Changing The Path For Your Radio Brand

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(By Loyd Ford) This week I was on a conference call with a radio group and the book “Positioning:  The Battle for Your Mind” by Al Ries and Jack Trout was discussed.  I realized quickly that most of the people on the call hadn’t read the book.  In a separate discussion, Hall Communications Bob Walker suggested he had just pulled the book out and re-read it over a weekend.  Bob was reminded how much valuable information was in this book and his comment to me was that he didn’t hear any of the principles in this book on radio stations today.

This made me wonder if the book had simply slipped off into the background with radio in the 21st Century.  After all, is the market more or less overcrowded today?   You know the answer well.  So, I thought I would share reasons to go find this book and read it if you are responsible for programming a radio station today.

Here are five (5) reasons to visit or re-visit this book now:

  1. Sharpen your communication.  People who know this book focus on the word positioning, but one of the key benefits that could come from reading the book is learning ways to more directly communicate benefits of listening directly to the people you want to impact.
  2. Find out how to stand out positively in today’s crowded market.  This is no joke.  Reading this book will help you to focus on how to make your product stand out in a way that connects better and more positively than what you may be doing today.
  3. Help figuring out what to do if you are not first in your format in your market.  That’s right.  Everyone cannot be first and taking on a leader takes special skills, strategy and the leveraging of opportunities.  Grabbing a piece of someone’s mind isn’t just about being better than the other guy.  You have to tell the best story.
  4. When have you recently spent significant time repositioning your competitor in your market.  I highly recommend you spend some time with Al Ries and Jack Trout and see what they say about this and how it can help your radio station today.
  5. Check out the chapter on positioning your career.  This isn’t only about your radio station.  Reading this book can help your career and your life.

Someone once said, “It isn’t about what happens when everyone is watching.  It’s what you’re up to when no one is watching.”  Spend some extra time reading Positioning:  The Battle For Your Mind.  When others are doing what everyone else is doing, be the programmer that sharpens your saw when no one is looking.  You’ll be glad you did.

Loyd Ford consults radio stations, coaches personalities, and provides behavioral and strategic programming to radio with RPC. Reach him anytime. 864.448.4169 or [email protected].

 

1 COMMENT

  1. The book could have been re-titled: “Branding – The Battle For Your Mind”.
    Just that reframe alone would make of it a more contemporary and pertinent volume for today’s radio operators.

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