The Importance Of Lifestyle Relevance

The world is changing. It used to be enough to have format exclusivity in a market to achieve ratings traction. If you were the only Country radio station or only Adult Contemporary station, you had solid differentiation from all other audio products in the market.

In the coming years, cell phones, satellite radio, Internet radio, iPods, and cable music will erode the idea of "format exclusivity" in any context. If you're depending on being the only station that plays Lionel Richie -- or any artist for that matter -- you're in trouble.

Radio is usage-based. Listeners use a particular radio station more when it is relevant to their lifestyle. The more we empathetically understand and program to our listeners' lives, the more TSL we'll receive in return. Programming relevance comes in different forms.

For Adult Contemporary, it comes musically in lyrics that describe emotions and impressions in our listeners' psyche that relate to their personal experiences. Songs that tell stories and convey emotion will move the needle. Texture is also important. Listeners hear variety in the way a song sounds (tempo, texture, and instrumentation). I believe in Instant Gratification, meaning that every time a target-listener turns on the station, they're hearing one of their favorite songs.

When AC listeners say that they want more variety, they aren't necessarily telling you that they want to hear a larger library. They are telling you they only want to hear the songs they like... in a way that doesn't sound the same every time they tune in.

From the aspect of news, programming relevance comes in stories that pull on our listeners' heart strings, purse strings, and interests in health or safety for family. When listeners say they are interested in "local topics," it does not mean that there is a higher interest for stories that happen within a fifty mile radius. It means they have a higher interest for stories that have more personal significance to them. Just because something happens next door doesn't mean that people automatically care. They care when it has personal meaning to them.

Personalities are the people who personalize all of the programming elements. I use an electrical plug metaphor to describe effective personalities. Think of the audience as a wall socket. Think of all the elements of a radio station as an electrical plug. Effective, relatable personalities make the plug a perfect fit for the socket.

Effective promotions are the ones that create a bond with listeners and entice them to come back more often. Big cash and car giveaways don't automatically mean something to our audience. The audience says that they want them, but as radio-people-in-a-hurry, we often fail to make a personal connection. Why do they want the cash? Why do they want the car? What does it do for them? Answer those questions and present the promotion in a way that makes the contest personal.

All of these elements are wrapped up in our stationality. Adults want to connect with products that have distinct personalities. That's why GEICO, LIFETIME, and CHARMIN are brand leaders.

The product that first launched "personality marketing" was the Barbie Doll. When the doll was introduced in the late fifties, each Barbie TV commercial was a story in the life of a teen-age fashion model, and the events of each story provided reasons for her to change into her many costumes. In 2005, Barbie is still one of Mattell's biggest brands.

How often do we really take advantage of the opportunity to create brand essence in the way that Barbie first did? Or in the way that Lifetime TV, Revlon, Volvo, or Geico have done? Most of radio has become a bag of cliche's.

Our biggest "blocks" to relevance and empathy in today's radio world:

• Most of the positioning heard on the format across the country has been the same since 1985.

• The majority of adult music tests have increasing burn scores and decreasing passion scores that endanger Time Spent Listening.

• Speaking specifically to AC, listeners generally feel that they can leave AC radio for a few days, and they probably won't miss anything.

Make an effort today to speak to three people in your target. Get to know them at a deeper level. What TV shows do they watch? What do they think and feel about their kids and parents? What are their biggest life concerns? What are their hopes and dreams? How can you reflect the things they share with you in your imaging?

The more you empathetically understand your audience, the more you can effectively communicate to them. The more effectively you can communicate with them, the more they will be drawn to your station. The more they are drawn to your station, the higher your ratings will grow.