooted in its community, that knows the issues and the talent on its patch.

So, two cheers for Park’s rallying call; he’s not wrong. I’ll make it two and a half if Global starts sourcing its national talent from its local stations, and three if Global frees up (and then supports) its local stations to actually be local again.

As he pointed out, now that social engagement is moving from being a destination to a feature, it’s a big opportunity for radio.

Indeed.

Terrestrial radio has done a lot of things wrong in recent years but a way for them to get back in the game and re-establish their relevance is to make sure this is not an opportunity lost. Radio ain’t dead, but it’s broken. It’s critical for radio to re-engage listeners in new (and old!) ways.

And the whole ‘social thing’ is a big opportunity to re-engage.

Back in the day, the great state of New Jersey had an advertising campaign designed to promote tourism (and if there was any U.S. State that needed a campaign to promote tourism, it was New Jersey – Bruce Springsteen and the Jersey Shore not withstanding). The tagline of the campaign was New Jersey and You – Perfect Together! Taking creative license from the Garden State, I propose a slogan which applies to the topic at hand: Radio and Social Networks – Perfect Together!

So let’s get right to it – why are they perfect together? The fact is, at their core radio stations are and have always been social networks. In fact, they are the oldest mass-media social networks. (I’m sure the cavemen had their own version of a social network, but it probably involved cave drawings or something and sure wasn’t powered by technology!). Bound by music, lifestyle or point of view, a good radio station identifies, captures, becomes a source of entertainment and information for, and provides a voice and identity for specific communities of people. They do this by providing these communities of people with content that is important to them. Content that is relevant, interesting and exciting. Listeners to a great radio station feel like they are part of something – something bigger than themselves. They feel like they are part of a larger community of people who like what they like, who feel what they feel and who have similar experiences as they do. They feel connected.

It is about the power of the collective experience.

You know how a song always sounds better when you hear it on the radio as opposed to hearing it off a CD? There are a number of reasons for this, one being due to the serendipitous nature of it; but another is because of that sense of having a common or collective experience. It’s because as you sit there in your car listening to the song, you know that thousands of others – other members of this community – are hearing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

The sense of community is a powerful thing.

Great radio stations are community builders and community leaders. The essence of a station’s community (assuming the station is a music-oriented one) is the music, but it’s more than that. It’s the lifestyle the station portrays, it’s the language, it’s the imaging, and it’s the jocks – their attitude, the things they talk about, the way they talk about them and the points of reference they provide. It’s the whole deal.

Radio stations ain’t supposed to be jukeboxes. In fact there is probably an inverse relationship between the “jukebox-iness” of a station and its relevance and importance to people and how much “connection” they feel towards it. Call it the “sucky” equation.

Great radio stations – those with a low “sucky quotient” – get members of their target communities to place their trust in them by holding up their end of the bargain. Among other things, their end of the bargain consists of the following: providing creative and compelling programming; hiring jocks who know how to relate to and connect with people; creating ways for the listeners to directly interact with the radio station and by becoming vibrant members of the community. The members of the community look towards the great radio stations to be a guide for the community – a guide on musical tastes, on lifestyle on opinions, on trends.

When I think of great radio stations, I think of KROQ in Los Angeles. KROQ plays what would generally be termed as ‘alternative rock’ music, but defining them as purely an ‘alternative rock’ radio station doesn’t do them justice. They’re bigger than that. They’re the self-proclaimed “World Famous KROQ.” KROQ sets trends. KROQ oozes a lifestyle. They reflect the interests of the KROQ community while at the same time leading it. They have street cred. If KROQ says it’s so, it’s so. I remember a day back in the late 90’s when the Kevin and Bean morning show had Snoop on as an in-studio guest. Snoop? On an ‘alternative’ station? Yeah. The thing is, KROQ defines itself by a lifestyle rather than by a ‘format’. There’s a difference. A big one. KROQ understands who their core listeners are and then creates programming that group would appreciate, regardless of any traditional format boundary. That pertains to the music; it pertains to the jocks; it pertains to the imaging and it pertains to the guests they have on the air. Simple. Would the skateboarder kids in Huntington Beach think having Snoop on was cool? Yeah.

The point is, KROQ has made themselves the center of a vibrant community. They have served, led and engaged this community of people remarkably well. Sadly, most terrestrial radio stations aren’t doing this. But they can start. And for their own sake, they better start. The online social media revolution can serve as their wake-up call. The power of the online social networks is undeniable – and as pointed out by Dubber, it’s still evolving. So for radio stations to regain their relevance and importance to people’s lives, they have to figure out their strategy for riding this new media wave. First and foremost they can start by realizing that by having an existing broadcast signal and presumably a great deal of listeners, they already are social networks. Maybe they’re not strong, effective ones at this point, but that’s because their on-air product isn’t engaging their listener base. To improve the strength of the network they have to fix their on-air product. Invest in it, be creative in the programming, and all the rest. Once that is done and the station has an engaged listener base, they can further engage them by utilizing the web. This will require a lot of thinking. And a lot of work. But it has to be done. It’s show time.

But…. it really doesn’t have to be this way. And I’d really like to see the Indies give the BBC a serious run for their money; we’d all benefit. It’s by no means a fair fight, but I really think the Indies have it all to play for – with just a few teeny hurdles to overcome.

Let’s break it down… What has the BBC got that the Indies haven’t? Well… quite a lot, actually. Big name talents, backed by splendid production teams. Fat production budgets, even in these straightened times (and if you think they are generous now, you should have seen them back in the day). Great strategic thinking most of the time. Sensational cross-platform promotion. One hell of a brand. Way fewer format restrictions. Cradle to grave programming offers. Generous advertising budgets (at the movies this month, Radio 1 was in HEAVY rotation). I could go on.

And what have the Indies got that the Beeb hasn’t? BBC readers can stop sniggering; this is a serious question. The answers are diffuse; they vary from group to group and town to town. But even with no money and a looming recession, there is quite a lot to play for and exploit, in a good way. Here goes:

Localness: this is a terrific USP. If you have hot local bands, get them on the air before Radio 1 does. I’ve posted on this, here, here and here. It’s not the be all and end all, but it can really help.

Fresh talent: the indies are where many of us started out. There’s a stream of people at the start of their careers who will run through brick walls to do great things if they are allowed. How about cutting them loose on some off-peak shows?

Great Ideas come for free, you know. You just got to have them. And maybe some guts and imagination and humility.

Realise that you can do it better. Or, do what you are uniquely equipped to do, better than what opposition. Go looking for something, anything, that engages your audience. They’ll thank you for it.

Speed and agility. Indie output is local – well some of it still is – so the Indies can mix it up at speed. That’s a huge asset. You don’t need a committee in Broadcasting House. Just a green light from the PD.

I could go on, but I want to keep this short and to the point. Anyone care to add to the list?

I wrote a post (unfortunately Dutch language only..) on the definition of Radio last week at radio.nl, a popular Dutch website, related to… Radio and its definition…

I started looking at some welknown definitions too, like the one found in your Apple dictionary (push F12 and after the ‘bubble’ you will get the dictionary):

“The activity or industry of broadcasting sound programs to the public.”

I found this definition too limiting, especially when I look to our own in-house ‘radio’ activities

In the radio.nl post I examine some of the elements that I believe are interesting to more then just the Dutch audience.

We had a lot going on during the 12.5 year anniversary of our alternative radio station KinkFM. Let me share them with you here too, just to shed some light on the developments.

Not only did we live broadcast the shows with Dutch artists and their favourite music over various media (such as cable, internet, iTunes…), we also showed which song was playing on the internet and iTunes and provided playlists and background information through the KinkFM website.

We gave the listeners the opportunity to interact with mail, sms and calling in.

We showed them what was going on by having a live webcam coverage of what was happening in the studio.

After the shows were done, we provided podcasts to those listeners that did not record, were not able to listen or wanted to listen again.

In short we did do a lot more than ‘just’ air a radsioshow.

This led me to define radio a lot broader:
Radio: “means or media to broadcast or make available information for collection, of which sound programmes form the foundation, potentially added with text, images and interaction.”

One could easily argue that much more media than just ‘radio’ could be captured under this definition. And then you would be right…Media formats are blurring…

A radio station that would not add some or all of the elements mentioned in my definition, would probably be struggling in the ‘new radio world’… Maybe it signals the death of definition for old style radio definitions…

Since this site is called New Radio Strategies I thought it would only be appropriate to discuss strategy.

A very basic concept, strategy, no? And obviously a very important one. So naturally you’d think that every business would have one. Well, you’d be wrong. Over the years I’ve found that in many cases a strategy simply doesn’t exist. The people managing the business may think they have one, but in actuality they don’t – they have more of a strategery.

For those that don’t know the term, it was first used in 2000 by Will Ferrell in a “Saturday Night Live” skit as he was portraying presidential candidate George W. Bush debating fellow candidate Al Gore. It was used to make light of W’s less than spectacular oral skills and his, uh, let’s say, limited knowledge. The term stuck. It stuck for a few reasons – because it was funny, because to many people it kind of summed up the “George Bush Experience,” and perhaps above all because of the way it was delivered. When Ferrell blurted out the word “strategery” he did it through squinted eyes and with a facial expression that spoke volumes – one that said, “Damn, I’m proud of myself for knowing this important word. I don’t know what it means, but I know I’m supposed to know it and I want to show the American people that I know it.”

Very funny, but not really – because that’s exactly how I think some people view an actual strategy. They know they’re supposed to have one, but either don’t know how to create one or don’t take the time to create one. Instead they have a strategery.

Let’s be clear on the difference: A strategy is a specific, articulated plan that is designed to reach your goals. A strategery is a make-believe strategy. It’s vague and usually accompanied by the phrase, “I have it mapped out in my head.”

Uh, not good enough.

If there’s no strategy, how can you design your tactics? If there’s no overriding strategy, ANYTHING theoretically makes sense to do. Whereas, if you have a strategy, you can focus your tactical plan to make sure you’re doing the right things and are focusing your resources (people, money, time, creative energy) on the right things – the things that will have the biggest and most important impact.

So it begs the question – which one does your radio station have – a strategy or a strategery?

Who is the specific target of your radio station?

What is the goal of your radio station? It may not be to get ratings. In a satellite radio environment where there are many music channels, not all channels are designed to be “top-ten” channels. Some of them are there to fill a very specific niche or role. For instance if your channel is designed to be the one that plays the deep album-oriented rock tracks rather than the hits, that channel is never going to be at the top of the list as far as ratings go, but nonetheless may be very important to have in the lineup for the variety aspect. So the goal of that channel will be very different from the top hits station.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that if you are running a radio station, you need to have a well thought out, clearly defined and articulated strategic plan. You need to identify what the 3 most important elements of your radio station are and then analyze whether EVERYTHING you do on your station supports one of those elements. Every tactic you employ on your station should be done to support one of the key elements – whether it is the writing of or the sonic quality of the imaging, the specialty programming you create or buy, the events you create or associate your station with or the things the jocks talk about on the air. If not, then you’re spinning your wheels in the wrong direction – but the good news is if you have a strategic plan you can seen when you’re off track and fix it. If you don’t, then you have a strategery – which really is a strategy to fail.