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Authenticity: Radio’s Secret Weapon

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Tuesdays With Coleman

The Athletic, the subscription-only sports website, featured an article titled, “Ben Roethlisberger’s radio show has turned into a must-listen because he’s ‘not afraid to say things’.”

For anyone in the radio industry, seeing a connection made between “must-listen” and “radio” is like watching the clouds part and hearing the angels sing.

What’s so special about the Steelers’ quarterback’s radio show? And what makes it a “must-listen?”

The show airs on KDKA-FM (93.7 The Fan) each Tuesday at 11 a.m., when he joins midday personalities Ron Cook and Joe Starkey. As the Athletic piece points out, athletes having their own radio show is not unusual. Hearing more than your typical microphone-ready clichés? Now, that’s unexpected. Whatever he has done or what people say about him, Ben Roethlisberger provides radio gold.

On his radio show, Big Ben has regularly criticized fellow players. He questioned the team’s 2018 third round draft pick. He refused to rule out retirement, sending the media into a frenzy. He ripped into NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport when the reporter said Roethlisberger suffered cracked ribs in a December game against the Raiders.

It’s not just that Ben denied the report. That wouldn’t be “must-listen radio.” It’s the way he denied it.

“My wife texted me before the game like, ‘Did you hear about this?’ I’m in the locker room like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ I don’t know where that guy gets his information from so we’re not even going to give him credence on this show if that’s OK with you.”

By adding in the anecdote about his wife, he personalized it. Made it real. Made it authentic. Very different than saying “That’s not true. Next question.”

Steelers star wide receiver Antonio Brown didn’t play in the team’s final regular season game, and the reason originally reported was an injured knee. Reports after the game indicated significant dissension at practice earlier in the week between Brown and his quarterback. While some players may have wanted to avoid talk of a sensitive scenario, there was Big Ben last Tuesday on The Fan, discussing his perspective on the situation and revealing for the first time that he’d tried to reach out to Brown multiple times and wasn’t getting a response. Credit again to the hosts, who didn’t throw softballs out of the gate but tackled the Antonio Brown situation right from the first question.

Here are a few takeaways from Ben’s “must-listen” radio show:

  • The brand isn’t everything. You’ve got to have the content.

You can understand why some sports stations get very excited to land a star athlete from the home team for a regular feature. While the player’s brand equity will bring in listeners, they will only keep coming back if it’s worth listening to.

  • Give big credit to the hosts.

This show isn’t the first platform on which Roethlisberger has shared his thoughts. But it is where he’s been most interesting, compelling, controversial, quotable and listenable. A primary reason is likely the show’s hosts. If they don’t ask the right questions or make him feel completely comfortable in that environment, he won’t deliver the gold.

How can you make “must-listen radio?”

You don’t have to have Ben Roethlisberger on your station, nor do you have to have a sports station.

But, as is the case on Big Ben’s show, you can make sure your programming is authentic.

Let listeners behind the curtain. Be real. Be transparent. Go unexpected places.

We’re all capable of disarming others, making them vulnerable, and thereby creating truly engaging, authentic content.

Be authentic. Make “must-listen radio” today.

 

 

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Our Top 5 Blog Posts of 2018

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Tuesdays With Coleman

Radio loves a good countdown.

WMCA-FM in New York was counting down the hottest singles all the way back in the 1950s.

Casey Kasem took the countdown format coast-to-coast with the debut of American Top 40 in July 1970 (on just seven stations!)

Countdowns have stood the test of time, from syndicated programming to the local “Most Requested,” Top 8 at 8 or Hot 9 at 9.

2018 marks the first full year of our Tuesdays With Coleman blog, providing tips and insights on branding, content and research strategy every Tuesday.

As we get ready to say farewell to 2018, it seems only fitting to highlight our five most-read blogs of the year in honor of the great radio countdowns of past and present.

With the assistance of Google Analytics, we’ve got the facts and figures and the list below (counted down, of course, from number five to number one.) Now, on with the countdown.

 

#5           Should I Play That Song on my Radio Station?  By Jon Coleman

In this blog, originally posted on September 25, 2018, Founder Jon Coleman explains that deciding which songs to play on your radio station isn’t always as clear as it seems. Jon describes how our Brand-Content MatrixSM and Acceptance-Fit Matrix can assist with your evaluation strategy, and reveals when it makes sense to take some extra risks.

Acceptance Fit Matrix

 

#4           Why Radio Stations Are Like Toy Stores  By Jay Nachlis

Associate Consultant Jay Nachlis wrote this blog on September 4, 2018, after FAO Schwarz announced the iconic toy brand would reopen in New York.

By revisiting his thoughts on why Toys R Us closed earlier in the year and examining new plans by FAO Schwarz, Jay discovers that the things that make toy stores appealing are strikingly similar to what makes radio stations appealing.

#3           The Branding Genius of Trader Joe’s  By Sam Milkman

While just about every Tuesdays With Coleman blog covers brand strategy, not all focus entirely on radio. This April 3, 2018 entry from Executive Vice President/Senior Consultant Sam Milkman highlights four reasons why Trader Joe’s has succeeded in the hugely competitive grocery space.

If you do work at a radio station, you’ll discover ways to carve out your own market position using lessons from Trader Joe’s.

#2           The 90s Music Research Conundrum  By John Boyne

Executive Vice President/Senior Consultant John Boyne reveals the reason why Adult Contemporary and Classic Hits radio stations are playing such small percentages of 90s music, despite the fact that much of the target demographic grew up listening to it.

#1           10 PPM Tips for Program Directors: 10 Years Later  By Jon Coleman

10 years after Arbitron rolled out the Portable People Meter to the Top 10 US markets, Jon revisits a dos and don’ts list he wrote for radio program directors in the early days of PPM.

This blog republishes the 10 tips, with brand new commentary from Jon looking back at the advice through a 2018 lens.

All of us at Coleman Insights wish you a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year! If you haven’t yet subscribed for Tuesdays With Coleman, click here and you won’t miss a single post in 2019.

“Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.” – Casey Kasem

 

 

 

 

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The Palessi Brand Fit Lesson for Radio

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Tuesdays With Coleman

Do listeners visit your radio station or podcast for the product or the brand?

While you chew on that, let’s visit the story of Palessi.

A couple of weeks ago, Payless ShoeSource opened a pop-up boutique store at a former Armani location in Santa Monica. The company invited groups of upscale fashion gurus and social media influencers to a grand opening event, complete with gold mannequins, soft lighting and models. The name of this new store?

Palessi.

And so, this fashionable, trendy new brand in town brought in their target crowd where they could get a good look at the merchandise.

The customers loved what they saw. Influencers used words like “elegant,” “classy” and “sophisticated” to describe the shoes, which attendees guessed cost between $400 and $600.

The shoes were from Payless. Actual retail price? $19.99 to $39.99.

The stunt brought the Payless brand a great deal of publicity, but perhaps more important is the larger branding lesson.

Would it have worked if the store was opened, same mannequins, same lighting, same models, same pricing….using the name Payless?

Would it have worked if the store was opened, same mannequins, same lighting, same models, same pricing….using a line extension? Like Payless Premium?

Of course it would not have, because fashionistas have a preconceived notion of what Payless Shoe Source is and it is not for them. It is not a brand match.

But what about the product? Could Palessi have gotten away with selling $20 shoes for $400?

For a short time, yes – while the store’s newness had a halo effect and word spread about how cool it was.

But before too long, the inferior quality of the shoes would probably have become apparent. Straps would fall off and soles would start wearing out long before they ought to for shoes that cost $400.

In a different decade, this ruse could have played out a little longer but not today. The Google reviews would be vicious, Instagram would be littered with photos of the disintegrated shoes, and someone would make a video outing the store for selling $20 shoes for $400 that would go viral. Then TMZ would show up, and well…you know the rest.

Back to the original question.

Do listeners visit your radio station or podcast for the product or the brand?

It is the brand that brings your listeners in – just as Palessi brought its customers in. It is the product that keeps them there. If your product is misaligned to the brand – as Palessi’s was – you will ultimately pay the price.

 

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Direct Marketing is Easy. Brand Marketing is Hard.

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Tuesdays With Coleman

For the second year in a row, I watched marketing guru Seth Godin deliver the keynote address at Internet Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina.

As always, Seth offered the attendees various nuggets of knowledge. Things like:

  • Ignore the masses. “Seek out your most viable audience and shun the non-believers.”
  • “Make things better by making better things.”
  • To find the best people to work for you, look in different places. “If you’re not looking for a job, this may be the job for you.”

My favorite section of Seth’s talk was when he specifically addressed brand marketing versus direct marketing.

In 2000, Google AdWords (recently rebranded as Google Ads) launched with 350 advertisers. Today, it’s estimated Google and Facebook account for at least 25 percent of total media advertising revenue.

Anyone with a business of any size can utilize digital marketing, and one of its key benefits is that it is trackable.

Google tracks digital ads very specifically and immediately and is easily accessible. It became easier to quickly determine how many people have seen it, clicked it, watched it or filled out a form and to track the exact return on your investment.

Google Ads

This, of course, has been a numbing challenge for sales teams of traditional media, like newspaper and radio.

How do you sell the effectiveness of radio advertising when the results aren’t always trackable?

That’s when Seth Godin recited the best words of the conference:

“If you want to do brand marketing, you have to refuse to measure.”

This hit me like a lightning bolt.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Google Analytics. I run trackable digital campaigns for our company. But I also strongly believe that branding—the art of getting consumers to have a clear perceptual understanding of your brand—is the most important marketing element of all, and the foundation of every company’s success. Branding first, tactical second.

But seemingly every company wants measured results.

Godin mentioned the print ads that Absolut Vodka ran for all those years on the back of magazines.

Absolut doesn’t know how many bottles of vodka they sold as a direct result of people seeing those ads.

And that’s ok.

We do know when Absolut began those ads in 1980 it had a 2.5% market share, and after 25 straight years of running them held a 50% market share.

Branding and consistency.

We’ve all become so hyper-focused on the now, the instant gratification of numbers, that it is easy to take your eye off the big picture.

Tactical advertising won’t grow your business, the same way tactical contesting won’t grow your radio station.

Grow the brand perceptually, research to track your strengths and weaknesses, then use tactical to support the brand.

The next time a client says they want to run a quick “test” campaign, ask them what would have happened had Absolut run just one print ad. Or even just one month or one year’s worth.

Branding and consistency.

The next time you wonder if you’ve said that positioning statement too many times on your radio station or run that music promo too often, remind yourself:

Branding and consistency.

Remember that while measuring in-the-moment is valuable, it has its place and it is imperfect.

That’s not always easy to hear on ratings days.

So….

Brand marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.

If you want to do brand marketing, you have to refuse to measure.

Direct marketing is easy. Brand marketing is hard.

You know what? It’s also really worth it.

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Our Giving Tuesday Pledge

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Today is Giving Tuesday, a recent addition to the holiday season calendar. It is a day that has become increasingly important for nonprofit organizations to reach their annual fundraising goals. The leading software platform for nonprofits, Network for Good, reports that the number of donors on their platform has grown from 7,000 on the first Giving Tuesday in 2012 to nearly 60,000 in 2017.

Earlier this year, we announced Coleman Insights joined the Pledge 1% movement, an organization that encourages corporate philanthropy via donations of 1% of equity, staff time, product and/or profit. Today, Pledge 1% is celebrating Giving Tuesday by featuring the stories of participating organizations and people worldwide that are giving back through Pledge 1%. We’re proud to report that we’re one of the companies being featured.

Below is our Pledge 1% story being highlighted today. As we reflect on an incredibly gratifying 2018, we encourage you to consider joining Pledge 1% as a way to integrate giving back into your organization. If you’re thinking about giving to specific organizations today, we can highly recommend all the ones mentioned in the story below.

Coleman Insights President Warren Kurtzman learned about the Pledge 1% initiative while attending the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, and began thinking about how he could implement it within the DNA of his organization. In early 2018, he shared with the team that Coleman Insights would pledge 1% of its profits, 1% of product services, and 1% of employee time to charitable causes.

The first order of business was the formation of a Coleman Insights Pledge 1% committee. The mission of this employee-led committee is to find and learn more about organizations in the company’s local community of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Once per month, the committee invites a nonprofit organization to present its mission and needs to the group. These presentations inspire employees to volunteer and donate. At the end of the year, the committee will decide which organization will be the recipient of a financial gift from Coleman Insights.  Organizations that have presented in 2018 include The Justice Theater Project, Lung Transplant Foundation, Donate Life NC, and the Exchange Family Center of Durham.

To help us keep track of our volunteer goal, we have implemented a visual aid: an empty fish tank that we drop ping pong balls into. One ping pong ball represents 1 hour of volunteer work. Our goal is to fill the fish tank to the top with ping pong balls.  Coleman Insights employees have been filling up the fish tank with volunteer hours served at a large number of charitable organizations within the Research Triangle area.

Pledge 1% Fish Tank

Team members raised money by playing in the Exchange Family Center’s Pinwheels Mini-Golf tournament.  The Exchange Family Center makes children’s lives better by strengthening their families, teachers, and communities through proven counseling, coaching, and training.

Team members regularly volunteer at the Urban Ministries of Wake County food pantry to help restock shelves and bring in donations. Coleman Insights maintains an ongoing food drive for employees to donate food to the food pantry.  Since 1981, Urban Ministries of Wake County has responded to our neighbors in crisis by providing basic needs – food, medicine and shelter.

Urban Ministries of Wake County Food Pantry

Coleman Insights Vice President of Business Operations Eileen Genna worked the registration table for the Lung Transplant Foundation golf tournament. The Lung Transplant Foundation’s mission is to provide confidential, compassionate, one-on-one support for lung transplant recipients and their caregivers at all stages of transplantation and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

Team Coleman also volunteered with the Raleigh Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources to clean up and mulch Nash Square in downtown Raleigh.

For Thanksgiving this year, team member Jennifer Donnelly helped to organize donations for Southport Business Parks Adopt-a-Turkey campaign. This campaign collects Thanksgiving Dinner fixins to benefit the families of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle so they could have Thanksgiving dinner.

We’re looking forward to another exciting year proudly participating in Pledge 1%!

 

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Why Elton John Will Make You Cry

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Tuesdays With Coleman

Last Tuesday, my colleague Warren Kurtzman blogged about the value of video strategy for radio stations.

The effective use of video is one cost-effective way brands can tell their story and reach potential consumers in new, emotional ways. Warren explained in his blog that there are a number of examples from the recent midterm elections of videos that went viral, and radio can utilize some of those techniques in its own marketing.

Now, radio gets to learn from an old-school retailer.

John Lewis & Partners is a chain of department stores with locations throughout the United Kingdom. Like many traditional brick and mortar retail stores, John Lewis & Partners has struggled to maintain market position. The company claimed a staggering 99 percent drop in profits in the first half of 2018.

The evolution challenges facing legacy brands has been covered numerous times in this blog including “HBO and the Mass Appeal Trap,” “Harley-Davidson Has More Problems Than Tariffs,” “International House of Branding Bewilderment” and “Why Toys ‘R’ Us is Closing.” I rang the warning bell for a recently bankrupt retailer in “How Would You Restructure K-Mart” on my LinkedIn page two years ago.

Last Wednesday, John Lewis & Partners unleashed a new commercial for the holiday season starring Elton John. It begins with present-day Elton performing his first hit, “Your Song” on a piano. What follows is a pretty magical sequence, as we watch segments of the song performed by the many generational variations of Elton in reverse. It ends with Elton as a child being presented with his first piano by his mum and the tagline, “Some gifts are more than just a gift.”

It’s freaking fantastic.

It didn’t take long for the two minute and twenty second masterpiece to go viral. Shortly after its release online, “Late Late Show” host James Corden tweeted, “Holy s—t. This commercial.”

John Lewis & Partners didn’t make a video about what clothes you can buy there or what’s new in the Home & Garden section or how long mattresses would be on sale.

John Lewis & Partners made you feel something. Rather than being about what they sell, they focused on why you buy it. Instead of dialogue, the spot used the power of music and its intrinsic attachment to memories.

You’ve seen radio station TV spots. A CHR or Hot AC station might play some song hooks from its core artists, with images of the singers and bands flying across the screen followed by the obligatory station logo at the end.

Or maybe it’s to promote the morning show and you get a picture of the talent and the big voiceover. “(Insert name here) in the morning. Number one for hit music all day!” That may be fine for a 30-second spot.

But shouldn’t radio be taking advantage of the long-form video?

If a department store can use music to generate emotion, doesn’t it make sense that a brand whose product is music should do it?

Let’s say a CHR station has a heritage morning show that’s been in the market over 20 years. Can you picture utilizing a 2:20 long video to focus on some of that show’s most impactful moments and connection to the local community set to the biggest hits during each of those times?

Can you visualize a Sports station utilizing some of the biggest sports moments of all-time (making sure some incredible local ones are included), and ending with “(Station) was there?”

How about a Throwbacks station covering the History of Hip Hop?

As our Image PyramidSM illustrates with the crucial Base Music or Talk position, listeners do need to understand the “what.” Just as consumers need to know what John Lewis & Partners sells, listeners also need to know what you play.

But the truly great brands—the ones that will thrive in our more crowded-than-ever marketplace—are the ones that move past the “what” and into the “why.”

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What Starbucks is to Radio Stations

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Tuesdays With Coleman

I’m definitely a Starbucks P1.

I give Starbucks a significant amount of TSDC (Time Spent Drinking Coffee.)

A look at my quarter hours with cappuccinos and lattes would show them spread out across dayparts. There’s no question the bulk of my drinkership happens in morning drive, but I’ve been known to cume middays, afternoons and even evenings with my Starbucks gold card.

But alas, something is amiss in my recent coffee-buying behavior, and I suppose when you spend a lot of time with data, you feel the need to analyze why a change in behavior is taking place.

What follows are my findings, as well as a thought about how coffee habits aren’t all that different from radio listening habits.

Many Starbucks P1s like me spend time on its app. The first thing you see when you open the Starbucks app is how many stars you’ve earned, and how many rewards you have to redeem. Starbucks has mastered the art of marketing automation, which means I regularly get reward opportunities (they’re called Star Dashes) customized to my consumption habits.

Ironically, it’s that very marketing automation that brought something to my attention recently. Although I’m still a Starbucks P1, I may be wavering to P2 territory. My Starbucks AQH (Average Quarter Hours) Share is down. I know my total TSDC isn’t down, but it is down with Starbucks.

What’s going on?

I have a sneaking suspicion that over the past year or so, I’ve experienced perceptual Starbucks brand erosion.

It’s not so obvious that I stopped going to Starbucks. I don’t have an overall negative opinion about the brand. But when I really stopped to think about it, I remembered a number of points of irritation that have just taken place in the last year.

  1. The Nitro Cold Brew Conundrum

This spring, I walked into a brand new Starbucks in Raleigh, North Carolina and discovered they had something called Nitro Cold Brew.

Starbucks introduced Cold Brew in all their stores in 2015, and it’s become a favorite option. Now, I get to try it on draft! Out of a tap! I fell in love with it. It had all the rich flavor of the original Cold Brew, but this was smoother and creamy. Almost decadent. I couldn’t wait to have it again.

Only problem is, Starbucks doesn’t offer it in all its stores. And it would be one thing if you could only find it in certain test markets. No, Starbucks will put Nitro Cold Brew in a store minutes away from another one. I’ve been in line at the Raleigh-Durham airport where they didn’t have it, only to discover there was one that offered it right next to my gate (after I’d bought something else.)

It happened again while attending a conference in San Francisco, when I didn’t see it at the store I visited, only to see it in the window of another store nine blocks down.

Test marketing is one thing, but scattering the product you’re trying to get consumers to love across the same market is toying with brand consistency.

  1. The Clover Conundrum

Starbucks hasn’t just used the “scattered market strategy” with Nitro Cold Brew.

In some stores, you’ll find a line of Starbucks Reserve coffees, where baristas make one cup at a time on a machine called a Clover. Other markets may have a Starbucks Roastery, which focuses on the high-end blends.

When I tried some of these roasts the first time, I realized I liked them better than regular Starbucks coffee. I looked forward to having more of these specially-prepared blends.

Except, like Nitro Cold Brew, the Clover is hard to find.

It’s a little annoying when you’re creating a mobile order at a Starbucks location to be constantly reminded “Not sold at this store.”

Starbucks not available at this store

Not the best message to repeatedly send to a customer looking to spend more money on a premium item, and it creates friction in the customer experience.

The home version of Starbucks Reserve is difficult to find as well, so over the last few months I’ve found myself seeking out local and regional roasts.

I know, I’m totally becoming a coffee snob. And giving fewer quarter hours to Starbucks.

  1. The Almond Protein Cold Brew Conundrum

In theory, the Almond Protein Blended Cold Brew drink Starbucks debuted in August should have been in my wheelhouse. I love almonds. I love Cold Brew. I love Frappuccinos, and this is blended like one of those.

It may be the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.

I get it. I don’t need to like everything on the menu. But to that point, everything I’ve ever tried at Starbucks has been consistent with the brand. Variations of lattes taste like variations of lattes. Variations of Refreshers taste like variations of Refreshers.

This just left a bad taste in my mouth.

The reality is, I’m not going to stop going to Starbucks anytime soon and Starbucks is going to be just fine.

But just as I started using Starbucks less, is it possible there are similarities to situations when listeners use certain radio stations less?

Consumers have certain expectations of brands, and one of them is consistency.

When Starbucks got me hooked on Nitro Cold Brew, they didn’t make it easy for me to find again.

Start by asking, how consistent is your radio station’s programming?

You work hard to hook listeners on your product. Once that happens, don’t make it difficult to consume. One example may be a morning show benchmark that’s sticking with the show’s audience. Make it clear what times you’re running it, and deliver it consistently. Don’t make it hard to find.

The Clover Conundrum actually drove me to start consuming Starbucks less often.

My colleague Jessica noted this brand deviation made me want to go more specialized. Starbucks sits somewhere in the perceptual center. It’s not a low-end brand, and there are plenty of brands that specialize in higher-end, more expensive roasts. Perhaps Starbucks’ foray out of the center lane into high-end coffee drove me to specialists I perceived would do better.

Just as Starbucks offers Reserve as a kind of “speciality programming,” what specialty programming do you offer on your radio station?

Do the “treats” line up with the rest of the brand? If not, you may risk perceptually eroding your brand and driving listeners to a station that better specializes in your treat.

The Protein Cold Brew Conundrum is simply a reminder to stay true to your brand. Do not confuse this to mean you shouldn’t innovate. Starbucks often creates new drinks that succeed in the framework of brand expectations. Even the Unicorn Frappuccino worked. It was sweet like most other Frappuccinos and designed to be social media-ready.

Ensure what you present to the listening audience is true to your brand.

In his recent blog, “Should I Play That Song On My Radio Station,” Jon Coleman referenced Don Benson, the former President and CEO of Lincoln Financial Media with this thought:

You can be entrepreneurial in your own lane. You can’t be entrepreneurial in your fringe lanes.

P1s generally don’t turn into P2s because of one listening event.

One negative in-the-moment experience in the mind of a listener isn’t going to change their perception of your radio station.

But like any brand, repeated negative experiences that are contrary to brand expectation will result in brand erosion. In the case of Starbucks for me, it means fewer drinking occasions. In the case of your radio station, it could mean fewer listening occasions.

Loyalty is built on always delivering on the brand promise.

That goes for Starbucks or your radio station.

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Here’s to Local Radio and Waffle House

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Tuesdays With Coleman

As the Carolinas continue to feel the effects of Hurricane Florence, let’s take a moment to recognize and celebrate two entities that often shine at their best during times of adversity.

Local radio stations …and (wait for it!) Waffle House.

Let’s start with local radio.

Local radio stations play a vitally important role to their communities.

There are countless stories of brave staff that have stayed on the air nonstop to broadcast crucial information.

Radio stations help their communities with events like fundraisers and clothing drives. Some have set up charities to help in moments just like this.

Some in the industry have offered free imaging services and programming during the crisis—a great example of radio helping radio.

Local radio stations are lifelines for listeners to hear and be heard and so many so have worked in radio will tell you some of the best memories—the moments that made them proudest to be a broadcaster – happened during times of crisis, when the station and its team stepped up.

Interestingly enough, Waffle House also takes its responsibility during times of crisis seriously.

If you’ve been to a Waffle House, you know you can rely on the predominantly southern chain for a few things. You know Waffle House:

  • Serves breakfast served all day (hash browns scattered, smothered and covered!)
  • Has a jukebox that plays songs about the Waffle House on its own record label imprint, Waffle Records (really)
  • Never closes

That last statement about the Waffle House brand is important. So important, in fact, that the United States government depends on Waffle House to determine how bad a natural disaster is. It’s called “The Waffle House Index.”

If a location is open, it is coded green.

If it’s open with a limited menu, FEMA codes it yellow.

But if a Waffle House is closed due to a natural disaster, that’s—you guessed it—code red. FEMA acts accordingly.

But that work is done on FEMA’s end.

Waffle House has its very own storm center.

Activated for major weather events like Hurricane Florence, company officials hunker down at their headquarters in Norcross, Georgia and create action plans. Waffle House determines which locations are in danger of closing and when to deploy the Waffle House response team. They’ve got their own fleet of Waffle House-branded trucks and vans (called “jump teams” or “go teams”). The storm center deploys them from headquarters to the edge of designated emergency zones, so they can move items like generators and communication tech to local stores and immediately provide assistance once a storm passes.

Every local Waffle House has a storm manual, which includes directions to keep employees safe and even a menu of items that can be prepared without power, gas or water.

Waffle House is certainly not the only 24-hour restaurant chain. But, they recognized that there was room to develop their brand beyond their base position as a 24-hour restaurant and help their communities in the process. It even has a formula for cutting prices during emergencies.

When local radio stations step up when their communities need them most, they also play this crucial role. Serving their communities while at the same time, building valuable brand depth and connections with its listeners.

Takeaway 1: Brand depth is powerful.

At first blush, a Waffle House Storm Center may not appear complementary to its base position as a restaurant/diner. But in reality, it perfectly complements it because the chain already had a reputation for never closing…even in the worst weather. But, it took some Outside Thinking to go next level with a storm center, “jump teams,” and storm manuals. Don’t think this old dog can’t learn new tricks, either. Waffle House may be in its 63rd year in business, but it knows how to sell its brand depth on social media.

Many radio stations have tremendous images for breaking news and helping the community, which complement their base format positions. There are already great examples of stations branding theirs as the go-to frequency in times of need. Never forget to let listeners very specifically know that they can count on your station and how to use it when adversity happens.

Takeaway 2: Preparation is key.

Waffle House’s preparation includes manuals, an abundance of communication, team mobilization, and having equipment like generators at the ready.

Preparation is just as key for radio.

After 9/11, we gathered around a conference room table at the station I worked at and we realized we needed some emergency plans.

Now more than seventeen years after that day, radio stations more than ever need to make sure they also have a “storm manual.”

If the team knows exactly what to do when the unexpected happens and which role everyone will play, that’s good for everyone – the station and the community.

Three cheers to all the stations making incredible radio, as they so often do in days such as this. Keep up the amazing work—you make us and everyone in the industry proud.

And three cheers to Waffle House. I guarantee some great radio ideas are being formulated in brainstorming sessions in those booths right now.

 

 

 

 

 

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Why Radio Stations Are Like Toy Stores

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Tuesdays With Coleman

Back in March of this year, I wrote a blog post called Why Toys “R” Us is closing.

In it, I argued that while market forces and new competition played a role in its business decline, it was lack of brand depth that did in Toys “R” Us, a company that had complete domination of the image for “toy store.”

The last Toys “R” Us closed its doors on June 29.

I suggested in the post that Toys “R” Us had become a commodity. The store was simply a brick-and-mortar space for transactional exchanges.

The problem with that, aside from the fact that there was no real reason to buy toys there as opposed to Wal-Mart or Amazon, for example, was that Toys “R” Us forgot that the very experience of children and toys is a magical one. The retail toy buying experience, I said back in March, must be an experiential one.

It’s why those of us old enough to remember still sing the Toys “R” Us jingle.

It’s why we cried at the end of Toy Story 3.

It’s why Tom Hanks danced on the piano in FAO Schwarz in the movie Big, which was released 30 years ago this summer.

And speaking of FAO Schwarz…

Did you ever visit the flagship Manhattan store when you were a kid? I thought it was the greatest place on Earth. There were giant toy soldiers, flashing lights, larger than life teddy bears and ABC blocks and toys to play with everywhere you looked.

There was staff everywhere with smiles on their faces to help you find that magical toy to make a kid’s day, and consequently the parent’s day.

And yes, there was the piano you could dance on.

Toys “R” Us bought FAO Schwarz in 2009.

They closed all its locations, ending with the shuttering of the flagship New York store, in July 2015. Budget cuts, they said.

That year, the global toy market generated 85 billion dollars of revenue.

This past week, the new owners of FAO Schwarz announced that the iconic brand will reopen at Rockefeller Center in New York this November. As part of the product launch, according to the new owners, the store plans to hire “product demonstrators, magicians…and men and women playing various costumed roles, including toy soldiers.”

FAO Schwarz is holding auditions for people to dance on the piano. And get paid for it.

“We’re looking for people who can deliver that sense of theater,” said the chief executive of ThreeSixty Brands, the store’s new owner.

Sounds experiential. Sounds magical. Sounds like what a toy store should be.

This morning, the New York Times revealed that some old-school retailers are experiencing their strongest sales growth in years. That is, the ones that have experientially adapted.

Here’s the takeaway for radio stations regarding the Toys “R” Us closing and FAO Schwarz re-opening:

Radio, like toys, is, at its core, best when it is experiential.

Radio, like toys, is a form of theater.

Radio, like toys, can be magical.

Radio, like toys, is meant to be fun and memorable.

When toys are treated like a commodity, the business that treats it that way will suffer.

Same goes for radio.

Press Releases

Coleman Insights to Present Webinar on Podcast Listening Behavior

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, August 28, 2018 – Coleman Insights will offer a webinar for the broadcast and podcast industry detailing the results of an actual mediaEKG® Deep Dive study on two popular iHeartRadio podcasts. The insights will cover “The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast,” featuring former stars of ABC’s “The Bachelor” franchise, and “Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran,” hosted by the real estate mogul, bestselling author and “Shark Tank” star.

By the end of the session, attendees will grasp the “Three Ts of Content Execution” and how each can play a role in content development. You’ll gain an understanding of how audiences feel about the content and why they feel that way. This session is designed to help podcasters and broadcasters create better, more focused content that produces more engagement and increases listening.

Coleman Insights Executive Vice President John Boyne says, “We’re thrilled to offer this presentation to those who didn’t get the chance to see it at Podcast Movement. Podcasters and broadcasters should find the insights useful for understanding in-the-moment podcast listener behavior for two shows with very different content.”

iHeartRadio SVP/Podcasting Chris Peterson said of the original presentation, “Let’s learn what listeners really think rather than a download, which tells you nothing.”

Boyne and fellow Executive Vice President Sam Milkman will present “The Three Ts of Content Execution: A Second-By-Second Look at Podcast Listening Behavior” Wednesday, September 5 from 2p-2:45 PM EDT via webinar.

Registration is now open for the webinar here.