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When To Use The “New” Word

By Wayne Clouten, BPR

Positioning a station brand as “New” has been a long-time tactic to launch, reposition, relaunch or otherwise put the spotlight on a radio station.  The goal is that invoking the idea of the station now offering something new and presumably not heard before will lead to more usage of the radio station.  That’s the theory but what is the reality?

Unfortunately, the “New” word has been thrown around like confetti by about every product and service you could imagine, sometimes quite legitimately but often as a ploy to gain market interest for something which really hasn’t changed that much or isn’t really any better.  In some respects, it has become a lazy marketing word and as a result there is a fundamental suspicion about the word in the mind of the consumer.  “New” strongly implies being better than you were before and/or noticeably different to what you were before so unless you can confidently deliver one of those outcomes using the “New” word can either be a waste of time at best or damaging at worst.

Before we get into the details of when and how to use the word in a radio context let’s consider some basics. First of all, what is the problem you are seeking to solve? Does your station even have a product or brand problem or are you reacting to an assumption?  Sometimes the need to use the word is forced upon a radio station such as when you have to replace a breakfast show because the current show doesn’t renew its contract but outside of situations like that using the “new” word must be carefully considered.

When using the word to refresh market interest of an existing radio station brand a number of things need to be canvassed:

• Are you relatively certain that whatever you are adding or changing is better than what you already have?
• Are you relatively confident that your existing core listeners will like it or think it better?
• Will it offer something noticeably different or unique compared to the other radio stations in the market?
• Is what you plan to offer been done before in your market? (in which case it’s not new)
• Are we talking about an overall change to the stations’ format or is it just a part of the format?

This last point is a common trap by describing your overall station brand as being new because you changed the music but not the breakfast show.  For many of your listeners, the breakfast show IS the primary reason they listen to your radio station and therefore constitutes the brand of the station in their mind.  Unless your overall station format and show lineup is demonstrably new it is better to use the “New” word with specific relation to what is actually new about the radio station.

Understand that invoking the “New” word creates an expectation of noticeable change and/or improvement that your listeners will judge for themselves. If you do not deliver on the expectation, then your brand integrity is tarnished. Do this often enough and listeners will come to the conclusion that nothing your station promises is to be believed.

A very basic question to ask yourself is:

“Do we really need to use the word or is there a better way to achieve our desired messaging.”

Thinking about using the “New” word? Better give BPR a call.