I think im getting the hang of what ya saying.
We could add 3BO & 3MA to this mix for Central and North West Victoria. Both
owned by DMG, and both take Laws and Zemanek. Heck...why dont they get a
"Talk Radio Network" logo like 2UE's? It'll be different.
On the other hand, 3NE takes the Victorian view of things, with Bruce and
Phil. But thats not DMG, so i'll leave that for another thread
--
From Robert | Wombat Lover | Melbourne | http://www.surfnetvic.cjb.net |
Wombat Lover wrote:
> I think im getting the hang of what ya saying.
>
> We could add 3BO & 3MA to this mix for Central and North West
> Victoria. Both owned by DMG, and both take Laws and Zemanek.
> Heck...why dont they get a "Talk Radio Network" logo like 2UE's?
> It'll be different.
Yeah. Adding *all* the DMG Heritage stations would boost such a network. But
I was thinking about the best potential partners to choose for promotional
purposes. Saying you're in Hobart means more to more people than saying
you're in Bendigo. Hobart is a capital city recognised Australia wide, while
Bendigo is just a provincial centre that many would find it hard to locate
on a map. Also, Hobart sees more televised news stories than Bendigo.
DEALING WITH CONSISTENCY...
As written in my first posting >
If you study the revolving door of staff at 3AK over the years, it's pretty
clear that the deckchairs have been reshuffled both on-air and off-air, at
ownership level and at board level. One effort after another has been made
to build the strongest team of people, but little concentration has been
given to fixing the station's communication needs. The message isn't
getting through as intended, if it gets through at all.
Consistency is a big struggle for 3AK. Besides losing the friendly voice of
John Hindle this week, John Jost was shown the door, despite a modest rise
in his ratings.
Lack of consistency is even acknowledged in the 2002 Data & Commerce annual
Report:
"Radio 3AK has been operating for over 70 years. It has changed owners,
style, strategy and even language over the last 15 years.
To be financially viable the station needs to consistently rate above 3% and
ideally between 4% and 5% in the mid term. To achieve these ratings the
programming needs to continually improve and be complimented with
appropriate advertising and promotion."
To gain a quick appreciation of the power of consistency, you need not go
pass young Aussie soap actress Kate Ritchie, whose Home and Away character
Sally Fletcher married on Wednesday night's episode of the 15 year long soap
she has been starring in since the first episode aired in 1988.
All week she has been featuring in the TV guides, as well as being
interviewed on Channel Seven's Sunrise.
When it comes to consistency, this girl is all-class. She told the Herald
Sun Guide that unless working overseas could still enable her to remain
consistent with her Home and Away role, she'd rather stick to the success
she shares with others rather than be successful alone overseas.
Effectively, Ritchie is quite prepared to put a cap on her level of success
if it means not having to compromise her consistency.
Compare this attitude with the above statement from the DCL report. It
speaks of short and mid term 'growth' objectives. Unlike Ritchie's outlook,
there are no thoughts given about what negative consequences might result
from putting the station into a cycle of continual improvement. There's
also no detail given about just 'how' will advertising and promotion assist
this growth objective?
Data and Commerce may have no thoughts on this, but Mark Day from The
Australian certainly does:
"DCL is chewing through cash at the rate of about
$500,000 a month.
It has negative cash flow in the 10 months of this financial year of
$5.065 million. It has about $800,000 in the bank, plus the Commcord
proceeds and new debt to come.
That's less than six months' supply of funds at current loss rates.
Hall's promises of new business plans and new marketing approaches
will gobble up a lot of resources. No matter how good they are, the
company can't expect to turn the ratings corner leading to
Significantly higher revenues in that time".
Ouch!
Mark Day has adopted the view that selling 3AK would have been a more
logical outcome. This is because getting ratings back above the viability
line (3%+) can't happen quick enough to offset the cash burn rate. Also
because new marketing approaches may cost more than the funds available.
In fairness to DCL, we're now talking about a less arrogant business than
before. Commcord may have been sold has a short-term means of survival, but
there's also the extra benefit of now operating as a focused radio
broadcasting company.
The problem with DCL being a combined data and broadcasting business has
been a lack of focus on one industry. Lack of focus disables you from
staying close to the customer (listener).
To quote Ian Godden and Richard Koch, authors of 'Managing without
management';
"Most management time goes on dealing with internal matters. Booz-Allen
tracked the time spent by a single CEO over a two-year period and came to
similar conclusions. The overwhelming amount of time was spent internally,
and customers were rarely seen.
Most managers, by what they do, think customers are less important than
their fellow managers, immediate subordinates or the next transaction that
will shape the corporation"
There was much evidence of this in 2002. Bringing Jeff Kennett on board, as
a presenter and part owner, and a failed attempt at buying software company
Softcom were the things reported in the press.
Nowhere in sight was a listener retention program being set up to maintain
3AK above the 3% mark.
A more focused DCL has the opportunity get closer to its radio market, to
assess their place under the sun.
Now the problem in 2003 is not so much arrogance, it's ignorance.
3AK is about to appoint a brigade of consultants and managers and some of
their advice will provide illumination for the learning Ron Hall. But none
of this advice will account for much if the management objective set by the
directors is typical, share-market pressured 'growth'.
Unless 3AK's objectives are performance-driven instead of growth-driven, the
consultants will only be able to offer advice that conforms to where DCL
want to be, rather than where they are capable of being within a time-bound
period.
To quote Jack Trout, author of 'A Genie's Wisdom'
"Successful companies are never obsessed with growth. They are obsessed
about succeeding in the market-place"
Notice how column graphs in business growth forecasts always have those bars
rising up and up? Now compare this with a basic and very historical
observation of 1989 ratings posted earlier.
When you shift your objectives to being performance-driven, in this case
ratings-driven, you quickly land your feet back on the ground when it's
realised that movements in the ratings don't happen easily and don't happen
often. It's easier to stay on top than to get on top.
The business community could really do with less slide show presentations :)
The current state of the ratings agree with Al Ries and Jack Trout's 'Law of
Duality', published in The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing:
"When you're a weak No.3, you aren't going to make much progress by going
out and attacking the two strong leaders (3AW and 774). What they could
have done is carved out a profitable niche for themselves."
That profitable niche is a 4 per cent rating and 3AK ought to be thankful if
their number 3 status in the talk-market can get them that far again.
They need to think like Kate Kitchie, carve out a niche and stay put. Focus
on listener retention rather than growth.
The idea that you assemble the best line-up of personalities and then whack
a TV ad campaign on top is simplistic and wishful thinking.
And without sustainable ad spend, how can any consistency be communicated to
the audience?
Mark day paints a bleak picture - big plans, little money.
If these stations - 3AK and 3MP - are worth saving, then certain catch 22
obstacles must be dealt with:
- Building a 'consistent' brand on the smell of an oily rag; and
- Making sure any programming changes (attempts to 'differentiate') are not
simply rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.
Without even getting into concrete ideas, it can be safely assumed that
niche marketing will apply. Trying to beat the top two at their own game is
simply setting the cash reserves on fire.
Next time I post about 'consistency', I will be writing a creative brief for
a promotional idea I have called 'The A-K, L-Z Treasure Hunt'.
When you don't have all the resources available to do marketing properly,
what's the answer?
Instead of 'growth by acquisition' (let's buy the services of an ad agency
and run an ad), you do what TV game shows are doing by 'leveraging' the
usability of SMS to make interactivity possible. You leverage other people's
resources, their mobile phone in this example.
Every single home and office has two sets of telephone books, The White
Pages and Yellow Pages. My idea is to turn every A-K telephone book into a
brand-building device for 3-A-K.
Remember, this '3AK strongest point strategy' is an exercise in
communication. Since so little of the message makes it from the sending end
to the receiving end, concentrating 3AK's efforts at it's strongest point
requires marketing approaches that communicate obvious, simple ideas.
From Justin.
Two things in your lengthy dissertations:
What do you define as the differences between growth and performance for a
radio station?
And secondly, you keep referring to "customers" in your quotes from first
year marketing and management texts. DCL/ 3AK/3MP has more than one set of
"customers" to make happy, and the purchasers of advertising are the primary
ones, not the listeners per se. Don't confuse retailing or manufacturing
with the more varied requirements of running a radio station.
"Me" <someone@no-spam> wrote:
> Two things in your lengthy dissertations:
Crikey, I had to ask my Dad what that word meant :)
> What do you define as the differences between growth and performance for a
> radio station?
Craig Bellamy, coach of Melobourne Storm has been training his players this
year to concentrate on performance (such as completion of sets of six)
rather than winning the two points at the end of the game, which givs them
the actual growth in their position on the ladder.
Why? Because you gotta crawl before you can walk. Simple really.
Relating this comparison between growth and performance to radio:
Well.....not much point having a 'high profit margin' if your 'volume of
listeners' are stuff-all. What's the point trying to get value out of high
profit margin when it's based on stuff-all revenue?
Sure you need profit (growth for the shareholders), but selling ad space on
commercial radio depends on the volume of listeners (ratings performance).
Fancy 3AK cutting Derryn Hinch adrift and probably hoping they still can
keep all the listeners and advertisers happy. Hinch 'was' the brand, 'not'
3AK.
> And secondly, you keep referring to "customers" in your quotes from first
> year marketing and management texts. DCL/ 3AK/3MP has more than one set
of
> "customers" to make happy, and the purchasers of advertising are the
primary
> ones, not the listeners per se. Don't confuse retailing or manufacturing
> with the more varied requirements of running a radio station.
About 1995, I seem to remember TT-FM's former station manager (initials
R.H., I don't want to say his name wrong), saying they give 'equal'
consideration to listeners and advertisers. That's coming from TT , which
targeted the 'core revenue audience' of most interest to advertisers - the
25 to 39 year olds of the day.
I don't doubt what you are saying is true in some cases, 'some' audience
shares can be very big, like SA-FM's huge command of teenagers, but such an
audience advantage would not distract SA-FM from targeting the audiences
more attractive to advertisers for the most part.
However, to be attractive to advertisers, you must first demonstrate that
people are listening, who is listening and when they are listening. 3AK
made the misguided decision to get within closer range of 'targeting'
listeners within the 'core revenue audience' age group of 35 to 54 year
olds. I say misguided because the AM band mainly 'attracts' only people
over 50 these days. Who they are 'targeting' conflicts with the audience AM
'attracts'.
So while they may not have the resources to launch a full offensive attack
on 3AW's big share of Over 50's, they can carve a niche of about 4% (they
have already proven it's possible) by stealing some 3AW audience.
Seriously, to get within closer range of the core revenue audience age
groups, you need marketing muscle first. Channel Nine has just that,
enabling it to 'evolve' it's programming towards younger audiences over a
period of several years. It is now almost within grip of taking leadership
off Channel Ten in the 16-39 demographic. Compare this with 3AK's attempt
to reduce their median age from 57 to 47 in one fast hit.
Where's the consistency? It would be like Channel Nine dumping the 'Nine
dots' logo in a fast hit attempt to do damage to Ten by coming up with some
funky new logo.
Of course advertisers are the 'end' customer, but the audience is the
currency that's traded for the ad dollars. I say to 3AK, go for quantity
first to survive, who cares if it's advertisers selling retirement homes on
the radio that keeps them afloat, worry about quality later when they have
more marketing muscle.
In reply to:
> And secondly, you keep referring to "customers" in your quotes from first
> year marketing and management texts
First year?
I wouldn't know if they are first year texts, I have only ever studied three
subjects at TAFE....one I got 94%, which was called 'Marketing Concepts'.
I do know one thing for sure though.....I have always avoided books or not
bothered finishing books with lots of gobbledy-gook.
I question how in this age of over-communication can you get a simple
message out to any customer when the planning process that's meant to shape
the marketing message involves using terms like 'knowledge capital,
value-added chain, benchmarking, synergy, paradigm and leverage' ?
Ad News have even published a web address, www.dc.com/bullfighter so you
can download software to remove all the bullshit language from a document
full of useless words, however impressive they are intended to sound.
I'm more than happy to keep referencing from my first year text books thanks
very much :)
From Justin.
CONSISTENCY AND COPY-PROOFING...
Monday's edition of MX (Melbourne's afternoon newspaper) reports:
'Dog owners who are worried their furry friends need some stress management
have a new option: yoga for dogs.
Ruff Yoga - a so-called "doga" class aimed at relaxing canines - is being
offered once a month in Madison Square Park in New York.'
Funny stuff, but there's a serious point to publishing the above.
"Doga" is a funny term because we get it. We get the joke because we all
know what "Yoga" is. By linking the new word to a word already stored in
our memory, we instantly get it.
That's the power of tapping into existing memory and existing perceptions.
When you have something new to say, it helps to relate it to something old.
Ron Hall reckons that a primary reason 3AK rates well below 3AW is because,
to relay his own description, everyone knows where the '1278' bus stop is.
Not enough people know where to find the '1116' bus stop.
Awareness of 3AK is indeed low. Compare this with the awareness of the
index system of a telephone book. Everyone knows the Yellow Pages and White
Pages come in two-halves - the book from a-to-k (A-K) and the book from
l-to-z (L-Z).
Imagine a new 3AK logo that has the name 3AK written as 3-A-K
Now imagine the impression of a telephone book placed just to the left of
the 3-A-K. In the top-right hand corner of the book in small type are the
letters A-K, just like you would see on a real telephone book. In the
centre of the book is a black outline of a telephone handset, below that is
simply written '1116 AM'.
Welcome to the marketing concept called 'positioning' - relating something
new to something old - relating something you want remembered with something
that already exists in people's memory and agrees with their existing
perceptions.
Now, answer me this question:
Which advertisement reminds you of a jigsaw puzzle?
Only the most consistent and robust tourism campaign we've seen in the last
10 years, Tourism Victoria's "You'll love every piece of Victoria".
I'll continue this theme when I next jump online.
From Justin.
"bearcave" <bearcave75@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3f006401$0$26635$afc38c87@no-spam
> Of course advertisers are the 'end' customer, but the audience is the
> currency that's traded for the ad dollars. I say to 3AK, go for quantity
> first to survive, who cares if it's advertisers selling retirement homes
on
> the radio that keeps them afloat, worry about quality later when they have
> more marketing muscle.
Not if that means more ads and advertorials for 'Nature B'! They and the
dumb
new breakfast team (bring back Brett De Hoedt!) mean I no longer listen to
them. And I'm 31.
No, 3AW can keep the prepaid funerals, fortune tellers, fear-inducing home
security companies, roof fixers and laxatives to themselves!
Peter
bearcave wrote:
> I say misguided because the AM band
> mainly 'attracts' only people over 50 these days. Who they are
> 'targeting' conflicts with the audience AM 'attracts'.
So what do you think of Double X's strategy then ;-)
"Matthew Cook" wrote in message
> Don't forget nobody calls 3LO "774 ABC Melbourne". As others have said
> before, any successfull name can't have too many sylables. IMO 3AK is only
a
> bad name because it represents bad radio in too many people's minds.
>
> The MIX brand sux because the format sucked from the brand's launch.
People
> in Melbourne used to like Double T. Next to no-one has ever liked MIX.
>
>
Got the proof mate? or have AC Neilson gone out there and surveyed everyone
on this issue?
--
From Robert | Wombat Lover | Melbourne | http://www.surfnetvic.cjb.net |
"bearcave" <bearcave75@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3f004b8a$0$26637$afc38c87@no-spam
> I am now at a half-way mark in this '3AK Strongest Point Strategy', and
> tonight just happens to be half-way through the year :)
Justin - never have I seen so much effort put into a ng post : ) Keep it
up!
I know they're probably broke, but have you offered yourself to '3 Akron
Tyres' as positioning/marketing consultant? A tragedy if your screeds are
left to waste here!
Peter
BTW: Despite the move from 1503 to 1116, 3AK is still weaker than the other
stations here (Melb SE).
"Matthew Cook" <mattax@no-spam> wrote in message
news:bdrta6$109qkt$1@no-spam
> bearcave wrote:
> > I say misguided because the AM band
> > mainly 'attracts' only people over 50 these days. Who they are
> > 'targeting' conflicts with the audience AM 'attracts'.
>
> So what do you think of Double X's strategy then ;-)
>
Confession:
Something Anton V. (Double X) and myself (Surf FM Frankston) have in
common.....
Lack of time to prepare.
Regardless of other issues, that's the biggie. Management seems a bigger
issue than marketing.
So it's radio at a slower pace, but I'm just happy we can do it at all and
I'm sure Anton feels the same way.
From Justin.
Wombat Lover wrote:
> "Matthew Cook" wrote in message
>> Don't forget nobody calls 3LO "774 ABC Melbourne". As others have
>> said before, any successfull name can't have too many sylables. IMO
>> 3AK is only a bad name because it represents bad radio in too many
>> people's minds.
>>
>> The MIX brand sux because the format sucked from the brand's launch.
>> People in Melbourne used to like Double T. Next to no-one has ever
>> liked MIX.
>>
>>
>
> Got the proof mate? or have AC Neilson gone out there and surveyed
> everyone on this issue?
OK, I was a bit harsh. There are some people that like MIX in Melbourne. But
it is far from a well liked station.
Nice try Mr. Me, it's not going to work.
"Me" <someone@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3f0427a1$0$22122@no-spam
>
>
> > I do know one thing for sure though.....I have always avoided books or
not
> > bothered finishing books with lots of gobbledy-gook.
>
> So why do you keep quoting from them time and time again?
>
>
CONSISTENCY AND REPETITION:
According to Melbourne's Shillington College:
"Design Principle 'Repetition' unifies and strengthens a (graphic) design by
tying together otherwise separate parts."
Allow me to cast your mind back to 1994.
All the eastern states of Australia were engaged in advertising campaigns to
promote domestic, interstate tourism.
Queensland's latest campaign theme was 'Live it Up! In Queensland',
reinforcing the 'fun in the sun' attributes of the sunshine state.
New South Wales and Victoria, lacking the tropical icons of Queensland, or
the outback icons of the Northern Territory ("you'll never never go if you
never never go"), both decided promoting the 'diversity' of attractions
found across each state was preferable to focusing on an attribute or icon
unique to the state.
NSW called their theme 'The Seven Wonders of NSW', Victoria called their
theme 'You'll love every piece of Victoria'
Tim Lenehan, Research Director at Lenehan Lynton Blaxland in Sydney,
criticised the NSW and Victoria campaigns in Ad News January 14, 1994:
The secret to effective tourism marketing is to focus on your USP (unique
selling point) the thing that makes your patch attractively different from
the rest.
"Beautiful one day, perfect the next" exemplifies how neatly the pull of
the sun, surf and sand of the tropics can be encapsulated in a strapline.
"The Northern Territory (which practised the same focused philosophy) even
managed to sell a desert in summer.
But NSW and Victoria went to a different marketing school, the school of
Tammany Hall. Here, the tourist operator from each geographic area of these
states must be seen to have his or her moment in the sun. They are the real
"target audience" of these campaigns.
The eighth wonder of NSW 'Seven wonders' campaign is that those involved in
it's development are naïve enough to think that this flaccid campaign will
work. It won't. Nor will it's sister campaign in Victoria. They are both
based on the same 'big yawn' strategy.
Well, did time prove Tim Lenehan to be right?
Yes and No.
The NSW campaign did not endure, yet the Victorian campaign is still going
strong nine years since the campaign launch.
The result?
Interstate travel to Victoria has been growing faster than any other state
or territory since 1993.
This 'big yawn' campaign has been a big success and has stamped Victorian
tourism with consistent branding. Now what is it about the 'diversity' of
Victoria that makes it so relevant to holiday-makers and why didn't New
South Wales enjoy similar success with its similar approach?
There's two reasons I can draw from this example that relate to the use of
'repetition' in the ad campaign:
(1.)
As written in the Winter 2002 edition of 'Australian Creative' magazine:
In 1993, the Victorian premier, Jeff Kennett said: "Despite it's attributes
as a holiday destination, Victoria has failed in it's attempts to realise it
's true potential. This is about t change."
The jigsaw campaign was subsequently launched by Mojo Partners - conveying
Victoria's key competitive strengths of compactness and diversity.
Victoria's 'diversity' is the attribute, the compact size of the state of
Victoria is what makes that diversity such an attractive consideration.
Most of Victoria's attractions can be reached from Melbourne by car within a
few hours. Not so in NSW if you take the car from Sydney.
(2)
Try picturing all the seven wonders of the world in your mind at once?
Not an easy task.
Now picture a jigsaw puzzle of the state of Victoria
You're only being asked to picture one image, not seven..
How this relates to 3AK I will revisit in my next post.
From Justin.
"bearcave" <bearcave75@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3f0432cd$0$5429$afc38c87@no-spam
> Nice try Mr. Me, it's not going to work.
Huh??!!
>
> "Me" <someone@no-spam> wrote in message
> news:3f0427a1$0$22122@no-spam
> >
> >
Bearcave said:
> > > I do know one thing for sure though.....I have always avoided books or
> not
> > > bothered finishing books with lots of gobbledy-gook.
Me replied:
> > So why do you keep quoting from them time and time again?
> >
> >
>
>
Justin, I agree with Peter your preentation is consistent to the theme and
worthy of a good read, for 3AK however, the complex issue of gaining or
regaining its position on the Melbourne market is not in fact that complex.
We are talking about nothing more than a business... this one happens to be
a broadcasting business. Dollars in = Dollars out, in order to get the
latter you have to have advertisers, you wont get those unless the
advertisers can be heard by the listeners we all know this..
In the case of 3AK they continue to overlook the obvious, you mentioned
neich, and you are 100000% correct thats what its all about. I suspect
only one other in this ng knows what that neich market is. For 3AK I doubt
they will ever get it.. some times something so simple go's un noticed.
This does not detract from Justins interesting and well researched missive
on marketing the station. Call me big headed but I have their answer right
here - and its not going to cost them much to achieve an effective point
share in Melbounre come years end.
Steve
"bearcave" <bearcave75@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3efb2234$0$5432$afc38c87@no-spam
>
> DEALING WITH DIFFERENTIATION.......
"bearcave" <bearcave75@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3f096085$0$727$afc38c87@no-spam
> In the meantime, I hope you find this presentation enjoyable and
> informative.
Keep it flowing!
In the meantime, any chance of sticking it on a website so we don't lose the
earlier messages?
Peter
DIFFERENTIATION AND CREATIVITY
Neil Shoebridge, marketing writer for BRW magazine writes:
"As 2003 rolls on, (TV Channel) Seven will look, feel and sound more like
Nine. That will not make advertisers happy. They want Nine and Seven to
retain distinct 'positionings' and provide different audience types. But it
will make pay-TV operators very happy."
Mark Day from this week's 'Media' writes:
"Soon, we'll see a new promotional push from Seven. Gone will be the
brightly coloured figures in Lycra. In their place, you'll see the Seven
stars. We'll get to know them just as well as we have come to know Ray,
Jana, Liz, and Mike from Nine.
(David) Leckie believes he can generate enough energy to make Seven the
preferred employer. If he can make Seven the most exciting and entertaining
spot on the dial, he believes he can win the largest audiences."
In recent years, TV stations have applied a concept that usually applied
more to radio stations - differentiation.
Low ratings and lack of direction forced Channel Ten to 'redefine' itself as
primarily a younger person's network. Meanwhile, Channel Nine for a small
eternity have been 'Still the One', it's remained the network with all the
trimmings. Nine cemented their 'big' image by stealing the footy from
Seven.
Seven rates better than Ten overall, but since it's not the overall leader
(like Nine) or the leader in the core-revenue age bracket (like Ten), it's
having a harder time defining itself. Evidence of its lack of identity is
summed up by its copycat slogan 'The One to Watch'.
Something tells me Nine will still be trumpeting 'Still The One' years after
'The One to Watch' has been put to bed.
Before I wrap up my whole presentation, I'll be revisiting the Seven example
to demonstrate a point. 3AK and Seven both have a challenge on their hands,
that being the need to 'differentiate'.
As mentioned earlier, the reason any point-of-difference needs to be a
subtle one is because you want to target your marketing program as close to
the centre of the market as possible. There is, therefore, a very fine line
between having 'a different offering' and having 'a similar offering'.
Mark Day writes:
"Leckie's thesis is that TV has become , if not boring, at least predictable
'.
Yet while it can offer new program formulas, so can Nine.
Is 'The Block' boring, predictable television?
2.2 million viewers may be inclined to disagree.
Al Ries and Jack Trout, in their book 'Horse Sense', have something to say
that may prove correct in regards to the faith Seven are placing in David
Leckie:
"An Act II company is an ego-driven encore performance designed to prove to
the world that your Act I success was no fluke and that you are an
exceptionally talented individual. Ironically, an Act II company tends to
prove the opposite - that your Act I success was a lucky break."
In the 1980's, Greg Evans was hot property, taking a normally sleepy 5:30pm
timeslot into prime time figures with the sensation that was 'Perfect Match'
.
Along comes Nine and offers him a deal he can't refuse. So Evans switches
to Nine and fronts a new game show called 'Say G'day' in direct competition
to Perfect Match on Ten.
Most of you know how it ends. Perfect Match survived, Greg Evans did not.
Nine placed great faith in Evan's strengths as a compare, while discounting
other factors such as the winning formula of Perfect Match. When Alan Jones
left 2UE, he took his whole show with him. When Greg Evans left Ten, he
took only himself to Nine. Perfect Match stayed behind at Ten.
When David left Nine, Ray, Jana, Liz and Mike stayed behind at Nine......
Having the personal strength and the will-power of a David Leckie is not
enough to ensure victory. An opportunity must also exist and unlike
personal strengths, opportunities only exist in the outside world. You can'
t control how many there will be, where you'll find them or when they will
come up.
Trout and Ries write in their classic text on strategy, 'Marketing Warfare',
"Most would-be marketing generals start with a strategy that has worked in
the past and then analyse the situation. All too often they make the
situation fit the strategy. It's not hard to do because the "facts" are
never clear-cut".
3AK have found themselves in various situations since December 2002.
Firstly, they could no longer afford to retain the services of Derryn Hinch,
so they applied new strategy which declared that 3AK would be better off
going for younger listeners anyway, and perhaps the station ought to be
female skewed since the footy gives 3AW a is slight male-skew.
3AK applied an interpretation of being different. New creative audio
production resulted in new jingles, new news theme, and new voice-overs.
New, younger voices such as Yvonne Adele, Tim Ferguson and Rob Elliot
represented an almost complete makeover of the station's sound.
It bombed. The new situation 3AK found itself in was one of 'panic and
caution'.
The new strategy I see emerging is one, which sees the pendulum swing from
one extreme to another. From being 'bold and different' to being 'safe and
similar.'
Greg Evans is being teamed with Sam Kekovich on a revised breakfast show.two
blokes teaming up against those other two blokes on 3AW.
Phil Cleary, commentator and crusader is being put up against that other
commentator and crusader Neil Mitchell on 3AW.
This adds to the already 'safe and similar' approaches the station uses:
1278 3AW is 'Talking Melbourne', so is 'Talk 1116 3AK'.
3AW has 'Southern Cross Network News', so 3AK had better make sure they
could match the offering with 'Victorian Radio Network News'.
Best not to be 'bold and different', just look what happened last time we
did that.
Now all 3AK need to do to complete their 'cautious strategy' is to place
someone in the drive shift who can grow a beard in a hurry, or can get 3AK
back on the front page of the newspaper for a day or two.
Australian writer Jack Collis writes:
'Very often the "easy way" tape is adopted by those who previously followed
the "hard work" tape. When all their hard work fails to bring the expected
results, they become disenchanted. Instead of examining the situation
logically and trying to learn from it, they simply remove one tape and plug
in another."
"Hard way" being the fact it was too hard to explain the 'younger and more
female audience' strategy to shareholders and sell it to listeners.
"Easy way" being the fact that once again, announcers face the axe for not
resolving problems that are largely 'outside their control', only to be
replaced by people who have no greater control over making a ratings impact.
"Examining the situation logically" is what I'm here to do...and the
situation is this:
3AK's problem IS NOT a people problem. It's a communications problem.
I'm not about to throw a bucket of ice water over the new appointments -
Evans, Cleary and Annette Allison.
Evans and Allison will restore some consistency to AK. Listeners are
familiar with them and they are likeable.
I'm also not suggesting Cleary provides no contrast whatsoever to Neil
Mitchell.
I accept the station has goals and wishes to achieve them.
I understand 'what' 3AK are doing (being more conservative), I understand
'why' they are doing it (to be more competitive against 3AW), I understand
'who' they feel they need to appoint to give the station better promotion
(someone high profile like Eddie McGuire would hype things up) and I
understand 'where' they feel they need to go to get the place better
managed.
Also, by 'when' they need to see results for adopting a potentially higher
cost structure.
The question I'll be challenging 3AK to answer for the remainder of this
presentation is 'how?'
How are you going to keep the latest strategy on track?
How will you remain 'consistent' when you can be sure 3AW will be trying
everything to de-rail your effort?
Phillip Kotler from a recent book writes:
'One does not win through better sameness, one wins through uniqueness.
Uniqueness requires developing a culture that honours creativity.
Harvard's Theodore Levitt threw down the gauntlet when he said, "There is no
such thing as a commodity. All goods and services are differentiable."
He saw commodities as simply products waiting for 'redefinition'. Yet some
companies believe they can win through pure will power.'
3AK needs to be 'redefined', just as Channel Ten was in the '90's and just
as Seven needs to be. It also needs to be creative in its attempt to
redefine itself and we're not talking about just being creative around the
edges.
Running creative new jingles, running creative advertising spots on TV,
running creative promotions and competitions is not what I mean by
'creativity'.
The creativity needs to be restricted to 3AK's 'strongest-point' - it's
ability to communicate what makes it different to listening to AW or 774.
The reason for dragging you through the relatively lightweight stuff on
'consistency' can now be revealed.
The segment about consistency is all about promotional elements. Such as
running 'The A-K, L-Z of..." series of games and promotions, setting themes
for the weekend programming such as 'planning' and 'leisure'.
When you think about it, if you applied my ideas, the ability to be
'creative' with the promotions and programming would be very restricted.
For example, you could only run movie reviews on a Sunday, a large number of
station promotions would always have to conform to the same 'A-K, L-Z'
theme.
Yet restricting creativity to only part of the strategy is vital to
communicate a clear message, the consistency end of the strategy is there to
'reinforce' creative ideas first applied at the differentiation end.
You can't just keep changing message all the time.
I realise more changes are needed, but to understand just where 3AK's
strongest-point is, you need to first appreciate that 'consistency' and
'differentiation' are opposing forces.
Consistency requires staying the same.
Differentiation requires change.
Finding the right balance between the two hinges on where you direct your
creativity. You need to be creative when developing the station, not so
much when it comes to the advertising of the station.
I agree with Clemenger's Robert Morgan when he writes:
"Far from the purchase experience becoming easier within this world of
abundance, it's becoming more difficult. A case of too much choice, too
much noise, too much clutter and too little time.
This over-choice and shortage of time will continue to drive consumers
towards respected brands. Increasingly, successful brands will exist as
simplifiers of choice."
Yet I disagree with his comment:
"Brand advertising using mass media to deliver a single message is likely to
remain the bedrock of branding communication."
If 3AK poured $1 million into an ad campaign tomorrow, yet has a product
with no point-of-difference, then that's certainly not concentrating 3AK's
efforts at their strongest point. Even the most creative writers and art
direction will not save 3AK's resources being too dispersed to be effective.
I repeat:
Finding the right balance between consistency and differentiation hinges on
where you direct your creativity.
Ad News, 9 May 2003 reports on 'brand indifference':
"There is maximum level of similarity between perceived between brands such
as Visa and American Express or between Sportsgirl and Portmans. If we bear
in mind that the main objective of a brand should be to establish images,
circumstance, conditions, attitudes and ultimately, behaviour that creates
affinity and a clear desire to purchase and repurchase, thereby
differentiating them from competitors, we get a real indication of the size
of the problem"
A study by Brandweek magazine reveals 74% of consumers reckon all retail
stores look alike in their category.
Which is why given their limited resources, 3AK's creativity needs to be
concentrated on differentiating the product. Having different advertising
or promotions, without a different product won't work.
The role of advertising and promotion is changing. Advertising is not meant
to be different and creative, the product is. 'Advertising' is instead
becoming 'Brand reinforcement', using the principles of consistency - copy
proof ideas being repeated over and over = advertising that cuts through the
clutter.
Al Ries and Laura Ries, in their book, 'The Fall of Advertising and the rise
of PR', write:
"What is creativity? In it's purest sense, creative means 'original'. But
advertising should not be original. Its role is not to insert new ideas
into the mind, but to work with existing ideas put into the mind with PR
techniques. And especially 'reinforce' these ideas."
To get PR, which is a much cheaper promotional option for 3AK, you need to
present something new and different about your product.
And to build a consistent brand, you need an idea that 3AW cannot easily
copy. It needs to be copy-proof!
How?
That's the question that really matters.
Before I tell you what the answer is, I'll tell you what it's not.
The answer cannot be obtained using will power and positive thinking.
Forget will power, in the next two posts, you'll be introduced to its
replacement -
War-power!
"The act of war," said Napoleon, "consists in always having larger forces
than the enemy at the 'point', which is to be attacked."
For 3AK to be a larger force than 3AW at any point requires 3AK to choose
its 'strongest point of attack' and give up all other points. 3AW has many
strong points, 3AK only have the resources to attack one.
I will suggest which point that is and why creative thinking is needed that
is 'bold and different', not 'same and similar'.
From Justin.
DIFFERENTIATION AND CONTEXT
A few weeks ago, the Melbourne Storm rugby league team was in a defensive
arm wrestle with Canterbury Bulldogs. Both teams were performing well at
keeping the other trapped in their own half. The Storm held a tight margin
score over the Bulldogs at half time, 12-8, and at the 65th minute, the Dogs
wrestled the leadership when Nigel Vagana scored a try, which was then
converted, taking their score to a 14-12 lead.
Then at the 70th minute, a knock-on by Melbourne 'changed the context of the
game'. Up until that point, it was a close match, an arm wrestle. Ten
minutes later, the Dogs took the two points home, scoring 26-12 against
Storm.
If Melbourne had been able to prevent the knock on, the game would have
continued much as it had been up until the 70th minute. The Storm would
have completed their set, got the ball back into enemy territory and kept
the defensive arm wrestle going.
It might not have won them the game, but it would have prevented the
floodgates from opening up.
At the 70th minute, the game hit a 'tipping point'.
Yet the Herald Sun did not identify this as a defining moment in the game.
Its post-mortem read:
"It was difficult to pinpoint where it went wrong..."
*****
Just why do people fare evade?
Why do people pay for everything else in their day, then evade paying for
their train or tram tickets?
Is it because they are poor?
Is it because they have a criminal background and it is naturally their
disposition to steal at any chance?
OR
Is it because no one is manning the validation points and they figured the
change in their hand would be better spent hiring a video or buying the milk
on the other end of the train journey? :
Could this be possible?
Smartly dressed business men and women holding suitcases or shopping bags,
mobile phone in hand, on their way back home to Camberwell..WITHOUT A VALID
TICKET?
*****
Are prisons full of nasty people OR are prisons such nasty places that they
make people nasty?
Malcolm Gladwell writes:
"In the early 1970's, a group of social scientists at Stanford University
decided to create a mock prison. Then advertised for volunteers. The
purpose of the experiment was to find out why prisons are such nasty places.
The guards, some of whom had previously identified themselves as pacifists,
fell quickly into the role of hard-bitten disciplinarians.
"It was completely the opposite way I conduct myself right now," a guard
remembers, "I think I was positively 'creative' in terms of my mental
cruelty."
*****
According to my Consumer Behaviour' text (Neal, Quester, Hawkins, 1999):
"Understanding, and therefore learning to 'anticipate', consumer behaviour
is the key to planning and managing in today's ever-changing marketing
environment."
Marketing researchers find the facts on consumer behaviour, people's
dispositions.
This no doubt provides a useful guide for shaping radio formats.
But if the market place was a footy field and consumers were rugby league
players, could any research study 'anticipate' the sudden change of context
in a game that is an arm wrestle one minute, yet very one sided the next?
My text book describes consumer behaviour as "a complex, multidimensional
process". Yet are the reasons for fare evasion really that complex?
Is it the result of some people's dispositions or does Malcolm Gladwell
offer a more straightforward explanation in his book 'The Tipping Point'?
"The impetus to engage in a certain behaviour is not coming from a certain
kind of individual but from a feature of the environment."
Gladwell's "power of context" suggests that we are more sensitive to the
environments we find ourselves in than we may fully appreciate.
If the opportunity is open to fare-evade, some people, regardless of their
wealth or criminal status, will take the opportunity for a free ride.
People are placed in an environment unlike other purchase decisions. You
can get the service for free!
According to Monday's MX newspaper:
"Gavin Slipais, 15, suffered critical head injuries when he jumped from
M>Train's Melbourne-Frankston service when confronted by ticket inspectors
on Wednesday".
Do you think this boy had the pre-disposition to jump trains or was it
simply the environment he found himself in that caused him to behave in ways
even he would not have anticipated himself capable of?
Having considered this question, the mock prison experiment begins to make
sense. When placed in new environments, people will behave in ways that
"cannot" be anticipated.
Perhaps then, this explains why management fads in the business world are
forever changing. Market research is founded on the concept that you can
anticipate people's behaviour based on their characteristics, but much of
this research is rendered useless once the environment people find
themselves in is changed.
Stuart Wells, author of 'Choosing the Future' writes:
"There is a problem, in giving a one-size-fits-all answer. Learning from
the success of other organizations is useful but it is often too late to get
competitive advantage from an idea that has become a fad."
Mr. Hall, what makes you think 3AW has one-size-fits-all answers that also
apply to 3AK?
How does copying everything 3AW does, presenting talk radio formats in much
the same context as 3AW does, give 3AK any assurance of success?
2GB's Alan Jones demonstrated Gladwell's 'Law of the Few', but one of
Gladwell's other explanations of what causes tipping points, namely 'The
Power of Context' can be demonstrated by none other than Paul Thompson.
Mr. Thompson wrote this article in the Media Australia newsletter, dated 7
August 1992, which I have summarised:
"Radio listening habits have changed in quite fundamental ways. Ten years
ago, probably even five years ago, almost all radio listening was done in
the home.
In 1992 (Sydney Survey 4), just 64% of listeners in the home, 18% in cars
and 17% at work.
Ten years ago, employment structures were more rigid and society was more
formal. Listening at work was considered a dismissible offence.
The At Work/Office Block concepts that many (stations) ran reflected new
attitude to help shape, accelerate at work (listening)."
There's no longer only one-way to listen to the radio - there are three: at
home, at work, in transit (car or walkman or mobile phone).
And there's more than one space in which you can listen to radio. You can
listen in public space (others can hear what you are hearing) or in your own
private space (such as listening in on a walkman).
Whether you are listening by yourself or whether you are listening as a
group of people will have implications on what you find yourself listening
to. So some listening will not occur due to what your 'pre-dispositions'
are, but rather which 'environment' you find yourself in.
When you add environmental factors to disposition factors, this has major
implications for market research. Will research help guide 3AK's strategic
planning or impede it, since research only tries to 'anticipate' what people
will listen to?
Just as there is no one-way to fight a war (rather there are four), there is
also no one way for 3AK to format itself. While 3AK must rely on research
to keep it's format subtle and market centred (always stay close to the
centre of the spectrum), it should not rely on research to decide on every
decision.
Some decisions require creative thinking based on gut feel. Why?
For starters, 3AK's competitive environment determines this. Think of 3AW
as Cadbury and 774 as Nestle. A 'law of duality' forms in most industries
as a result of defensive and offensive warfare shaping these industries.
This leaves 3AK to become a 'Kenman Kandy' operation. It won't be
successfully guided by reading the same research reports as the big guys do.
Trout and Ries explain how being a copycat, rather than being a copy-proof
original can be quite a costly exercise:
"To launch a true flanking attack, you must be first to occupy. Otherwise,
it's just an offensive attack against a defended position. The two are
quite different.
Undefended, a hill or segment of a market could be taken by a squad.
Defended, the same hill might require best efforts of an entire division to
capture."
In other words, the only way to out-perform 3AW with a similar offering is
to spend big. Big advertising dollars and 'different' creative ideas
applied to the ad campaign, since they'll certainly be no way to 'position'
the station in a way different to 3AW.
Plus you'll need to spend big on personalities and probably dilute the
ownership structure of the company further to ensure the funds can be found
to keep the expensive exercise afloat.
Even though none of this 'will power strategy' addresses the fact, that by
keeping talk radio in the same context, you overlook opportunities to
investigate how listeners would behave when presented with talk radio 'in a
new context, a new environment'.
Says Phillip Kottler:
"Success happens when preparation meets opportunity.
A company has to either make history or become history. Someone compared
market demand to be a swiftly running stream. If you don't throw your line
in fast enough, you won't catch the fish."
3AK need to be prepared to direct their creative energies into the format
itself. In other words, since 'a good flanking move must be made into an
uncontested area' (no established market) 3AK requires 'environmental
foresight' more than it requires 'consumer behaviour insight'.
3AK must 'create' talk radio in a new environment.
Instead of 'strategic planning and creative execution' which is the normal
thinking of the ad industry, it will be:
'Creative planning and strategic execution' which is what flanking warfare
requires.
'Flanking' is the most creative, most inventive form of warfare. It
requires 'tactical surprise'. A flanking move is not an 'anticipated' one.
Malcolm Gladwell:
"Anyone who has ever been to the movies knows that the size of the crowd in
the theatre has a big effect on how good the movie seems. Psychologists
tell us much the same thing: that when people are asked to consider evidence
or make decisions in a group, they come to very different conclusions than
when they are asked the same questions by themselves."
Enter:
'3AK - The Great Debate at Eight'
Derryn Hinch effectively challenged the context of opinion-based talk radio
when he commenced his show at 8:30am on 3AW back in the 1980's. He
attempted this again at 3AK in 2001 by commencing at 8am.
For reasons that will become clearer in final section of this
strongest-point strategy - 'perception'- I'm suggesting 3AK make 'debate and
discussion' their core skill in the same way 'unbiased news reporting' is
774's core skill and 'opinion-based talk-back' is 3AW's core skill.
Why?
Because having a group of people on the air at the same time puts talk radio
in a new context. It creates a new environment for discussion that will
provide a real point-of-difference for 3AK.
Who would be involved in this debate?
The announcers who are already there.
Sam Kekovich and possibly Greg Evans, along with Phil Cleary and Jane
Holmes.
Why Jane Holmes?
For one, she's only down the corridor at 3MP and she has the experience in
contributing to discussion in a group. Also, she's a chick. Shows like The
Panel would not be the success they are without the female input.
It would run between 8am and 9am daily, Monday to Friday. It needs to run
precisely over the time that 3AW is presenting it's core skill - a lone
opinion maker giving his views at 8:30am, namely Neil Mitchell, and while
774 are presenting their core skill - 'current affairs reporting' on AM at
8am.
I hope you can now begin to see that I am not out to give my views about a
3AK 'dream time line up'. This is not a people strategy, it's a
communications strategy and while I have my personal views on the range of
personalities I'd like to hear across the day, this presentation is not the
forum to give these views.
Who exactly is on the panel is not as vital as the 'prevailing conditions'
for talk radio that a debate would set down. However, putting talk radio in
this new and different context, I hope Mr. Hall can now consider why I think
axing Jane Holmes completely from 3AK is hasty and also an opportunity
wasted.
From Justin.
bearcave wrote:
>Is it the result of some people's dispositions or does Malcolm Gladwell
>offer a more straightforward explanation in his book 'The Tipping Point'?
>
>"The impetus to engage in a certain behaviour is not coming from a certain
>kind of individual but from a feature of the environment."
<snip>
> According to Monday's MX newspaper:
>
> "Gavin Slipais, 15, suffered critical head injuries when he jumped
> from
>> Train's Melbourne-Frankston service when confronted by ticket
>> inspectors on Wednesday".
>
> Do you think this boy had the pre-disposition to jump trains or was it
> simply the environment he found himself in that caused him to behave
> in ways even he would not have anticipated himself capable of?
From the reports I've read, it appears the boy has a strong "flight" (as
opposed to "fight") instinct when confronted with conflict. He had a very
strong disposition to escape, but I agree he probably never thought he'd do
it out of a moving train.
It may have been the environment that caused him to jump, but that same
environment did not have the same effect on anyone else on that train. Yes,
the imediate environment can be a powerful factor in decision making. But
it's far from the only one.
You later mention that a full cinema makes a movie seem better. This is
probably fairly true in a muliplex. In an arthouse cinema I suspect the
inverse is true. But it's not the environment. It's the patrons.
bearcave wrote:
> For starters, 3AK's competitive environment determines this. Think
> of 3AW as Cadbury and 774 as Nestle. A 'law of duality' forms in
> most industries as a result of defensive and offensive warfare
> shaping these industries. This leaves 3AK to become a 'Kenman Kandy'
> operation. It won't be successfully guided by reading the same
> research reports as the big guys do.
<pedantic>Kenman is a poor example. It's owned by Mars.</pedantic>
DEALING WITH PERCEPTION...
This extract is with thanks to www.radioinfo.com.au -
'The students of this year's course faced that marketing question in
designing their station image. The name of the station is ICE because it is
a "cool" programming product they are offering and the name is a bit
suggestive of youth subculture, so it seemed to be a name that would work
for the target demographic. But then they came to the problem of selling
that name to the advertisers who might buy time on it and we found that ICE
alone did not explain to the older demographic shop owners, that this was a
radio station. If you called it ICE FM or used the frequency we will
broadcast on in following weeks ICE 100.7, though, that instantly said "this
is a radio station" because the numbers of an FM frequency, in this case
100.7, and the letters "FM" are so firmly ingrained in people's heads as
describing a radio service.'
Tapping into the 'ingrained' thoughts of potential 3AK listeners is the
purpose of what will be the final section in this thread.
In his book, 'The 80/20 Principle', author Richard Koch takes the optimistic
view that 'you can always get what you want.'
Sounds like your typical 'think positive and take control of your life'
spiel, but Koch puts on different spin on 'how' you achieve it.
"It's important to focus on what you find easy. This is where most
motivational writers go wrong. They assume you should try things that are
difficult for you. The 80/20 Principle is clear. Pursue those few things
where you are amazingly better than others."
3AK must pursue doing fewer things amazingly better than 3AW. The issue
here is a concentration of resources. In war, the principle of force
favours the bigger army, so the only way forward for the smaller army is to
launch a concentrated attack at a strong point 'somewhere along the line'
rather than be weak 'across the whole line'.
The conclusion I provided in the section on 'differentiation' was to debate
issues between a group of announcers, not just serve up the usual standard
of only getting one regular announcer's opinion.
The conclusion I provided in the section on 'consistency' was to enforce a
less cluttered programming line-up by 'clustering' individual programs into
themes. Also, I suggested ways to use 'memory by association' to make it
easier for people to keep 'A-K' in mind.
This section on 'perception' is I playing my trump card. I will explain how
all the elements I've so far raised tie together and yes, there is an
'ultimate answer' of sorts waiting at the end of this section, which results
from the sum of all the parts.
Whether this 'ultimate answer' is one you'll agree with, I can't be sure.
What I am sure of is that even if my answer gets overlooked, taking the long
route to get to my point was the only way to demonstrate the value of asking
questions.
Truth is, there are no absolute answers to 3AK's woes, or 3MP's for that
matter.
There's a certain controversial tone running through this thread, but that's
because questions are not the comfortable, warm fuzzy creatures that answers
are.
Questions suggest that for every tightly held view, there's possibly an
exception to the rule. That requires changing your mind, so if you find
anything I've written hard to bear, just imagine the reality of trying to
get your prospect to change his/her mind.
In 3AK's case, they need to change people's mind that the first choice for
talk radio in Melbourne need not be 3AW. They also need to do it with far
less resources and no heritage the likes of 2GB to help turn things around.
The chance of AK succeeding defies the outcome of every famous military
battle in history. It also defies the simple fact that only one major
battle tends to get fought in any one market, and it usually only gets
fought between the top two players.
Melbourne listeners have already decided who those top two are - 3AW and
'774 ABC Melbourne' in talk, Fox and Nova in music.
Melbourne has over 30 radio stations, but these four stations alone hold
close to 50% of listeners. To think 20 years ago, 3AK was one of these 'top
four'.
It's much safer to go for a 'niche', but whenever that word gets mentioned,
suggestions such as alternative music formats are raised. Data & Commerce
are already in the music business - they've got 3MP - and talk remains the
best bet for the simple reason that the big market share is locked up in
this format.
3MP, who will gain much from refocusing on the bayside and south-east, has a
better chance at unlocking more market share than 3AK in its current form,
yet 3AK has more growth potential overall since the AM music market has been
in decline.
To unlock this market share, 3AK must first unlock the mindset of listeners.
They must accept minds don't change easily, only very gradually at fastest,
and there are principles that must be adhered to if they hope to be an
exception to the rule. This section will revisit 'tipping point'
explanations once more to suggest ways of being exceptional.
Dealing with 'perception' is required because minds are not computers - you
can't save a file in your prospect's mind like you can save a file to
computer hard drive. You can't upgrade the human mind from 20GHz to 40GHz
when space is running out.
To quote Psychology (Grivas, Down, Carter) text from 1996:
"The process of remembering is a 'selective' process. This is necessary
because our memory systems would be overloaded if they had to retain every
moment of our lives. The result of experiments usually indicates a pattern
of forgetting. More than half of memory loss occurs in the first hour.
However, the more meaningful the material, the slower the rate of
forgetting.
How do you make your message more meaningful?
The answer is to relate whatever new and different messages you have to
'select' old messages already stored in people's minds. Since you can't
make more space, you have to nudge out the messages already there, otherwise
at least create mental ties between old and new info to ensure that some of
your message gets through.
It's important to focus on the easiest way to unlock the mind. Here in
Melbourne, the name 'Mix 101.1' is not being accepted in numbers that will
tip the ratings.
How should Mix 101.1 have tied their new name to old information?
The answer:
'The letters "FM" are so firmly ingrained in people's heads as describing a
radio service.'
'101.1 Mix FM'.
Stands a better chance than saying 'Mix' than in any other order. The fact
is the pendulum has swung away in recent years from using simple call signs.
No Melbourne commercial station uses the "FM' suffix any more than sparingly
these days, which is precisely why Mix should get back to basics.
It's precisely why I named my Frankston-based narrowcast 'Surf FM'.
Perhaps you can always get everything you want after all, but only if you
keep it simple stupid!
From Justin.
"bearcave" <bearcave75@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3f1578ee$0$26530$afc38c87@no-spam
> DEALING WITH PERCEPTION...
>
> This extract is with thanks to www.radioinfo.com.au -
Did they charge you for that?
I haven't got the bill yet :)
Paid for or not, I think it's only right to acknowledge the source of
information, even if everyone's a bit crook at 'em right now.
"Andrew Bayley" <SPAM?NOTHANKYOUabaus2@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3f167f25$0$31920$afc38c87@no-spam
>
> "bearcave" <bearcave75@no-spam> wrote in message
> news:3f1578ee$0$26530$afc38c87@no-spam
> > DEALING WITH PERCEPTION...
> >
> > This extract is with thanks to www.radioinfo.com.au -
>
> Did they charge you for that?
>
>
"Matthew Cook" wrote in message:
> From the reports I've read, it appears the boy has a strong "flight" (as
> opposed to "fight") instinct when confronted with conflict. He had a very
> strong disposition to escape, but I agree he probably never thought he'd
do
> it out of a moving train.
>
> It may have been the environment that caused him to jump, but that same
> environment did not have the same effect on anyone else on that train.
Yes,
> the imediate environment can be a powerful factor in decision making. But
> it's far from the only one.
Just to restate, the theory goes like this:
Your characteristics are indeed important in determining your behavior, but
sudden changes in behavior, as opposed to gradual changes, require something
extra, an environmental impact that 'tips' the behaviour (accelerates it).
The reason for including 'tipping point' thinking in my study is because the
recent boardroom dramas at Data & Commerce demonstrate that the company is
time-bound when it comes to producing results and they need to put some deep
throught into how they might accelerate a ratings turnaround.
I appreciate the rebuttals. Please feel free to comment on anything else
before I wind things up.
From Justin.
bearcave wrote:
> Just to restate, the theory goes like this:
>
> Your characteristics are indeed important in determining your
> behavior, but sudden changes in behavior, as opposed to gradual
> changes, require something extra, an environmental impact that 'tips'
> the behaviour (accelerates it).
Thanks for that. It makes things much more clear to me.
While I find your articles excellent reading, I sometimes find you don't tie
your many examples together as well as you could. Presenting a number of
good ideas isn't bad, but unless their relationship to the central point is
well shown, they can distract the reader from what the author is trying to
say. And if they're too far out, they leave themselves open for sniping :-)
> I appreciate the rebuttals. Please feel free to comment on anything
> else before I wind things up.
OK. I always try to make my comments constructive. I just wish I had more
original ideas to offer...
PERCEPTION AND TARGET MARKET
John: "Garfield, I wonder what true happiness really is."
(Clonk! Garfield slams down his food bowl in front on John)
Garfield: "Fill it up or I'll show you what it ain't"
Who is 3AK's target market?
These days, much attention to detail is given to identifying target markets.
'
William J. Donnelly writes in Planning Media: Strategy and Imagination -
"Advertising and marketing are data rich. Numerous types of research are
constantly being conducted across the full range of the economy and opinion.
Every possible method, from focus groups to large statistical surveys, is
used to conduct research on consumers, industries, media and products."
So much 'attention to detail' goes into the planning process of 'sending' a
marketing communications message.
The irony being that on the 'receiving' end of the message - the mind of the
prospect - there's 'too much detail (too much advertising) and not enough
attention (concentration spans are is too limited and divided)'.
3AK no doubt have access to all the same research that 3AW does, and this
fact, combined with being in a more conservative state of mind since ratings
have taken a tumble, has resulted in a new daytime line-up that indicates a
back-flip in thinking.
Early 2003, the station decided to aim at a younger, female skewed audience.
Now it would appear a more subtle format is in place - less experimental and
a return of some familiar AK voices - Greg Evans, after a half-year exile
and Annette Allison, returning after some years as a floater and part-time
contributor.
What are these tactics for?
No doubt it is just to regain some of the lost market share. Everything it
would seem has failed them this year, but I'm here to challenge that
thinking.
There's been one shining example of well marketed radio on 3AK this year -
that was 'The Breakfast Jungle' hosted by Sam Kekovich, who remains on air
with Greg Evans, and Jane Holmes, who will now only be heard on 3MP.
I held it in high regard for one reason - it came close to adhering to the
need to apply 'differentiation' to 3AK's programming. To a limited degree,
the name of the program , The Breakfast Jungle, even exploited existing
'perceptions' (eg: Jane from the Jungle). The breakfast ratings, along with
Doug Aiton at night, have clearly been the only two shifts to have held
ratings above the 1 per cent mark this year.
For 3AK to apply greater emphasis to it's communications, it needs
'differentiation'. They can only get this by applying programming that
communicates in a contrasting way when compared with 3AW. The communication
can't be too different because the target audience is not that different to
3AW's, but it can't just be part of the 'talk radio' woodwork either.
Now we have 3AK going back to competing head-on against 3AW. Since 3AW are
the leader, so the conventional thinking goes, they must know what works.
If they have two blokes comparing the breakfast show, we'd better have a
matching offering.
Yet no matter what chopping and changing they do to put the best possible
pitch to listeners, 3AK fail to understand in this age of overcommunication,
no amount of selling will compensate for occupying no space in the mind of
the listener.
I believe the reason for the change in breakfast programs this week, that
being a change in thinking about target market, is the wrong reason for
change.
The fact this short-lived 'breakfast jungle' is no more is not surprising.
Since 2001, 3AK have swapped between 'the two bloke format' and 'the
male/female duo' format four times now.
You would have thought by now they would have figured out that no tactical
moves like this can work in isolation. All the tactics used in a strategy,
just as all the instruments used in an orchestra, must be working in
cohesion to strike the right chord.
For an orchestra, the strategy is to hit the right note, the tactics used
are a range of instruments, plus a conductor, who acts as a kind of
'superior tactic'. Compare this to the traditional business hierarchy,
where top management sets the strategy and their subordinates manage the
tactics to implement the strategy.
A conductor is a 'superior tactic' which directs the whole strategy -
'orchestrates the music' - to ensure all the subordinate tactics
(instruments) are put together to work cohesively.
In an orchestra, one tactic stands over all the others and drives the
strategy. It's upside-down thinking. In business, the conventional
thinking is that 'strategy drives tactics', not 'a tactic drives the
strategy'.
While 3AK goes about reshuffling the deck-chairs once more, the 'superior
tactic' that they continue to ignore, the hole in their sinking ship that
remains a blind spot in their thinking, is how to unlock the mind of the
prospective listener.
The human mind, and the fact that it is an inadequate container for holding
information in memory for long periods and possesses a limited ability to
change the perceptions that do get held, is most certainly not being used as
a guide for decision-making at 3AK. The human mind, and the way it works,
ought to be 3AK's guiding conductor. 'Cause that's where they are sending
their communications to.'
To quote Al Ries and Jack Trout:
'We communicate with each other in a wide variety of bewildering ways. And
in a geometrically increasing volume. Only a tiny fraction of the original
material ends up the the mind of the receiver.'
THE REASON 3AK FAILED TO HIT THEIR TARGET IS NOT BECAUSE THEY HAD THE WRONG
TARGET, IT'S BECAUSE THEY FAIL TO UNLOCK THE MIND OF THE AVERAGE LISTENER.
I'm not shouting here, but this point needs to be emphasised. 3AK have a
communications problem, not a people problem or a target market problem.
Most of their efforts, no matter how clever the tactics that are applied,
amount to no recognition by the listener.
IT'S COMMUNICATION TARGET IS NOT THE PROBLEM, IT'S COMMUNICATION TACTIC IS
THE PROBLEM.
3AK needs to understand that changing its target market won't make any
difference to whether they can or cannot unlock the mind and get their
message to be received as intended.
An extensive study of all that rich data will not uncover the key to
unlocking the mind.
Instead, for your consideration, let me demonstrate the three steps needed
to unlock the mind of the listener:
a.. You need to map the mind
b.. You need to understand the importance of having a target
c.. You need to distinguish between 'communication target' and
'communication tactic'.
I will not attempt to pinpoint exactly who 3AK's target market is right down
to every demographic detail, but if you let me guide you through the
above-mentioned points, 'I can certainly demonstrate to you what it ain't'.
It is NOT 100% of the talk market. Despite the programming changes
currently being made at 3AK, I'm going to still insist that they had the
right idea when it was decided earlier this year they would target the talk
audience with a female skew.
The core reason why 3AK must consider targeting a segment of the market is
an issue over resources. Think of Garfield as being a demanding talk radio
listener and 3AK as being a less-than-filling bowl of cat food. 3AK is not
your complete talk radio format - not your full service supply of talk,
sport/footy and current affairs.
Targeting will help offset any risk that 3AK is 'percieved' as having an
inferior reputation compared with 3AW. Targeting may also provide
cross-promotional benefits for 3MP.
I will continue writing about this theme - "Perception and Target Market"
tommorow.
From Justin.
DIFFERENTIATION AND TARGET MARKET
(Continued from previous post)
The three keys to unlocking the mind:
KEY 1 'Mapping the mind'
The following paragraph is from Jack Trout's 'positioning' sequel 'The New
Positioning', published in 1996:
One of America's best thinkers, Edward de Bono, recently declared in an
article that 'thinking in America is a lost art'. His take is that multiple
causes of problems tend to paralyse people, to the point of 'analysing' more
and more and 'thinking' less and less.
Take this example from B&T Weekly (www.bandt.com.au):
'THE Wrigley Company is spending $4.5m to launch a competing product to
Listerine's Pocket Paks, which, until now, has had a monopoly.
Called Eclipse Flash Strips, Wrigley is launching an integrated campaign
including TV, outdoor, PR and sampling.
The product is only the second on the market in the breath strips category
and closely follows Listerine's successful launch earlier this year.
Immediately following its launch, Listerine Pocket Paks became the
top-selling item in the dental and confectionery categories.
Its launch was supported by a $6m marketing campaign.
However, unlike Listerine, which has a single flavour, Wrigley will offer
consumers two flavours-peppermint and spearmint. And the Wrigley's product
will retail cheaper-packets of 24 Eclipse Flash Strips will sell for $1.99,
which is 94c cheaper than its rival.
Eclipse Flash Strips is the first non-gum product to be released under the
Wrigley banner in the company's 111-year history.
Wrigley has also launched an improved Eclipse gum product as part of the
campaign.'
There's a 'communications tactic' reason I believe that the Listerine
product will successfully defend against the Eclipse challenge, which I'll
mention later. For now, I want to point out the fact that more 'thought'
was put into the original product and more 'analysis' was put into the
copycat.
Eclipse will no doubt launch their integrated marketing communications
program using all the usual tactics like TV, outdoor, PR and sampling, but
what it lacks is the 'superior tactic' - what's so newsworthy about their
product?
By reporting 'news' of a product to the mind of the prospect (something they
didn't already know) the human mind unlocks and is interested. Compare this
to what Eclipse Flash Packs hope to achieve.
They are not reporting 'news'. By now, the news opportunity has passed.
The copycat product is instead based on 'analysis' of competitive threats,
not based on whether the prospect's mind is likely to support or refute
information about the Eclipse product (excuse me buyer, could you please
refute what you already know, change your attitude and consider us instead?)
To quote Trout once more:
'In order to change an attitude, then, it is presumably necessary to modify
the information on which that attitude rests. It is generally necessary,
therefore, to change a person's beliefs, eliminate old beliefs, or introduce
new beliefs.
And you're going to do all that with a 30-second commercial?'
Which information gets supported and retained, and which gets refuted, is
what you have to 'think' about when crafting your communications message.
To quote former Toyota marketing chief Bob Miller:
"The best opportunities spring from those desired outcomes that are
important to customers but are not satisfied by existing products and
services'
(Source: Ad News, 17 January 2003)
In shifting the distribution of your daily Listerine intake from the
bathroom cabinet to your hip pocket, Listerine bring attention to
themselves. Never mind the lower price and extra flavours, the problem
Eclipse has is this:
BY COPYING THE COMMUNICATION TACTIC - great news, you can keep a little
Listerine in your pocket - THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE ECLIPSE WILL ONLY BRING
ATTENTION TO LISTERINE!
Have you ever wondered why for the last decade Pepsi-Cola has been sold in a
blue can?
Because their old 'reddish' can was reinforcing the colour that's so much
part of the Coca-Cola branding.
How many times have 3AW lapped up the hard work first put in by 3AK??
While an endless supply of wasted resources go down the drain at 3AK, you
can count on 3AW always being there to soak up those resources like a
sponge:
Ross Stevenson (from the original 'Lawyers, Guns and Money') first started
on 3AK and is now number one on 3AW breakfast, Margaret Ingram (was
Fletcher/Peacock), Keith McGowan, and more recently Derryn Hinch. No other
examples come to mind right now, but be assured there are more like this.
The call sign 'Talk 1116 3AK' is the result of an analysis of the talk
market, rather than an analysis of themselves. Everything 3AK copies off 3AW
does not work for them, while everything 3AW copies off 3AK works like a
dream.
'Copying' is the luxury of the leader; it's a component of 'defensive
warfare'. 3AK instead need to come up with their own 'great news, ........'
line.
In 'Consumer Behaviour' studies, you are taught Maslow's hierarchy-of-needs
to help explain how some of people's motives are more critical than others.
For example, most people will ensure they have a roof over their head before
they buy a Rolex watch. Yet at some point, people will also want the Rolex
watch for reasons of status.
Wouldn't you agree there's a flaw in 3AK's thinking?
They want the same status of a talk-station, just as 3AW is, without having
the resources to match. They want to wear the Rolex watch, but catch the
train to work :)
To unlock the mind, 3AK must find a gap in the mind. That requires
'thinking' about how selective the mind will allow new information from
entering.
They need to follow Bob Miller's advice, which is 'to satisfy an uncontested
area'.
Think 'flanking', not copying.
From Justin.
DIFFERENTIATION AND TARGET MARKET
(Continued from previous post)
The three keys to unlocking the mind:
KEY 2 'From little things, big things grow'
Australian finance author Noel Wittacker writes:
'People seldom succeed or fail in one great earth shattering event. Rather
it is the succession of small things done, or not done, which makes a
difference.'
If you can understand the compounding effect of your superannuation fund,
that alone can help you appreciate that big effects can often result from
small causes, such as beginning a savings plan like superannuation early in
life.
Although I'm sure 72-year-old 3AK do not want to wait until 102 before they
start to see better ratings and revenues. So consider this summarised story
taken from 'The Tipping Point' by Malcolm Gladwell:
'We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that sometimes big changes
follow from small events, and that sometimes these changes can happen very
quickly.
For Hush Puppies (the shoe) the brand had been all but dead, late 1994.
Sales were down to 30,000 a year. But then something strange happened.
Hush Puppies suddenly exploded, and it all started with a handful of kids in
the East Village and Soho. They were wearing them precisely because no one
else would wear them.
Then the fad spread to two fashion designers who used the shoes to peddle
something else - haute couture. The shoes were an incidental touch. No one
was trying to make Hush Puppies a trend.
Yet in 1995, the company sold 430,000 pairs (almost 2 million by 1996). It
was total word of mouth.
This sudden turnaround demonstrates 'the law of the few'. On the 'receiving
' end of communication, there are only a few people that will be especially
susceptible to your message that are also capable of sparking a
word-of-mouth epidemic.
At the beginning of 2002, with no help from advertising and minimal PR, 3AK
managed to jump from 2.0% in the ratings to 3.4%, and held most of that
share (about 3.2%) at the next survey. The jump occurred during the period
surveyed just before the arrival of Jeff Kennett.
You might not be able to bring Hinch back, but word-of-mouth could be
applied again in another way.
3AK's target market strategy is simple - you need to do 'something special'
and whatever it is, it needs to be done especially because no one else is
doing it.
The July/August edition of 'Professional Marketing' magazine may provide a
solution - custom publishing. It's the stuff that retailers do, but no radio
stations are into it.
An example of this trend is given:
Retail chains like Priceline are recognising that 'custom publishing' allows
you to control the environment you place your communications message in.
3AK needs to cut through the clutter of our over communicated society and I
explained in KEY 1 'Mapping the Mind' that this must be done by presenting
news of some kind. The next key is to present that news in 'an editorial
environment' rather than an advertorial one and target this content to a
select few that are surest to tell their friends about it.
The Herald-Sun Guide has done a great job at giving 3AK 'free' publicity,
but it's time 3AK coughs up a 'paid' PR campaign because they might be
reaching everybody who reads the Herald-Sun, but they are failing to reach a
critical mass of people who have been carefully chosen and 'targeted'.
The brief is this: They need to do a custom mail out every 90 days (a
general rule for keeping in touch on a regular basis, which is why many
magazines will make 'quarterly' the minimum span of time they can allow to
pass between issues.
My recommendation is to target women over 40 years of age in Melbourne's
east and south-east. And no one else. Only target women, however, if they
are more likely than their male partners to carry the message about 3AK to
friends, neighbours and relatives. Use inserts inside the magazine that
they can tear out and pass on to others.
If women are no more likely than men to carry the message to people they
know, then forget the gender bias. However, if women are the likeliest
messengers, don't hesitate to be highly selective about who makes the list.
3AK should avoid 'oversegmentation' of their mailing list. They want to
target one cluster of people and promote 'both 3AK and 3MP' at the same
time. To avoid 'diseconomies of scale', given 3AK's limited ad spend, 3MP's
revised 'south-east'focus means ruling out the north-west straight away.
Again, concentrate all efforts at their 'strongest-point' of likely success.
To quote my marketing text 'Marketing: A practical approach' (Rix, Stanton
1998):
'In segmenting a consumer market, a firm must not develop too wide a variety
of styles, colours, sizes and prices. Usually, the diseconomies of scale in
production and inventory will put reasonable limits on this type of
oversegmentation.'
In my section called 'Consistency and Copy-Proofing' I introduced ways the
telephone book could be used to create interactive games the general
listening public can play, but a custom publishing effort should only be
aimed at a select few.
From Justin.
PERCEPTION AND TARGET MARKET
(Continued from previous post - note the last two posts carried the title
'Differentiation and Target Market', which was an error. A minor detail,
but I wanted to clarify this to avoid confusion)
The three keys to unlocking the mind:
KEY 3 'You can target without alienating the rest of the market'
Here is an extract from 'Battleground Reports' a newsletter written by Jack
Trout and Al Ries:
'If you were a recent arrival from Mars, you would think that America is
populated by cowboys. Either that, or cowboys smoke a lot of cigarettes.
In spite of the fact the ads show only cowboys smoking the brand, Marlboro
has become the number one brand of cigarette, among women as well as men.
The target is not the market.
Smoking is a masculine activity, among women as well as men.'
Do only women listen to Mix?
Do only men listen to Triple M?
Do only teenagers and uni students listen to Triple J?
Recent listener surveys indicate Triple J's real market is not the same as
their 'youth' target. Triple J has more people over 25 listening than
people under 18.
At least half of all rugby league fans are women. A popular brand of
shampoo amongst adults has been 'Johnson's Baby Shampoo'. Aussie kids wear
baseball caps and listen to hip-hop.
I'm about to explain in detail how 3AK's 'strongest point strategy' will be
a flanking attack on 3AW. However, in war, there are casualties and 3AK
must minimise theirs.
It costs more money to run a half-decent ad campaign than it costs to pay
the salaries of even the best talk announcers. Here's where my strategy
proposal splits into two:
Apply Guerrilla warfare for 'targeting' and Flanking warfare for 'the rest
of the marketing'.
When it comes to marketing, 3AK needs high response measurement, not high
advertising costs. Rather than chop and change it's programming, 3AK needs
to chop and change it's 'target marketing' until it hits the nail on the
head - hits that elusive few people that will spread the word about 3AK 1116
like wildfire.
'Jack be nimble, Jack be quick'. You can't produce that elusive
'Jack-in-a-box' tipping point by being weighed down by high advertising
expenses, inflexible advertising negotiations and the chance 3AW will match
your every 'above-the-line' advertising tactic dollar for dollar.
3AK needs to confine its flanking warfare to on-air programming and
promotions only. When Nova 100 launched in Melbourne, Fox responded with a
heavy TV advertising campaign. 3AK cannot afford to have its promotional
efforts dwarfed by 3AW.
To quote Trout and Ries:
'A guerrilla organization does not change the mathematics of a marketing
war. (The big company still beats the small company.) Rather a guerrilla
tries to reduce the size of the battleground in order to achieve a
superiority of force.
In other words, tries to become a big fish in a little pond. Geography is
the traditional way to accomplish this objective.'
The south-east of Melbourne has two things going for it. One, Waverly is
around about the population centre of Melbourne, which is why the decision
to do away with Waverly Park footy oval received howls of protest. The
other is there's higher income groups concentrated in the east than in the
west.
So it would not hurt 3AK to join 3MP in targeting the same groups of
listeners. And it would probably benefit 3AK if their 'below-the-line'
marketing was targeted at women if it is especially unlikely 3AW would
counteract such a campaign.
HOWEVER, ONLY TARGET THE MARKET, DON'T TARGET THE MESSAGE.
Mix 101.1's slogan is not 'testosterone free music' and Triple M's slogan is
not 'Where no chicks fly' J
Consider two rules written by Adam Ferrier, a strategic planner at
advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi (source: B&T Weekly, 11 July 2003).
The first being:
a.. Be selective. If you want to target women exclusively, some of the
time use a media channel that men will not be exposed to (think beyond the
women's loo).
Matthew Cook wrote:
'Seven has a definite female skew. Its problem is that it doesn't want
topromote this because it'll strongly alienate 50% of its potential
audience.Older people can watch a strongly youth branded Ten, and the worst
they'llfeel is that they're young at heart. But most men do not like the
idea thatthey're in any way feminine.' 3AK's communication tactic will not
specifically target women. For anyone who thought that was the path I was
leading you down, then prepare for the unexpected. There are lots of twists
and turns in this proposal J To quote Adam Ferrier once again: 'Separate
and be clear about your communication target versus your positioning'. 3AK
needs a 'positioning' that can transgress the station from guerrilla
marketing tactics and program flanking in the early stages to building up to
a point where it can become like 2UE - rival the local ABC (774) for number
two position and finally launch offensive warfare on 3AW. To quote Phillip
Kottler:
'Among the most important skills in marketing are communication and
promotion. Communication is the broader term and it happens whether planned
or not.
A salesperson's attire communicates, the catalogue price communicates and
the company's offices communicate. All create impressions on the receiving
party.
This explains the interest in 'integrated marketing communications' 3AK's
communication tactic must play a broader role in building a workable
strategy than my proposals for guerrilla promotions such as 'custom
publishing'. This guide on 'Perception and Target Market' is not suggesting
where to take the station; rather it is suggesting how to 'restart' the
station. In the next post, I will begin to unveil the broader role
communication will play in this strongest point strategy and why it is
indeed the 'superior tactic'. From Justin.
bearcave wrote:
> [Breath Strips Example]
Thoughts:
Many ads promote the "category" rather than the product. If you promote
certain features of something, then anything with those features benefits.
This is why Unique Selling Points are so important. You have to promote what
you have that no-one else does.
Of course, if your product is the first in a category that someone hears
about, nearly all it's features will be USPs. It's not about being first to
market, but being first to get into the public consciousness. Nova 100's
breakfast was on Triple R first. But no-one's heard of Triple R.
It's likely that Wrigley's ads will mainly just promote the category -
breath strips. It sounds as Wrigley's product has only the two USPs, a
choice of flavour and price. The choice of flavours is too narrow to focus a
campaign on, and price is rarely promoted beyond point-of-sale advertising
or via a merchant.
Another more subtle difference is the branding. Listerine is a medical
brand, while Wrigley is a confectionary one. Flavour is one of Wrigley's
existing strengths, which is one reason why they're extending this into the
new product.
But this doesn't mean that Wrigley's ads will primarily just boost
Listerine's sales. Listerine spent millions building up the category, and
holds 100% of it. Wrigley's ads will only expand that market a little
further. But they will also attach Wrigley's name to the concept, and
Listerine won't have the market to itself anymore.
Assuming Wrigley can get the same level of distribution Listerine has, sales
will come down to what the buyer chooses at the check-out. And this is where
Wrigley's product has the most chance to excel. It might be given more space
because of the multiple flavours, and/or special deals. But most importantly
it will be much cheaper. IMO that will get it sales.
How does this relate to radio? Radio is a very different product. It's all
about putting things into peoples heads, which is a very tricky business.
Pyscology is an immature science.
3AK could concentrate on promoting it's category - talk radio. While doing
this it could point out all it's features that make it better than 3LO and
3AW. For example, if it's going for a middle-aged market, it could do
something about how knowing what's going on is good, but that boring old
codgers preaching is bad.
If it does this successfully, it will have created it's own category -
middle aged talk. It will then be the only player in this market and will
find promoting itself much easier. Of course, they'll still have to convince
middle aged people that talk radio is a good idea. But then they won't have
to battle these people's negative perceptions of 3LO and 3AW. Sort of like
the negative perceptions of mouthwash and confectionary that breath strips
rebel against.
Considering the strong point-of-sale aspect of breath strip sales, perhaps
SYN should make stickers listing their, Triple R, PBS, Triple J and Nova's
names and frequencies. This would encourage radio channel surfing between
stations appealing to a similar market. This would a terrible thing for an
established player to do, but SYN has few listeners to lose, and many to
gain.
bearcave wrote:
> The July/August edition of 'Professional Marketing' magazine may
> provide a solution - custom publishing. It's the stuff that retailers
> do, but no radio stations are into it.
That's not quite true. ACE in Horsham
(http://www.aceradio.com.au/Horsham/Horsham.html) and RGC in Townsville
(http://www.metromag.com.au/) both have their own publications. But they're
not particularly targeted as you suggest 3AK's should be.
A number of radio stations do exactly what you're suggesting with email
though. It's cheap, easy, and highly effective.
"Matthew Cook" <mattax@no-spam> wrote in message
news:bfslsa$ikc5r$1@no-spam
> bearcave wrote:
> Of course, if your product is the first in a category that someone hears
> about, nearly all it's features will be USPs. It's not about being first
to
> market, but being first to get into the public consciousness. Nova 100's
> breakfast was on Triple R first. But no-one's heard of Triple R.
Though RRR did go through a time when it was hugely successful with
its bumper stickers. I'd say they had more stickers around town than the
commercial stations and this gave them an enormous profile. Even when
I was in WA, I knew of them.
These days drivers are more conservative, and, apart from those
amassed by retirees in their 4WDs telling the world where they've
been, few attach stickers to their vehicle.
Peter
bearcave wrote:
> In last survey, 3AW, Fox, Nova and 774 held a combined share of
> 49.3%. So while the number of radio stations have increased, the
> number of stations many of us listen to remains the same as in 1981.
A similar thing can be seen in countries where subscription TV has nearly
universal coverage. See www.barb.co.uk (although subscription TV still has a
long way to go here). People still predominantly watch a handfull of
channels. There is a clear parabolic curve when it comes to broadcast
station ratings. I suspect the same thing applies to websites.
One thing that separates TV and radio in this regard though is that channel
surfing is much rarer with radio. This is for two reasons:
1) most programs people want to watch on TV are on channels that contain a
lot of stuff they don't like; while people generally like everything on the
one radio station and don't even know about stuff they might like on other
ones, and
2) it can be tricky to change stations on a walkman, hard to change the
station in a car, and nearly impossible at work.
That said, I channel surf radio when I'm at home. I'm fortunate in that
there's five stations playing the sort of "alternative" music I like in
Melbourne. Although I do tend to stick to the one station unless there's a
song I really dislike.
<snip>
> However, when it comes to Positioning, 'similar' won't do. You must,
> must, must be 'different'. The human mind is like Noah's Ark. Only two
stations
> of every format category can expect to ride.
>
> Fox and Nova get to ride to ark. So does 3AW and 774. Triple M and
> Gold 104 hold the next most strongest positions in the mind, but
> below them, it's rough waters for most other stations that rely on
> the ratings stats to earn a living. So they have to fill niches
> instead.
I really like the analogy :-)
> So difficult is it to build a position in the mind that there's quite
> a big divide between big stations and small stations in listenership.
> You can build a niche and survive, but these days to say you have a
> 'niche' is of questionable value given the proliferation of new media
> options and the likely squeeze this will put on listening time.
I think by-and-large only audio displaces audio. You can't read in a car.
You can't *watch* TV while you're writing usenet posts. You can't read a
website while in the shower (well not easily yet).
For many years there have been few programs and people engauging in sitting
down to listen to the radio. The things people used to use radio for to do
these are now done more emersivly on TV. It's only when you don't want all
your senses focused on the one thing that most choose radio.
The internet and computer games *are* threatening TV though. The internet
can provide much more immersive and efficient ways to get information, while
using virtually the same hardware. Computer games do fiction the same way.
People listening to music in the home will be more threatened by pay-TV once
it undergoes it's expansion late this year. There will be more music video
channels catering to more diverse tastes than present. Soon enough, an even
more customised (and potentially interactive) experience will be available
to noob users using computers and broadband internet. (If you're geeky
enough it's here now). But you aren't going to see people in cars, at work
or in shops watching either of them.
Most people listening to information radio are over 50. Many of these people
don't have very good eyesight. So all the lovely visual media is of little
or no more use to them than radio.
Anyway, in about five years broadcasting of anything not brand new to the
world will be dead. There are already geeks who listen only to their mp3
collections, and those who watch all their foreign TV downloaded from the
net before it enters the country legally. It's just a matter of time before
the systems they use become more user friendly, cheap and portable. And
legal.
But I'll leave that tale for another time ;-)
<snip>
> There's no shortage of cars (niches) on the sending end but there is a
> shortage of parking spaces (positions in the mind) on the receiving
> end.
There are lots of spaces on my home radio's remote. New personal radios have
next and previous buttons. Voice recognition car radios can understand the
word "next".
If your machines are remebering, your mind doesn't need to. That's why
people with hundreds of TV channels don't remember all their names, but
still watch them all at some point.
> [Stuff about Kix FM]
Well done! How would you have responded to early Nova 100? Do you have any
advice for SYN?
Matthew Cook wrote:
> Anyway, in about five years broadcasting of anything not brand new to
> the world will be dead. There are already geeks who listen only to
> their mp3 collections, and those who watch all their foreign TV
> downloaded from the net before it enters the country legally. It's
> just a matter of time before the systems they use become more user
> friendly, cheap and portable. And legal.
>
> But I'll leave that tale for another time ;-)
A current discussion about how teens use the net more than the TV or radio:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/07/26/1425253
PERCEPTION AND STICKINESS
My next presentation will be in three parts;
Part I: 'The Ultimate Answer'
Part II: 'Consistency, Differentiation and Perception: The 9-point Check
List'
Part III: 'Stickiness: The Third Tipping Point'
If you wish to email any comments or ask any questions, my new email address
is bearcave75@no-spam
From Justin.
Do you plan to release a book on everything you've posted here? Maybe a 3AK
employee might pick it up and actually read it
--
From Robert | Wombat Lover | Melbourne | http://www.surfnetvic.cjb.net |
bearcave wrote:
> Consider this cheeky group discussion I overheard recently:
>
> (Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent)
>
> Peter: "Hi Paul, get up to much last night?"
> Paul: "I went straight to sleep"
> Peter: "Who with?"
> Paul: "Oh.just myself"
> Peter: "Were you good?"
> Paul: "The best I've had in ages"
> Mary: "Well....you've got to 'hand' it to him"
> Peter: "Yes....he's a 'handy' man to have around"
>
> I'm sorry to inform you, but if you have just added special meaning
> to the word 'hand' then you have quite a dirty mind :)
The inverted commas around the hand terms give it a special meaning. What
exactly that meaning is depends on the reader's mind though.
<snip>
> It's better to be a Neil Armstrong (first man on the moon) than a Buzz
> Aldrin. It's better to be a Poppy King (first matte lipstick) or a
> Coke (first cola) or a Windows (first computer operating system.....
> in the mind at least). More worthwhile being 'first' than being
> 'better'.
But why do we remember Neil Armstrong (first man on moon) ahead of Yuri
Garagin (first man in space)? Why do remember Poppy King (first matte
lipstick in Australia in the 90's), instead of the widespread popularity of
matte lipsticks in earlier times? Why did Coke take off when the other
similar tonics of the time didn't? And why did Windows, far from the first
GUI OS become the world standard?
Being first at something is about creating the idea of that something in
lots of people's minds. If the Russians had got to the moon first, the Yanks
would have gone to Mars, and we might have defined the Space Age as starting
when we first stepped on another planet.
"Kola" is the name of an African nut that contains caffiene. But no-one
knows this.
> It's simple really. The human mind sorts information into
> 'categories'. 3AW owns the 'talking' category, Fox owns the 'today's
> music' category, Triple M owns 'Rock', Gold 104 owns 'classic hits'.
The phrase "today's music" makes me think "99.5 Star FM" :-) They were the
first to bring the phrase to me. As for the other phrases, they only mean
that if you've heard them use them.
If someone had never listened to Gold 104, because they do few TV ads, they
might not associate them with "Classic Hits". Besides, Triple M and Mix play
the classic hits of my era. Gold 104 plays music I've heard on ads.
> What about 774 ABC Melbourne?
>
> They are certainly part of the 'talk' category, just as Pepsi is part
> of the 'cola' category. For every choice, there's still enough room
> in the mind for the 'alternative' choice.
>
> 774 are the non-commercial alternative, and 'talk' is the main
> interest of the non-commercial audience.
That's if you see the category as being "talk". I imagine many of 3CR's
listeners, another Melbourne talk station, see that station as being "social
justice" rather than talk. I think a certain proportion of 774 listners just
see it as "ABC" or "LO", and attach certain values to these.
> Nova is the edgy, 'different' alternative to Fox.
Fox listeners would see it that way. Some Nova listeners probably do too.
But others would see Nova as being "Alternative" or "Indie" or something
else.
> Competition, or 'offensive warfare'
> can create a 'duality of category' , but even this strategy permits
> only one alternate choice. Also, the 'alternative' reason given to
> listen must be clear.
Yes, duopolies are the rule rather than the exception in most cases. I've
read this is stronger on average in male minds than in female ones.
But if you create your own category, then it's yours.
Of course, you go on to say this. I really should finished reading before
replying...
"Matthew Cook" <mattax@no-spam> wrote in message > >
> I'm sorry to inform you, but if you have just added special meaning
> > to the word 'hand' then you have quite a dirty mind :)
>
> The inverted commas around the hand terms give it a special meaning. What
> exactly that meaning is depends on the reader's mind though.
That was meant to get a laugh......while making an important point about the
meaning people give to words. However, if it did not register a laugh
immediently, then it was simply a clumsy example. Never mind.
> <snip>
>
> > It's better to be a Neil Armstrong (first man on the moon) than a Buzz
> > Aldrin. It's better to be a Poppy King (first matte lipstick) or a
> > Coke (first cola) or a Windows (first computer operating system.....
> > in the mind at least). More worthwhile being 'first' than being
> > 'better'.
>
> But why do we remember Neil Armstrong (first man on moon) ahead of Yuri
> Garagin (first man in space)? Why do remember Poppy King (first matte
> lipstick in Australia in the 90's), instead of the widespread popularity
of
> matte lipsticks in earlier times? Why did Coke take off when the other
> similar tonics of the time didn't? And why did Windows, far from the first
> GUI OS become the world standard?
>
> Being first at something is about creating the idea of that something in
> lots of people's minds. If the Russians had got to the moon first, the
Yanks
> would have gone to Mars, and we might have defined the Space Age as
starting
> when we first stepped on another planet.
>
> "Kola" is the name of an African nut that contains caffiene. But no-one
> knows this.
Over time Matthew, next generation products out-flank older generation ones.
Video games once meant Atari, now it means PlayStation.
I would like to reply to all your comments, just haven't the time right now,
but thanks again for your comments.
Justin.
PERCEPTION AND STICKINESS
(Continued from last post)
"Wet Willie" wrote in message
> They are scared to move away from the idea they currently want to
> work.
>
> The changes they have made maintain their format philosphy yet holds
> on to the same problems.
>
> You keep banging on about examining new opportunities in the market,
> and finding a niche etc...I agree. But, I'm suggesting they are
> sitting in a formatic comfort zone and are uneasy about moving away
> from it.
>
> Wet Willie
Yes...and that's a reality I always had to be ready for. Yet I will go on
and complete this presentation, which will hopefully be fully written up by
next week. The challenge I've got is using the time left to stress how
small, subtle influences are what cause the major shifts in ratings when
they do happen. Such as changing the context of talk formatting (3UZ and
3DB never presented talk in the same format as 3AW, and scored 7%+ because
they were genuine alternatives) as well as adopting a sticky slogan.
I'm sorry Ron Hall, but I'm tired of giving praise to the latest 3AK
recruits (Bernie Finn the latest) when I know, and frankly the likes of
advertising industry people like Peter Quattro and Peter Lawrence would (or
should) also know, what 3AK needs above all else is 'repositioning'.
Line-up changes being made are gearing up the station to take on 3AW again.
But this by itself is not the problem, nor the solution.
I urge you to read this carefully once it is completed, and try to
understand it if you don't already. There are far more experienced people
than I to consult you on decision making, and yet its for that very reason
that I'm more likely to have the courage to raise the issues they simply
wouldn't dare raise. Nothing succeeds like having a 'perception of
leadership' and that requires sub-categorising the talk format in the mind
of the listener....so that you become 'first in a new category'.
Being first is everything, being a 'me-too' is the road to nowhere. I
challenge Peter Quattro to look Ron Hall in the eye and say this isn't true.
What I'm suggesting is the ultimate answer is not radical stuff. It's
bread-and-butter marketing practice already in use at other commercial
stations. Pity it takes a faceless identity from a news group to point this
truth out. Rather than your 'consultants' who should be providing
illumination, not confirmation. Are they ever likely to tell you much else
than what you most wish to hear?
Of course not.
Only when and where's the way into the mind, should there be a will to
succeed. This is marketing in its purest form. There's no politics in the
bearcave.
From Justin.
PERCEPTION AND STICKINESS.
(Contunued from previous post)
"radiohead" wrote in message ...
> Justin you speak alot of truth, but lets remember,
> " It don't mean a thing if they can't sniff the wind "
> Brendan
> www.radiorumours.com
True Brendan. I may be hitting my head against a brick wall here, but at
the same time it's unlikely I'll ever write a thesis of this sort again, so
I'm just going to give it my best shot.
Just because they do not agree with the suggestions here does not make this
a waste of time for me. I'm having to conceptualise a lot of issues right
now to assist me with my narrowcasting projects.
I do admit it hasn't been as time-bound as I would have liked it to be.
What still remains to be done is to revisit the 'consistency, differentition
and perception' nine-point check list . However, this time it will be in
summarised format and the idea is to reveal how all the themes, which were
introduced seperately, actually do tie together.
I've also left it to last to discuss the value of 'stickiness'. I will take
you back to one of Melbourne radio's all-time most successful radio
campaigns to demonstrate why I nominated 'the conversation station' as the
wording for a potential new 3AK positioning slogan.
From Justin.
I will take
> you back to one of Melbourne radio's all-time most successful radio
> campaigns to demonstrate why I nominated 'the conversation station' as the
> wording for a potential new 3AK positioning slogan.
That's actually been used in the USA "WMCA - Your Conversation Station"
PERCEPTION AND STICKINESS
Part II: 'Consistency, Differentiation and Perception: The 9-point Check
List'
I was once told that when writing a business plan, you should write the
summary last, even though it appears at the beginning of the document.
This is what I will now do. So at this point, it should begin to become
apparent that I have been writing this thread back-to-front, therefore, we
are now approaching the beginning of the '3AK Strongest Point Strategy', not
the end.
The last post will actually be titled the 'Opening Summary'
To help you read this thread from front-to-back, I will include a table of
contents that will help you re-read the articles in their correct order,
which is in the reverse order of how you have read it until now.
The purpose of writing this document backwards has been an exercise in
asking questions, to keep close check on continuity by asking easy
questions first and moving slowly towards tackling tougher issues.
The purpose of reading this front-to-back will be to get to the heart of
understanding the critical issues first and then hopefully by reading your
way back up the thread, a lot of ideas will start to click with you.
For starters, we have to tip things upside down at this point. We're now
going to summarise the 'Perception, Differentiation and Consistency' 9-point
checklist.
Just what the hell has Justin Christie been on about all this time?
Well..here we go:
Dealing with Perception: IS finding your communications tactic
Dealing with Differentiation: IS turning your tactic into a strategy
Dealing with Consistency: IS keeping strategy on track, staying focused.
In the section 'Differentiation of the third kind' I revealed a model of
military thinking called 'flanking warfare'.
The very first consideration 3AK must think about when building marketing
strategy from scratch is "what do my existing resources allow me to
accomplish?"
Flanking Warfare provides 3AK with a model of management that acknowledges
the size and superiority of it's rivals 3AW and 774, and what to do to
unravel the strengths of their competition.
Allow me introduce the historic military thinking Karl von Clausewitz, who
published a book in the year 1832 called 'On War':
PERCEPTION
'A good flanking move must be made into an uncontested area'
Modern Interpretation for Marketing Strategy:
'Create a new category in the mind of the listener, or a new sub-category.
Because the established competition are too strong defending the older,
pre-existing category, they are not likely to want to acknowledge the new
category by contesting it'
DIFFERENTIATION
'Tactical Surprise ought to be an important element of the plan'
Modern Interpretation for Marketing Strategy:
'Sub-categorising is a tactical move that impacts on all the other tactics
used in a strategy. Effectively, one tactic becomes superior, the remaining
tactics become subordinate. One tactic, your point-of-difference turns
itself into a strategy by directing all the subordinate tactics to work in a
coherent marketing direction. .
CONSISTENCY
'The pursuit is just as important as the attack itself'
Modern Interpretation for Marketing Strategy:
'You can't be performing at your strongest point if you do not want to keep
your resources highly concentrated.'
In the next post, I will break down this thinking further.
From Justin
PERCEPTION AND STICKINESS
Part II: 'Consistency, Differentiation and Perception: The 9-point Check
List'
CHECK POINT #1 'Perception and Target Market'
CHECK POINT #2 'Perception and Positioning'
CHECK POINT #3 'Perception and Stickiness'
CHECK POINT #4 'Differentiation and Creativity'
CHECK POINT #5 'Differentiation of the third kind'
CHECK POINT #6 'Differentiation and Context'
CHECK POINT #7 'Consistency and Copy-Proofing'
CHECK POINT #8 'Con