by Doug Zanger

A few years ago, I stumbled on Kevin Roberts’ wonderful book, Lovemarks. What struck me immediately was that the concepts and the principles outlined in the book are tailor-made for the radio industry. This being an industry based in the idea of “love,” (”I love that song,” “I love that station”) the book clearly fits radio well. For radio stations, it is a great reminder about what makes the medium (and its people on the air) so powerful. From an advertiser’s perspective, it gets in to the essence of what can make effective advertising and campaign development.

What really stood out, though, is how intuitive the ideas are. There is a genuine simplicity that can actually help strip down some of the challenges we face with clients and distills it down into easily understood ideas that can really push clients (and stations) into an area that they may have been hesitant to pursue in the past. This week, we’ll take a look at some of the more salient points in the book and attempt to frame them for the radio industry. We understand that this is just one perspective and we welcome any and all manner of feedback. In the meantime, we strongly recommend that you read the book and visit the Lovemarks website to get an idea of the power of love.

Chapter 1 - Start Me Up

In my opinion, there are three important points in the opening chapter: optimism, the zig and the “edge.”

Optimism is one of those pieces that is the most subjective. Kevin Roberts is an optimist. Optimism is based on the idea that we can find opportunity in the face of adversity. Roberts even calls that out a little in this chapter. In radio, we are constantly under threat whether it is real or imagined. However, I believe that the threat has been self-generated. I for one, feel that radio is clearly in the best position it has been in for quite some time. Business challenges aside, the convergence of technology and ideas has created a new canvas that has yet to painted on. And this canvas is just huge. The challenge that we face is how to harness all of this great opportunity. I believe that it all starts with incremental change with a healthy dose of optimism. For every bad thing said about the radio industry, I can point to two or three successes or opportunities for positive change. Allan Davis, operations manager of Entercom in Kansas City and former program director of Entercom’s AM properties in Portland once remarked in a meeting that, “(he) will never apologize for being an optimist.” Well said, and important words to consider.

The “zig” is another big piece of this puzzle. Traditionally, radio has been the “zig.” We’ve been able to adapt and persevere on the fly. That’s one of the benchmarks of what makes radio so great. By being flexible and malleable we can do things that other media can’t. With the advent of digital, this gives us an arsenal we have never seen before. That said, there are times when we sometimes ask too many questions or put things in committee. By the time it is acted upon, it can be too late. A “zig” also requires the discipline of failure. I sometimes wonder if we’ve forgotten to take the flops we need to push things ahead. The “biggies” flop all the time. In fact, Penry Price of Google told us at the 4As conference that they try plenty of things that fail spectacularly. This “zig” gets them to the point where things can succeed beyond their wildest dreams.

This takes us to the “edge.” Kevin Roberts puts it this way: “Great ideas, like humor, come from the corners of the mind, out on the edge. That’s why humor can break up log-jams in both personal relationships and in business.” Have we lost our “edge?” Are we doing things that are just a little too “safe?” I think it depends and it is clearly a case-by-case situation. Roberts talks about humor breaking log-jams, but great ideas and relentlessly superior execution is another perspective of the “edge.” The idea of the “edge” is that it can build the foundation for complete transformation whether it’s rebranding a station or working with a local car dealer on creative ideas. If we’re stuck, then the “edge” is probably one of our most important assets in declaring our transformation into something that everyone can get on board with.

Up For Discussion

1. What do you think of these three points? Are the relevant?

2. Do you have some examples of ideas or campaigns that are out on the edge? Why do you consider them out there and what has their impact been?

3. Are you an optimist? Why or why not?

4. Do you “zig?” If so, give us some examples.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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