Mark Ramsey asks:
"You’ve worked in marketing at Starbucks and now at Whole Foods, what do you think radio stations can learn from these companies that can make them more effective at impacting and appealing to the audience?"
Radio stations can learn how Starbucks Coffee (SBUX) and Whole Foods Market (WFM) transcended commoditization to become meaningfully unique. I view radio as being a commoditized experience. From station-to-station, parity among radio broadcasters is prevalent. They all air the same promotions, play the same commercials, and run roughly the same programming style. For the most part, very little differentiation exists between radio stations despite the myriad formats. Radio has become a commoditized experience.
Starbucks Coffee and Whole Foods Market have transcended commoditization, SBUX with coffee and WFM with groceries, by following these Four Commoditization-Busting Rules.
1. Make the Common Uncommon
2. Stand for Something, Not for Everything
3. Be Mission-Bound
4. Everything Matters
(1) Making the Common Uncommon. WFM took the common grocery shopping experience and made it uncommon by focusing supremely on natural and organic groceries that not only taste good, but also makes one feel good. SBUX elevated the common cup of coffee and made it uncommon by focusing on higher-quality beans and a higher-quality experience.
Radio stations have the same opportunity to make the common radio listening experience uncommon by not following preordained rules that say the only way you can give-a-way concert tickets is to the 10th caller. Or, that all station IDs must be over-produced, sugar-sweet, and harmony-heavy. Being uncommonly good at the common means breaking a few rules in the process … doing so will help radio stations become meaningfully unique.
(2) Standing for Something, Not for Everything. WFM stands for a natural and organic approach to food, they do not stand for overly-processed, mass-produced goods that conventional grocers stand for. In fact, WFM has a well-defined “Quality Standards” checklist that all products must pass before going on the shelf. If a product contains anything artificial from sweeteners to preservatives, it doesn’t go on the shelves at WFM. These dogmatic “Quality Standards” not only define what makes WFM remarkable, it also safeguards them from encroaching competition because other grocers cannot stomach the idea of sacrificing the many for the few.
To differentiate itself from like-minded competitors, a radio station could develop and dogmatically follow their own meaningful “Quality Standards.”
(3) Being Mission-Bound. Transcending commoditization requires more than having a mission statement, you have to live a mission. WFM and SBUX are both mission-bound companies. For WFM, the mission is about changing the way the world eats. And for SBUX, the mission is about getting folks to enjoy a more rewarding and inspiring coffee experience.
Radio stations need to go beyond having a mission statement to actually living a mission. How many radio station seek to positively change the lives of its listeners?
(4) Everything Matters. Starbucks and Whole Foods Market are experiential brands that strive to be interesting in order to get customers interested. For retail brands that rely on delivering great in-store experiences, everything matters because every act is an act of communication with customers. From the way the Jonagold apples are displayed to the array of artisan cheeses offered to how store employees engage customers – every act at WFM matters.
Same can be said for radio stations. Every song, every commercial, every listener request, every on-air personality, every remote, every bumper sticker – every communication about your station matters. Everything matters.
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