by Jay Trachman
I believe people have a hierarchy of loyalties. It probably varies, but for me, loyalty to self would be at the top, followed closely by loyalty to family and loved ones. If someone attacks my wife or kids, they’d better be prepared to have me coming back at them like an angry tiger.
Next on my own hierarchy would be loyalty to ideas: my country, my ethnic heritage, freedom of speech, intellectual honesty and so on. While I’m willing to discuss these, I don’t brook any disrespect for them. And, on down the line, there are loyalty to friends, my employer and colleagues, and loyalty to products. None of these are necessarily a lifetime commitment.
I choose to be with certain people, and find fulfillment and satisfaction in their company. I will go to the wall for them today; ten years from now — who knows? Loyalty to products: sure, I’ll buy a certain brand of soft drink mix (Crystal Lite), a particular kind of breakfast cereal (Cracklin’ Oat Bran), and stick with Microsoft Word on my computer.
However, here at the bottom of hierarchy of loyalties, the truth is that if someone makes a soft drink mix that tastes approximately as good as Crystal Lite, I’ll try it. If it’s cheaper, I’ll switch in a heartbeat. There are actually two loyalties in this niche: one to products, and one to brand names. I’ll try any flavor of Crystal Lite, and I want a copy of anything Microsoft brings out that fits my needs or lifestyle. I’ll try ’em, because I like the brand — but I may not buy ’em more than once, if they don’t meet expectations.
Now, here’s what I’m getting at: think of the radio station as a brand name, and the things it airs as the products. Management and consultants want listeners to develop a loyalty to the brand name. I believe, however, that what people bond with primarily, are the products.
You can sell the call letters and frequency and the positioning statement (the brand name) ’til you’re blue in the face — and it may do some good. But if all you’ve got to sell is your music, no matter how it’s packaged, no matter how you pitch it, if I don’t like the next record (the product), and it’s the only (or primary) thing I’m loyal to… goodbye, station. Have you ever sat in a car next to someone who was “grazing” with the push-buttons? I have. It’s a scary thing to watch. Don’t like this selection? Push the button; don’t like that one either, push it again.
Not every listener is that fickle, but if the only “product” you’re promoting, and offering, to your listener is music, and the particular selection you’re playing doesn’t cut it with him, I believe his loyalty to his own tastes will often supersede whatever loyalty he may have to the station, and you’re history. (At least until the other station plays one they don’t like, and the one after that, and you come up again in the rotation.)
Programmers and consultants, who deal with the entire station, go to great lengths to try and build “brand name” loyalty. Contests, promotions and giveaways, slogans and positioners — they’re all oriented toward building that brand name. How well do they work? In how many markets are there stations built solely on slogans, promotions and continuous music, that are clear, consistent winners in the ratings? And in those markets where that situation does prevail, how many alternatives does the listener have?
I believe for most of us, loyalty to people ranks higher than loyalty to products and brand names. Sure, I may leave if I don’t like the song you’re playing right now — but not if I like the jock who’s presenting it; if he or she gives me satisfaction, entertainment, companionship, a sense of being with someone I care for, and who cares for me. That’s a loyalty I don’t toss aside so easily. That’s a loyalty very few stations and even fewer consultants choose (or know how) to deal with. It’s not easy to teach a DJ how to relate to his or her listener, how to provide companionship, how to make the listener feel like he’s with a friend.
Think of your listener as a person: one person. Open up your mind and heart and talk directly to him or her. Imagine you’re talking to one close friend, and conjure that image up firmly in your imagination. Share your life, your observations and especially, your emotions with him. Take risks — the same kinds of risks we take with anyone we’re willing to become intimate with. That’s the way friends form bonds. That’s the way loyalty between people is built. Slogans won’t do it for you; credibility, warmth, and passion will.
If loyalty to people out-ranks loyalty to brand names, for most people, then one of the products your brand name must offer if you want to have an edge, is real people. It’s not an easy thing. There’s no liner card you can write or read that will establish a bond between you and a listener.
But it can be done. In my opinion, it must be done, if you want to hold a listener through the next song, even if it’s not one of his favorites.
Jay Trachman is publisher of “One to One,” a weekly information and humor service for broadcasters. Jay can be reached at: phone (559) 448 0700, fax (559) 448 0761, e-mail at 121@att.net, or www.121online.net. Reprinted with permission.
