Listen - Enable - Serve

This space over the past number of months has been filled with, among other things, commentary on the numerous changes affecting our industry--mostly through a programming focused lens.

One of the biggest issues that face programmers is how to successfully program mass appeal radio stations when it is clear that control is shifting/has shifted from us to them--the listeners. It's a problem not easily solved.

As new ideas are tried and adopted -- new formats, new personalities, and new structures -- one area, for all intents and purposes, has not been adequately addressed. Sales. Far be it for me to play the role of a sales expert, but here goes... We got "less is more," shorter commercials, fewer breaks, more breaks, more spots, less spots, and any number of other variations. None of it has yielded spectacular results, or so it seems to me. We need radical thought when it comes to commercials.

Today's version of commercials must change. I can't say with certainty what advertising will sound like in the future but the time is now to start trying some different things. Maybe all live? Maybe more theatrical? Maybe hyper short messages tied to some sort of interactive interface? As revenues continue to decline, due to both the economy and shifting advertising paradigms, we owe it to our future to consider any and all ideas.

I want to share with you this presentation which was created to help "brands" better navigate the networked world. I think it offers some valuable insights for programming and for sales. The key take away is Listen, Enable and Serve. If we take this message to heart it could have a lasting and positive impact for programming, sales, listeners and clients alike.

Adapting Brands To The Networked World

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: internet network)

Disintermediation

From Webster's Dictionary:

"the elimination of an intermediary in a transaction between two parties"

Will our radio stations hold their value with listeners? Or will we, "the middlemen of content delivery," be left out in the cold barren tundra? The answer to these questions has already begun to be answered.

Our content has always been the vehicle to deliver listeners to our commercials. Without valuable content our commercials will be without value.

I remember many a conversation that went something like this:

"Listeners understand that we are giving them free music or information and they also understand that they need to put up with the commercials because that's how we continue to give them what they want for free".

Our model of spots for songs, or spots for news/information can continue to work as long as our content continues to entice listeners to our space. [more on commercials-length, content, volume, and interactivity in a later post] If listeners give us the privilege of choosing what they will hear we better not let them down or they can very easily go back to listening to what they want when they want.

For more check out this video-it illustrates exactly what took place to get us where we are today.