Strategic
Image Construction and
the
by Dave T. King
Capitalism has evolved to the point where there is a clear difference in today’s capitalism than sixty years ago. This evolution occurred largely due to the abundance of commercial media in society. In order to better understand this evolution, some scholars have divided capitalism into the “old world of capitalism” and the “new world of capitalism”.
In the old world of capitalism the role of buyer and supplier is clearly defined. The process of capitalism can be easily shown by the following steps:
1. There is a need/desire for a product/Service
2. There is a provider of a product/Service
3. The need is filled by the provider.
This form of capitalism has existed in society for hundreds if Not thousands of years. In recent decades with the rapidly increasing abundance of commercial mediums a new world of capitalism has been born. The new world of capitalism can be shown in the following steps:
1. A new desire in society is designed by the provider.
2. The desire is marketed to society through media.
3. A desire is created in the population via media exposure.
4. The desire is filled by the provider AFTER it has been created by the provider.
Understanding this newfound context of capitalism can help place commercial radio in a position to better compete in the upcoming decades. It is important to understand radio in the context of the old world of capitalism before understanding it in the context of the new world of capitalism. The following is commercial radio in the old world of capitalism:
1. People desire music.
2. Radio is a provider of music and new music.
3. People go to radio to fill their desire for music/new music.
The following is commercial radio in the new world of capitalism:
1. People have multiple sources of music and new music.
2. Radio is a provider of entertainment Packages via TV/internet/FM/On-location.
3. Entertainment Package for a station is designed and marketed.
4. A desire to be a part of the entertainment package is created in the listener
5. The entertainment package designed by the radio station meets the desire it
created in the listener.
Viewing commercial radio in the context of the new world of capitalism shows that radio’s role in society has completely evolved. It has changed so much that radio stations trying to play by the old world rules will Not survive. As a result, I would like to call today’s radio in the context of the new world order of capitalism, “the new world of radio”. It is a new order because the unwritten rules of success have changed. As a result, the word “programming” should be re-thought. Programming in the new world order of radio is now “strategic image construction.”
Strategic image construction is strategically releasing communications via TV, internet, FM, and on-location with the intent of generating a specific association in the public’s mind. The following is a diagram that illustrates Strategic image construction in the new world order of radio versus the old world order of radio.
VERSUS
It is important to note that in the old world of radio internet presence and on-location promotions are viewed as subject to on-air presence. In contrast, the new world order of radio views internet presence and on-location promotions as equally important to on-air presence. This is because these exposures to the public can have just as great an associative effect on the public as on-air presence can.
The Rule Book
The following is the rule book for the new world order of radio:
Rule 1 - The old
rules don’t apply….(the only rule)
Because the game is now strategic image construction and Not programming. The most important rule to understand is that NONE of the old rules apply to the new world order of radio. The ONLY thing that matters is the association the public has of your station or rather, “When the word [Insert you stations name here] is said, what does a person think and feel?” This is because it doesn’t matter how a station went about generating the person’s association. It could have been done through on-location/on-air/internet or a combination of all three.
It doesn’t even matter what association a particular person in society has that is Not the intended demographic. For example, if a forty-five year old woman associates a rock station as awful/gross/too much testerone/you guys are naughty, and this was the intended association, then the station has successfully played the game of strategic image construction. Furthermore, by this person having the correct association, they will continue to reinforce your association within society. For example, if the forty-five year old woman tells her son that the rock station is “awful/gross/too much testerone/you guys are naughty”, this will further the correct association in the son.
This is the ONLY rule to the new world order of radio. However, it obviously changes everything and opens the doors of commercial radio to a large expanse of opportunities.
Factoring in the
Jack-FM Factor
The relatively recent Jack-FM factor is PROOF of Strategic Image construction. Some people would argue that Jack-FM is PROOF that the view of the new world order of radio is wrong and that the old world of radio still exists because Jack is fulfilling the need for music in society. However, the question that is posed is then “how come Jack-FM in almost every scenario fades within a year and half? Did the need for music stop?”
The answer is that the Jack-FM format embodies Strategic Image Construction. By offering a website, a few short cynical liners, TV advertisement, and a unique well thought out personality, Jack-FM has MORE Strategic image construction than most adult contemporary stations. Ironically the association that is being created in people’s minds is, “Radio Sucks”. Many mistake the association for “More Music”, “No annoying Deejays” etc…. This negative/cynical nature of the association explains the gradual decline because humans by nature will Not cling to the negative concept for as long as a concept of substance.
Furthermore, the
stations that are LEAST effected by Jack-FM are the stations with the
MOST strategic image construction because they have the most station
loyalty.
The Art of
Strategic Image Construction
In the old days and sadly even today, PDs look to formulas for success. The “art” of programming was/is a process of combining/selecting certain formulas to program at certain times. The formulas were given top priority and promotions/production/on-air/on-location was all subject to the formula or “feel of the formula”. The process was the following:
1. Select a “demo” in society as pre-determined by Arbitron. For example, women 25-54 years old.
2. Select the appropriate genre to hit this demographic. In this case, we will choose Adult Contemporary.
3. The station focuses on being an “Adult Contemporary” station.
The art of strategic image construction is different. The Strategic Image Construction looks like the following:
1. Discover/seek out a culture/way of life that is already prevalent in city/area you are trying to reach.
2. Design a radio station that plugs into that culture/way of life and even enhances that way of life. Then begin associating your station as the central place for that way of life.
3. Constantly seek to fortify that association in the public’s minds.
The art of strategic image construction allows radio stations to create. In contrast, the formula approach restricts creativity and doesn’t allow the station to grow/change over time as culture/society change.
The $$$$ factor
Three important factors to the $$$ of a station…
1. Radio stations can now use internet/mobile internet to keep detailed records of listeners.
2. In the new world order of radio, Station loyalty is more important than Quantity.
3. Stations should increasingly look to generate ad revenue via Internet(ads/ezine ads) and on-location events. This is only possible through creating loyalty which will increasingly only be possible through strategic image construction.
Concluding
thoughts….
I fully understand that many PDs already understand the concept of Strategic image construction, but I felt it would be helpful for dialogue purposes to put these concepts into writing. I have found that the most successful stations I have encountered, whether they realize it or not, seem to be “doing Strategic Image Construction”. In contrast, the stations that are “programming” are struggling.
It also should be noted that the younger the audience of a station the more important it is to do strategic image construction. The stations with older audience will have to face the concept of strategic image construction more and more over time.
The new world order of radio needs young, creative, intelligent people. It needs this much more than old PDs yelling at younger people that they “sound like idiots for breaking a rule”. While an employee should respect their bosses wishes or “rules”, as far as success for a station goes, the rules of old do NOT matter. What matters is the association in listeners and the loyalty that is born out of that association. As a result, while experience should be respected and is important, EQUALLY important is creative intelligence. A young person with creative intelligence could program a station much more affectively than a person with thirty years broadcasting experience that has No creative intelligence.
If the concept of strategic image construction is valued by the next generation of radio employees, then, radio will see the birth of a new generation of hybrid stations that embody creativity, blur the genres, reflect local cultures, and generate newfound loyal demographics. This will allow radio to compete in the new world order of capitalism.