Staving Off the Grim Format Reaper

It happens every year around this time. After some predetermined amount of stunting, we greet the new year with a list of stations changing their name, format, or direction.

Listeners usually lament the demise.

“I always used to listen to them.”

“They were the soundtrack of my life.”

“I learned to love music (or talk, or whatever) listening to them.”

There are references to current and bygone DJs who were like friends, and an abundance of remembrances of shared experiences.

Clearly, a good number of listeners had developed a relationship with the station. In sum, there’s a tremendous outpouring of love.

Which made me wonder, “If it was your station or mine that was signing off, what, if anything, would people feel and say?”

Truly, I hope it wouldn’t be anything like the above.

Albeit lovingly, nearly these people are all taking the past. What about their relationship with the station closer to the format change?

Certainly, there are listeners who grow up with a station and are loyal listeners for life. But others move on while still holding a special place in their heart for the station they used to listen to.

Susan Krauss Whitbourne Ph.D. writes in Psychology Today, “A phenomenon called the ‘reminiscence bump’ (Rubin et al., 1998) leads adults of all ages to remember with great clarity and fondness the years of their own youth… Emotionally connecting with your younger self helps you maintain a sense of continuity over time. Without memory, we would have no identity.”

No doubt, emotional connections can last for a very long time. That’s great, of course. However, if this ongoing impassioned attachment fails to result in continued consumption, the brand descends into something a lot of people recall fondly but rarely if ever use

This brings us to the street corner of Relationships and Relevance. It’s a great place to ask ourselves some questions to help assess how well we’re doing in each of these two areas.

• Are there elements that aren’t earning their keep because of declining relevance?
• Are we continually innovating, surprising, and delighting our clients and fans?
• Is the station listener- and client-obsessed, keeping abreast of each as they journey with us?
• Are we creating the best possible experience when listeners and clients interact with us?
• Is every part of the station easy to consume/interact with regardless of platform?
• Have we made it a mission to create emotional bonds with listeners and the community every day?
• Are all aspects of our brand authentic?
• Are we committed to avoiding things that could compromise who and what we are as a brand?
• Do we always deliver on our brand promises?

The best way to not be missed is not to go away. And the best way not to go away is to create emotional ties, stay relevant and in the moment, provide value, and be in sync with your target.

Regularly set aside time to consider these questions. They’ll help you maintain your relevance, consumption, emotional connections, and “must hear” factor.

You’ll be telling the format grim reaper to try someplace else. Yours will not be one of the stations changing their name, format, or direction.

It’s nice when people say how much they miss you.

However, it’s a lot nicer when you’re still here.

_{© 2022, Mike O’Malley, Mike O’Malley, LLC}

_{Photo by Yomex Owo on Unsplash}