by Kneale Mann
Whenever I am on a flight over mountains, I like to search for those little pockets of life. I often wonder how a town of a few dozen people can sustain in the midst of such grand expansion. Someone had to put up the first hut, make the first fire, clear the first path and suddenly there was a settlement, a village, a town, and one day in some cases – a city of nine million on the banks of Lake Michigan.
There are hundreds of stories like this, stories of how your market grew from the first few settlers into a CMA that is now home to thousands if not millions.
At one time, it was viewed as great progress when you could dip the end of a feather into a well of ink and scratch a note on a piece of dried wood pulp. In order to get the message to the recipient, you would need to then hire a messenger who would deliver your note on horseback. Today, we send messages thumbed on handheld wireless devices to the other side of the planet in an instant.
In 1943, Abraham Maslow wrote an article entitled “The Hierarchy of Needs”. In it, he described what humans require to enjoy an enriched life. Those needs run the gambit from the most basic such as food, water, and sleep and continue all the way to self-actualization.
Nestled right above the need to keep our bodies alive, is the need to belong, to be a part of something, to feel needed by others. That’s the reason for communities, clubs, associations, sports teams, email. Humans need human interaction.
The MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, iPod phenomenon is by no means a new concept; it’s just a new delivery system.
As I have said numerous times, Microsoft Word does not make you Hemmingway. Whether it’s an ink dipped feather or a blackberry, if the message is of no interest to its recipient, the instrument is irrelevant. Think about that the next time you put something on your radio station. Is your message interesting? Does your content have context?
In Radio, we have an opportunity to create a community, a connection to content and context. We cannot simply dumb down this gorgeous medium by playing 10-in-a-row and giving away concert tickets. Listeners want more than sound coming out of speakers and the latest Carrie Underwood or Linkin Park. We can do better than that. And in a world of user-made content, it’s a matter of our survival!
How many times have you been at a dinner when someone talks about how radio could be better? Are we the enlightened ones who don’t feel that the great unwashed could handle more than time, temp, shut up and play the hits?
We spend a great amount of our waking hours wondering what’s next. PPMs are a reality, younger demos aren’t consuming radio as much as they did in the past, the industry has done a pretty underwhelming job embracing interactive possibilities but I’m referring to something much more human.
You can build a MySpace page in two minutes and scour for “friends”. MySpacers want control over their environment then share it, belong to others, and build that community.
I was on a train recently and I was fascinated by a group of high school students on a school trip. I watched how they interacted with each other. They shared snacks, checked out each others’ iPods, talked, laughed, and read aloud. They were creating content in the context of their own space.
My eye suddenly caught a couple in their 60s on the other side of the train who were sharing a sandwich. In this noisy train car, they created their own community – a community of two – and it seemed that the rest of the world didn’t matter.
Then there was me, with my laptop open and tunes cranked in the headphones – creating my own environment. It was a cacophony of sounds by people co-creating …on a train! Was this an isolated event? Is life like that in people’s every day lives?
When I go to Starbucks – anywhere on the continent – the same thing happens. I get greeted cheerfully and receive my order promptly. Starbucks is a brand and a community, it is not coffee. Coffee is simply the conduit, the delivery service, the gadget.
Apple does not sell portable digital music devices – they sell a community and a lifestyle. Why do we honk or wave at someone who has made the same car purchase as us?
Content, context and community are powerful forces we cannot ignore.
What’s also important to note, is the content, context and community we are building inside our own environments – our radio stations. We have all used the phrase “customer service” ad nausea but do we follow through? I view ‘customers’ as three groups – our listeners, our clients, and our selves. Are their needs different? No. They each have the need to flourish and yes …belong!
What kind of community exists inside your radio station? Is it co-creating with your listeners and your clients? What are the needs of your employees and co-workers? Is your sales department asking your clients what they need to be successful? Are you asking your listeners and potential listeners what they want?
Think beyond the announcers, music, sales, imaging, creative, promotions, interactive, and marketing – those are paramount to your success – but turn the focus back on your community and give them the content they crave.
In my 15 years at the Edge in Toronto, one of my annual favorites was our EdgeFest concert. During this daylong event which featured a dozen or so bands, there was a sea of 35,000 people sharing, enjoying, and co-creating.
Make it about them, and they will make it about you. Your competition is not gadgets or other radio stations – it is people’s time. It’s your challenge to create that desire for others to want to belong to your space.
Are you creating an atmosphere that will satisfy people’s inherent need to belong?
Kneale Mann is a 22 year radio veteran and a media consultant based in Ottawa. He can be reached at 613 821 9343 or knealemann@rogers.com
