Death Of "The Program Director"

It is time to stop mourning the death of the Program Director and celebrate the birth of the Brand Manager.  The days when programming one radio station was a full-time job are gone.  If you are still using the title Program Director, you might want to consider making the move to this more accurate title.   A growing number of radio companies are now calling their PD’s Brand Managers.  It more accurately reflects how the job has evolved.  

When Lay people asked what I did for a living, I used to say “I am responsible for everything you hear coming out of the speakers on your radio; music, commercials and personalities.   A few years ago, I had to start adding the website, stream, Facebook, twitter, e-mail club, text club, HD stations, NTR programs and events.  The station call letters now represent a brand that is used for content distribution on multiple formats across a growing number of platforms.  

There are many, many definitions for a Brand Manager but I like the one found in the Brand Management Study guide:  “Brand management includes developing a promise, making that promise and maintaining it. It means defining the brand, positioning the brand, and delivering the brand. Brand management is nothing but an art of creating and sustaining the brand. Branding makes customers committed to your business. A strong brand differentiates your products from the competitors. It gives a quality image to your business.  Brand management includes managing the tangible and intangible characteristics of brand.  In the case of service brands, the tangibles include the customers’ experience. The intangibles include emotional connections with the product / service.”

As you embrace your new role, one of the key responsibilities will be to develop a brand book for your team.  It will insure a consistent set of core values and standards for the use of your call letters throughout these platforms.   It is critical that you continue to meet your customer’s expectations.  Here is just one of many excellent sites that can help you develop this resource:

http://brandmakernews.com/top-stories/7209/why-your-business-needs-a-brand-book.html

   

It is tough not to long for “the good ol’ days” but remember there are five key stages to mourning; denial, anger, emotional despair & sadness, reorganization and then LETTING GO AND MOVING ON!!!

 

Get On Board the Twitter Train

               






        VS.







The debate rages on, twitter vs. facebook, which is the most engaging and deserves your attention in order to keep you “connected” in the future.   The reality is, you need both.  They each have a different function.  facebook will continue to be the place to share stories, photos, videos and more, with your friends.  In fact, you can include much more because you have more space to work with.  Plus, you have the attention of the audience for a longer period of time.   

The power of twitter is its mass reach, ease of mobile use, immediate call to action and entertainment value!   It is so much easier to create and post a 140 character tweet than it is to craft a well thought out facebook post with great content.  twitter is a great tool for our changing human behavior.

Columnist Will Robinson writes “We think quicker and are distracted easier. According to the BBC, ‘The addictive nature of Web browsing can leave you with an attention span of nine seconds.’ That’s the attention span of a goldfish! Thus, we must learn to be compelling in that short time frame. Craft your message to engage the goldfish, and you will win by being heard.”  

The impact of this shift in human beings is huge!  Not only does it affect our ability to completely digest any knowledge or communication, it makes us impatient, unforgiving and sometimes a little cranky.  In Fact, right about now you have either stopped reading or are wondering “When will this end?”

For all of the ‘goldfish” humans, Twitter is the perfect communication tool.  The expectation from the user is totally different than with facebook.  When people follow someone on Twitter it is because they enjoy that persons quick witted observations about life OR they want to get up to the minute reports about a topic or a service.   They like the simple “broadcast” messages without a lot of interaction.   If you do want interaction, the world of hashtags awaits.  The advent of hashtags has allowed communities of followers to share thoughts on all kinds of topics. 

 
The Twitter Train has already left the station but it is never too late to jump on board!   If you don’t have a Twitter account, get one.  If you do have one, work on expanding it.  Improving your tweetablity will help you communicate more effectively in our A.D.D. world.   Study the Twitter policies and best practices, learn to use and understand this new form of communication and Enjoy The Ride!!!