(By Buzz Knight) Since Labor Day salutes America’s workforce, I wonder whether Brand Managers are focusing on the important “At Work” audience demographic. For many years, radio prioritized winning the workforce as a critical component of ratings dominance.
This became vital for radio companies to get right, or else your competitor would, and you would live to regret it. Then along came COVID. Everything changed, especially the way people worked. Hybrid models of work became a new norm. Some companies went all-remote. The new norm was no norm, and there still isn’t a one-size-fits-all.
Today, I’m asking you to examine your “at work” audience performance in the post-COVID market to assess your strategy and performance.
The first step in this process would be a thorough analysis of your ratings performance, on a trending basis year over year, versus your own performance, your competitors, and peer groups on a format basis.
Try to find up-to-date labor statistics for the workforce economy in your market. You want info that sheds light on the specific type of jobs that exist in your market, split by gender, demographic, and employer. Then take a step back and consider what you built for your brand pre-pandemic, and see what holds up in the current workplace environment.
As behavior has changed should you adjust certain benchmarks to reflect the change? Should the old benchmarks remain?
I hear so many stations on autopilot when it comes to imaging. Does your promotional language on imaging still hold up? Does it reflect the evolving workforce? Besides, it’s always a good idea to freshen up production regularly.
We’ve all heard repeatedly that COVID created unprecedented times. Unprecedented times require action. to be certain your station, no matter the format and no matter the market needs to reflect those changes. By putting your “at work” position under the microscope, you’ll be in a better position to maximize your audience.
As we emerge from the holiday weekend, I hope you are rested and ready to take on the priorities that matter for the remainder of the year.
Buzz Knight can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. Read Buzz’ Radio Ink archives here.
