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Are You Keeping Your Promise?

By David Kidd, BPR

Listener loyalty begins with trust. If your station is not keeping its most important promise, the brand promise, you will have trust issues.

A brand promise is an extension of your positioning statement.

“insert ‘City’s’ Greatest Classic Rock”, “Today’s Best Music”, “Best Music Variety”, ‘Good Times and Great Classic Hits”.

But just saying it a few times an hour counts for nothing if you’re not delivering on that promise.

I recently listened to a station in a major market which had been rebranded as “Feel Good”. Unfortunately, the execution fell way short of the promise. To begin with, the announcing line-up was virtually the same as that of the previous format and many of these presenters would not be classified as Feel Good…..some sounded disinterested and one even made sarcastic comments about some of the songs. The music also retained an urban skew from the previous format…..and as you would be aware, some of these urban songs have lyrics that are far from Feel Good.

Everything on the station should have gone through the Feel Good filter……the talent, the music, the promotions, the marketing, the production, the look and feel of the digital platforms.

If it doesn’t pass the Feel Good test, then it doesn’t get to air.

Think of each element of your station as a pillar…. each pillar supports the brand promise.

If a pillar doesn’t support the brand then it weakens it.

A brand promise must not only be stated clearly to the audience and provide them with a benefit they actually want (not something you think they want) but it must also be reflected in the way the promise is delivered.

Paul Jackson, Group Program Director of the Nova Network, on smooth’s brand promise: “We will keep true to our more music less talk promise, but also make people feel relaxed and better about their day. We are very clear about the brand and its essence.”

And guess what……smooth 95.3 is the #1 music station in Sydney.

As I mentioned in a previous article Just Because You Say It, Does Not Make It So! , a good starting point to find out if you’re actually being true to your brand promise is by asking the audience.