Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Country Music Is Authentic, Relatable, Emotional. Country Radio?

In recent weeks TV news branding consultant Graeme Newell has been writing about the specific differences between a slogan and a brand as well as effective and ineffective brands.

On one hand, he's only talking about "news."

On the other, he's talking about US too!

With that in mind, I asked Reel World’s Craig Wallace to create a list of the phrases their writers and singers have been successfully cramming onto the notes of one of their hottest country packages right now.
  • "The Best Variety Of Country"
  • "Today's Best Country"
  • "Today's Hot New Country"
  • "Continuous Hot Country Favorites"
  • "Today's Best And Most Country"
  • "More Continuous Country"
  • "Number One For Country"
  • "Today's Country And Your All-Time Favorites"
  • "Your Country Station"
...and "(city)'s Best Country" and "(city)'s Country Station."

Is this really everything we want our brands to stand for?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

One of my pet peeves about radio station branding statements has always been (and continues to be) that they only talk about the radio station. "Look at how wonderful we are!" Cheesy slogans in a big voice as my friend Nick Michaels says...

We need to remember who we are talking to...the listener.

We need to talk to them from their point of view...what is their experience of us?

It doesn't always work but, when client stations send me imaging copy to read for them that doesn't do that, I'll offer to help them do a re-write. Afterwards they usually get it!

I guarantee that stations that start talking to their listeners instead of about "how wonderful we are", will begin connecting to their audience...and isn't that what radio is about? Connecting...

David Tyler