(By Georgia Beasley) Today, I’d like to take a different approach. Instead of speaking to GMs and the generations that preceded me, today I’d like to speak to my fellow Millennials. While it may sometimes feel like we are limited in what we can do, we have a responsibility to move the radio industry forward. So what can we do? Here are three things Millennials need to bring for radio to grow.
BRING THE BIG IDEA.
If you are the only Millennial voice in the room, be proud of that! Embrace thinking outside of the box and having big ideas that seem impossible, because that will drive more Millennials to radio and ultimately make radio a better medium to engage with. Recently, I read an article about Air France creating a new “sister” airline specifically for Millennials. They are focusing on being technologically connected and delivering an “experience” that speaks to the younger generation. This immediately caught my attention and I thought, only a Millennial could’ve come up with that. I was impressed by not only the obvious marketing benefit but also the strategy to capture the exclusive loyalty from an emerging generation of flyers. How can radio emulate this type of strategy?
A perfect example of this is Satori. Satori is the Millennial-focused streaming app that’s live and local with a mission to play trending music for that generation and discover fun stuff to do in NYC. They provide an experience that is completely unique and features solutions to issues faced with large streaming audio providers. There are many ways to drive new Millennial engagement with radio so don’t be afraid to have big ideas!
BRING COMPANY CULTURE.
It’s been said that the majority of Millennial employees are motivated by recognition and appreciation instead of being motivated by fear of losing their job. There isn’t a secret to appreciation and recognition if it’s genuine and sincere. As a Millennial, you should communicate regularly with your superior on how you would like to be motivated. Help them help you, and if they are good leaders they will know they play a large role in your success so they will take it seriously. This will ultimately benefit the entire team and create a company culture that is set up for success.
Radio needs our help to get more of us involved. This starts with recruitment. Attracting more Millennials like us is as simple as telling your friends how fun and awesome working in radio is. I encourage every Millennial to make at least one post about working in radio on social media each month. Tell your talented Millennial friends about working in radio! Create a recruitment initiative in your cluster that you present to your GM and spearhead with other Millennials in the office. Not only will it make your cluster stronger and you more of an asset to the team, but it’ll also make coming to work every day way more fun cause you’ll be doing it with friends!
BRING MORE DIVERSITY.
How boring would radio be if there was only one format? A melting pot of race, age, and gender will create a more well-rounded mindset and team. Radio is not a one-solution-fits-all medium so we should not be taking this approach with our systems, personnel, and way thinking on every level. We have the most diverse generation in history, so as Millennials we need to be those agents of change that radio needs, and the entire industry will benefit.
Radio has the capability of dominating the media industry but it needs our generation’s help. The key to reinventing is in questioning the way things are being done. As Millennials, we must continue to diversify in all areas and keep learning. Learning is a funny thing because it is much easier to tell someone what to learn and how to grow but very difficult for that same teacher to see the importance of continued learning and growing. So I encourage each of you to take the initiative and speak up! Simply be respectful and be yourself but stand up for yourself. Find a new way of delivering good content to your audience, discover a new profit center that your sales department hasn’t found, and provide a new learning experience for your entire team.
Georgia Beasley is the director of TopicPulse strategic initiatives at Futuri Media and can be reached at [email protected]
This is a very, very bad article. Does this girl even work in radio? I’m guessing by her last name that she is related to someone, which also has explains the director title. If I told someone that working for iHeart was “fun and awesome” I would be lying. The local radio industry is a kin to drug dealing. In fighting with employees, feuds, never ending pressure to hit budgets with no support or help from sales managers who watch porn on their computers. Lying cheating and stealing to close a deal and favoritism amongst employees. Things like Daddy’s little girl getting a director position and client list when she has zero real world experience. I once saw a talented millennial bring in a 1 million dollar contract from a new research firm in town. He did that through “big ideas”. Guess how Clear Channel rewarded that talented young man? They immediately fired him and took the client in house to be managed by the sales managers who then split this windfall of a commission amongst themselves. That’s right, this young man did his job so well that he was fired for it. These are the reasons that millennials run from radio. Your reputation will always precede you. Radio will have a reputation problem as long as failing companies like iHeart and Cumulus stick around. We are an industry led by failing losers.