Researcher, futurist, and radio vet John Parikhal submitted a comment that is worthy of attention here, and in the hope of continuing the conversation, it appears below as a guest post. John is best known as president of Joint Communications, an international media consulting firm that sports an impressive client roster.

Like many of us, John is adapting and evolving, forming a partnership with renowned business expert Philippe Denichaud. As John notes, “Peter Drucker and Philippe are my biggest management influences. From them, I learned how to apply practical strategies to help businesses survive and grow.”

Today, we get a great lesson from John:

Great article, Fred. It’s a good list for any hardworking employee to think about.

The tough thing for a lot of people is that they will work harder, show up earlier and do all the extra crap jobs – and still get fired.

Here’s how to avoid this fate (or at least reduce the likelihood):

 

NEGOTIATE your expectations in ADVANCE.

For example, how much does the station value a speech at a local high school or business? How much is it worth to the sales department? How much are your time and speech skills worth personally to you? What about all the other things you do? 

If you are doing a lot of “extra” work for the station, it’s a good idea to get an estimate of its value.

So, ask your boss.

When you go to your “boss,” be polite and frame intent … “I’m a hard worker. I want to help the station. I seem to be picking up a lot of work that wasn’t in my original job description. I’m just wondering if what I’m doing has value. And, if it does have value, I’m curious about how you value it?”

If the “boss” is evasive or doesn’t want to talk about it or says “We’ll figure something out later,” ask them when they would feel comfortable talking about it.

After they tell you how much time they need to figure out the “value,” schedule a meeting for that day to discuss it.

This will help later when they decide to “make a change.” They will know what the work was worth and, as Fred mentions in his comment, the “value” is no longer a random gut call by a manager when they are cutting staff.

They know how much more you are worth than before.

You may think it’s risky to raise the issue of what “extra” work is worth (very few of us like “confrontation” with someone else and you might think of this as confrontation even though it’s simply a professional business question).

However, it’s more risky not to raise the issue.

Here’s why … if you get known as a jack-of-all-trades, you may survive in the short run but in the long run the company has no job description called “jack-of-all-trades,” which means that it’s always going to be a subjective call and few people survive more than a couple of those.

Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t step in and pick a few extra things up when they have to be done. We all need to do that from time to time. No need to negotiate that.

Here’s what you need to watch out for…

When you do something 3 times, it becomes a “recognized” pattern of behavior and when you do it 4-6 times, it becomes “expected.” By that point, you might want to “negotiate” your expectations of what you’ll get for the extra work.

Or, at least ask someone you trust to tell you what it’s worth … to you … and the company you work for.

Thanks, John. And as always, we welcome your comments.

Labels: Jacobs Media, John Parikhal, Joint Communications, Negotiate, Overload, Self-management

Valerie Geller: What are News Talk stations doing right and what are they doing wrong when trying to create, establish and maintain their brands?

John Parikhal: OK. Let’s start with a couple of really important basics: Basic No.1, is the definition of a brand. What’s a brand? It’s a promise and a guarantee, surrounded by ‘cues’ that remind the customer of the promise and the guarantee. These cues might be jingles, taglines, ‘images’ (TV, billboards, online), and connectors (blogs, social media, word-of-mouth, etc.). Your promise is based on how you satisfy the practical and emotional needs of your listener. Your guarantee is how consistently you meet your promise.

Basic No. 2. Your listener defines your brand. Not you. You can say whatever you want about your station but if it’s not in sync with how the listener metabolizes you, it’s just empty posturing or noise.

So, great branding starts with your understanding of the listener and the practical and emotional reasons they listen. Specifically, practical reasons for listening to News/Talk are for news, traffic, weather, insight on events, predictions, etc. But the power of a brand nearly always lies in the emotional reasons for listening. These emotional needs include the feelings of safety, security, affirmation of belief system (huge on talk radio), vindication, and many more.

Unfortunately, very few radio stations research these emotional needs, which is why there is so much weak imaging focused on non-differentiating ‘practical’ reasons. For example, when you tell a listener you have traffic every 10 minutes, it makes your station a commodity. When your traffic makes them safer or more secure, your promise and guarantee is so much more powerful.

That’s why I’m a huge fan of Nick Michaels and his brilliant work imaging the ‘emotion’ of news and talk stations.

VG: What’s more important, branding the personalities or branding the radio stations?

JP: A personality is part of the brand of the radio station. If each personality doesn’t support the promise and the guarantee of the whole station, then listeners won’t think of the station as a ‘brand’. So, the short answer is … think station brand and then creatively demonstrate how the personality reflects and supports a key piece of the brand.

VG: Last week this column focused on using jingles for News/Talk imaging. How important are jingles and sound imaging to create and cement a News/Talk brand?

JP: Jingles are very powerful audio cues that can support the brand. Unfortunately, in radio, most are clichés and eventually become background noise for the listeners.

I prefer audio ‘logos’ or ‘soundmarks’ which are custom designed to reflect the unique station brand. If you want to develop an audio logo, prepare for hard work. It’s like crafting a hit song.

And, if you’re like most program directors these days, you are doing two jobs or more. Where will you find the necessary creative hours to do this important function?

VG: What should stations be doing to expand their brand using social media?

JP: First, stop making listeners ‘like’ you on Facebook. Forcing them to act like a dog rolling over to get a bone sets a deep subconscious resentment. The latest research on brands suggests a 10% loss in positive imaging after one year if you demand a ‘like’ click on Facebook. In other words, your brand loses 10% of its equity.

The best way to use social media is to support your listeners, especially your uber-fans. Use Twitter for real time help, [and] Facebook if your listeners want to interact with your talent and events. Use your website for top stories (or on music stations for songs you’ve just played), and for pictures of DJs and station events. In every case, use keywords that support and reinforce your brand.

VG: Do 20th century methods — print ads, billboards, TV commercials, give-aways, bumper stickers, T-shirts — still apply? How much of that still works in today’s multi-platform world?

JP: The ‘old stuff’ are all the cues that support or reflect the brand. Almost anything can work if it’s creative and rooted in the emotional needs of your brand. However, not everything is cost effective. TV is very expensive and not terribly efficient for most stations. In some markets, billboards can still work, but not if they are pure utility such as ‘weather every 10 minutes’ or ‘we have the best news reporters.'

And, to optimize, update them often – at least once a month. If you give away T-shirts and your target is women, focus on fit. If you want them to wear a shirt outside, they need to look good in it.

VG: Can you name one station that’s doing it right and tell us why?

JP: KCBS-AM in San Francisco is doing a great job. Nick Michaels is doing the imaging, and it’s focused on emotion and connection. For example, they play to the fear (emotion) of their listeners with imaging such as ‘The news today isn’t just about information, it’s about survival.’ And, they have quirky thought provokers such as ‘Information is like water. What are you drinking?’ They always focus on how they serve the listener rather than how great the station is.

VG: Many established or heritage talk stations are now targeting younger audiences. How can you successfully take an established News/Talk station and “re-brand” to create a new or fresher image for that station and make it work?

JP: It's simple, people will re-brand you if you improve their lives. Start by improving' what you do. [There are] lots of ways to do this: deeper, more insightful, more engaging, funnier, etc. Focus creative energy on the improvement.

Back in the day, they just slapped “new and improved” on the box. Think about how the improvement makes the listener's life better, easier, more validated, etc., and image around the feeling this creates. The KCBS San Francisco imaging around news is one example. Because of the bigger news staff and the CBS ability to get access, you get “closer” to the news, which creates a feeling of specialness in the listener.

That's the emotional hook.

A slogan alone will not work. That's why Oldsmobile is now out of business. It was your father's Oldsmobile.

VG: How can branding play a role in bringing new audiences to News and Talk?

JP: A brand is earned, not created by advertising. Advertising is just a cue. In spite of social media, for radio, most trial is generated by tuning around the dial or word-of-mouth. Think NPR. What’s the slogan? What’s the jingle? It doesn’t matter because its listeners have created the brand. Smart. Unbiased. Deep. Comprehensive. National. NPR meets the practical needs of “unbiased” (to its listeners) news as well as more detailed analysis and insight. It meets the listener’s emotional need to feel smarter, more informed, and a step ahead of everyone else.

A brand starts and ends with how it meets the listener’s practical and emotional needs. And, this means constantly checking with them, understanding them, and working to innovate to give them what they need.

Labels: books, Branding, Creating Powerful Radio, John Parikhal, News, Valerie Geller

Once upon a time, life was easy.

Radio was the theatre of the mind. Families gathered around the television set. Selling radio and television advertising happened more often on the golf course or over lunches than via phone calls or e-mails. Companies planned three, five, 10 years down the road.

Life was predictable.

Life has changed!

At the recent British Columbia Association of Broadcasters convention, John Parikhal of Joint Communications talked about the causes of the media jungle: tech earthquakes, connected customers and “Googley” advertisers.

The tremors of tech earthquakes are felt throughout the industry. Things are faster: mobile, gathering, locating, processing. Things are getting easier: consuming, connecting, engaging, creating. Things are disintermediated: the middle disappears, the “broad” in broadcast is gone.

If you don’t like what you see or hear, you go somewhere else.

The second shift is the connected customer. Judging from conference participants’ behaviours – that’s YOU, too! Always on. Always connected and in control. Always multitasking, checking e-mails and voice-mails; always filtering – skimming and diving if you see something interesting.
Googley advertisers are confused and nervous because they are not sure how media works anymore. They are everywhere now. They experiment with social networking, try to be friends on Facebook. They want metrics, they want engagement, they want action and they want savings.

Parikhal offered five rules to manage and profit from this tectonic shift:

1. Love your customers.
2. It’s Not about you.
3. Help your advertisers and yourself.
4. Engage, engage, engage.
5. Good enough Isn’t good enough.

The BIG transformational new rule is Good enough isn’t good enough.

Back in the good old days choices were limited. Viewers and listeners were satisfied with the notion of “this is good enough”. Guess what? It’s no longer true because in this new world, people expect excellence, they have vastly more alternatives for their entertainment. The same holds true with customers – they expect excellence as well.

Parikhal’s Rule #1: Love your customers!

Love them! Make it faster. One click and they’re there without waiting. Give them control. Make it easier, don’t let them jump through hoops. Do a usability test for them. Have you tried to load your site? Have you tried to load it on your phone? If it takes more than two seconds, invest in reducing the load speed. You don’t want to lose your customers. Reward your customers, don’t disappoint them. Don’t make somebody listen to your radio station and write down a song at 1:10, 3:10 and 6:10 for a prize to win. Anyone who has the time to do that shouldn’t actually have a job. Don’t disappoint a lot of your listeners when they tried to phone you a thousand times to be the tenth caller.

Don’t block and drop connection and conversation. Let people who want to network with you do that, let them network with their friends through you, make it easy. Learn from the mistake that Michael Eisner did when the Internet first started: He lost the Mickey Mouse Fan Club when he prohibited Mickey fans to use Mickey's likeness on their fan pages online. There were hundreds of Mickey fan clubs. Eisner, said you can’t do that, Disney owns that. He crushed them, destroyed every Mickey Mouse fan club just by not letting people connect and not by facilitating the conversation.

Reward your customers with unexpected joys and hidden surprises. Parikhal mentioned the Ford Taurus into which 50 unexpected things were built without telling customers. Customers would discover these things and be absolutely delighted. “What unexpected joy and hidden surprises can you give your viewers and your listeners?” asked Parikhal.

Parikhal’s Rule #2: It’s not about you!

It’s only about your customers! Their only question is, “What’s in it for me?”. You simply cannot take anything or anyone for granted anymore. There are way too many other entertainment choices and you have to earn your customer every day.

On today’s game, there is no #2. But before puffing your chest, here is the sobering news: #1 doesn’t matter much, either.

Parikhal told the story about a station requiring imaging for a segment that dealt with children having been killed. It insisted that the imaging should deal with the concept of “We’re #1”. The voiceover talent declined and was threatened with being fired. Finally, he got his point across and the imaging said something along these lines: “When bad things happen we’re just like you, angry and confused and just like you we try to understand. That’s why the Channel x news team is working hard to get the news to you fast.”

The only big question your customer ever knows or cares about is what’s in it for me and you have to earn it everyday.

Parikhal’s Rule #3: Help your advertisers and yourself!

Parikhal suggests that this rule represents the biggest opportunity he has seen in this industry in maybe 25 years. Your advertisers need help to conquer the media jungle. They are confused and don’t really know what’s going on.

How? Get a point person in the organization who can answer all questions about media, whether it’s traditional or new. Train and educate all your sales staff and prepare them to cut a path through the jungle. Sell all customer touch points, including streams.

Get real with metrics. Determine how much do you expect the needle to move; on how many people they expect to show up; how much they are expected to spend; and what they expect them to do.

You’ve got to get to know your customers rather than sell a spot whether it’s radio or television. Talk to them about results.

Use iPads for presentations. Parikhal suggests handing it to the customers so that they can push the buttons, so that they’re in control. On top of your advertisers getting the answers they’re looking for, it looks incredibly cool and adds to your reputation that you must be understanding something that I as the advertiser do not.

Help yourself! Measure. Work to improve measurement. Measure every stream and source. Even if it’s not 100%, keep measuring. Think brand and plan a strategy across your platforms. Improve creative. It must create “water cooler talk” - virtually or actually. If your customers don’t send it, if they don’t talk about it, it’s not very good.

Think longer and act faster. Go beyond 90 days. Try it, and if it doesn’t work, get rid of it. If it works, move on.

Parikhal’s Rule #4: Engage, engage, engage!

First thing, meet customer needs, not your needs. Next thing - tell stories. Stories are very powerful. Think Gestalt and discovery. When you leave the middle, people try to close it and other people try and close the circle. They are much more engaged. What you don’t say is more powerful than what you do say, what people discover is much more important than what you tell them.

Give the URL. Engage people and let them discover more about you online. Give them what they want. Get beyond ”the box” and form partnerships.

What it boils down to...

Understand the change: Tech earthquakes aren’t predictable. Understand the connected customers: they’re skimmers and divers, are multitasking all the time, they want to be your friend if they choose to, not because you want them to be. It’s not about you, it’s all about them. “Googley advertisers” are a really good thing because there is nothing better than a scared advertiser. Now you can be the expert, the front person.

Apply the new rules:
Love your customer. Do you really have to love them? The answer is yes. Apple loves its customers. Honda loves its customers. They don’t even need slogans.

It’s not about you. #1 doesn’t matter. It’s all about them.

There are huge opportunities. Help your advertisers and help yourself.

Engage, engage, engage.

By understanding what’s going on out there and applying the rules, you have the opportunity, you’ve got the skills, you’ve got the brains, you’ve got the power – you can profit from this change.

Labels: BCAB, Broadcast Dialogue, John Parikhal

AllAccess: Your new book "Beyond Powerful Radio - A Communicator's Guide to the Internet Age" is now available -- what's new compared to the previous (and still available) "Creating Powerful Radio?" What, and who, is the new book for?

Valerie's reply: Beyond Powerful Radio is for anyone trying to navigate and become a more powerful communicator in the digital age...It's meant to be for a diverse audience of working broadcasters, both managers and talent, and people aspiring to do creative work, manage creative people or market content in any platform.

AllAccess: Speaking of Internet content, are there similarities in producing talk audio content for podcasts or streaming as opposed to broadcast?

Valerie's reply: Powerful, relevant content always wins the day. Good storytelling always works and it applies in any medium. What the internet gives you is the ability to enhance your storytelling by working with the visual component to integrate still images and video with lengthier print pieces with your audio stream or podcast. The internet also offers a new component, but it's not new to talk radio - that's the constant conversation with your audience.

To master the digital world:

1) Adhere to the principles of powerful storytelling.

2) Entertain and inform whether it is live or on-demand.

3) Keep in mind that shows that are downloaded may not be heard right away.

4) Conversely, you should also expect that when there's news of an immediate nature, or a big break in a story, people will still go to their radios, TVs, and computers with the expectation that you will give them the most immediate up-to-the moment information.

Labels: books, Creating Powerful Radio, John Parikhal, Radio, Valerie Geller

1. The demographic disconnect. The demographic shift is from young to old. For the first time, Canada is now producing more older people yet agencies still focus on 25-54s. Also, the population as a whole has much greater diversity.


2. The disappearing middle. There is nobody in the middle anymore. It is direct, and in a direct communication world it’s entirely different.


3. The always-on culture. The power shifts from the transmitter with its intrusiveness to the receiver who has the choice of how to do things, how to use information and how to communicate.


4. The chaos. The chaos is a shift from scarcity of advertising inventory to excess of ad units. Now there are so many different ways to reach people.


5. The filter factor. The final shift, says Parikhal, is hugely significant. The power shift has gone from reach to engagement. It’s no longer enough to just get to people, you have to get their attention and engage them. Simply buying reach is barely relevant because of this ability to unconsciously and habitually filter out people who’re trying to sell stuff.

Labels: BCAB, Demographics, John Parikhal, Media trending, Power Shift, Rules

"The biggest killer of all will be current management, unless they: Stop dancing to Wall Street's whip, institute formal training and recruitment, start surrounding themselves with smart people who challenge them, create cultures of formal innovation and begin to get serious about spot loads. Radio can control this. They can't control [Apple CEO] Steve Jobs, the Internet or any other of the so-called "killers" of the medium."

"This was all predictable, long before the current economic crisis," he says. "You could see it coming, yet irresponsible people — who didn’t want to invest the necessary time and money — caused terrible pain for so many in the industry."

Labels: Future, John Parikhal, Predictions, Radio, Steve Rivers

Two Things Before You Even Start

• Get rid of all Czars. They screwed up everything in Russia and exploited the people. So, why do we put Czars in charge and expect things to get better?

Why don't we think about stuff like this? We don't question words, even when they don’t make sense.

If we are going to fix radio, we have to think more. Which means the first step is...

• Stop lying to yourself. Things are bad. The top people in radio made a lot of mistakes. You can’t take true action till you are honest with yourself. Things can get better – but not if you don't face the truth. It’s like the 12 step program. Start with honesty.

Describe your 'current reality' – honestly. The tension between 'current reality' and what you want to create (your Outcome Statement) is what creates action.

Then, if you still want to take action, use 3 Tools.

Three Tools for Being Proactive Around Growth

• Use Strategic Thinking. This is the most powerful strategic tool in business. Create an Outcome Statement – what 'outcome' do you want to create? Once you have identified what you want to create, identify what you have to 'do differently' to get there. Start making the changes.

• Use a '90 Days' summary. Work with your direct reports and, for each of them agree on what they have to do in the next 90 days.

And, demand that your boss meet with you (in person or on the phone) every 90 days to determine what you have to get done in the next 90 days.

This is the best get-it-scheduled-and-done tool in the business. It worked for Lee Iacocca.

• Practice Listenomics. Get rid of all Czars and be like Lego and Nokia. Empower your fans. Don’t try to control them. Listen to the conversation. More details at gomediafix.com.

The Most Important Thing To Do On-Air

• Focus on what's immediately relevant. Relevant is more important than local. Even though local is important, it is a subset of immediate – not the other way around.

Get rid of all the Czars – the same ones who said HD was the next big thing. The same ones who say the only future is local. They are playing follow-the-leader.

The Litmus Test

• Sell a 20 year old on working in radio. Write a speech to persuade them to come into the radio business. Think your speech through. Write it down. Try it out. Be honest.

If you can't persuade them, ask the 20 year old - 'What would have to change in order for me to be able to encourage you to work in radio?'

Next, ask yourself – 'What would I want to change in radio to make it more attractive to a 20 year old?'

Then, look at your answers and theirs - and set to work immediately on influencing the necessary changes. One step at a time. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Labels: 2009, Future, John Parikhal, Listenomics, NAB, Radio

"Internet companies are checking out the customer six ways to Sunday. But radio will tell you they don't have the money to research their customer. I truly think we’re at the tipping point, because for any business, you have to know who your customers are.

For radio, it's 5 different customers:

#1 - Wall Street or another 'lender'.

#2 – The advertiser. And radio should focus a lot more on the advertiser, because it has given them very short shrift. The more innovative companies are trying to become the digital and media marketing experts for the local guy, to help them move more product. Their competition is Craigslist and emerging online city directories.

#3 - The FCC, and I sense that radio will be hearing from them within a year.

#4 - The employees. With a few notable exceptions, they have been treated the way no customer should ever be treated. This whirlwind of firings and layoffs has nothing to do with performance, and the message it sends is very negative. People are now very, very wary about making radio a career.

#5 - The listener. But radio thinks 'all we have to do is keep the listeners we’ve got.' That’s a fool's game. You have to grow the pie, and to do that, you need to know more about your listener than their favorite songs or that they like sports on the radio. The listener doesn't care that radio is in a recession and won't invest in understanding their changing needs."

Labels: Customers, John Parikhal, Media Trend Watching, Radio, Radio-Info, Tom Taylor

Labels: Chris Kennedy, Future, Future of Radio, John Parikhal, Joint Communications, Jointblog, Media, Media Trend Watching, Radio, Strategy

As the radio industry evolves at a rapid pace, critical decisions about the medium’s future become increasingly more urgent. Technology issues have enveloped the industry to such a challenging extent, that the call for radio leaders to be actionable has never resonated so loudly. John Parikhal has never met a challenge he didn’t like, he relishes the very concept. While Parikhal’s client list continues to remain firmly entrenched in radio, the macro version finds him involved with a variety of media and marketing companies. His latest foray with strategic Internet initiatives with some large clients has him thinking about the future 24/7. It’s spring and time for our annual check-up with one of our industry’s deep thinkers.

Labels: cellphone, FMQB, Google, HD Radio, Internet, John Parikhal, Joint Communications, Jointblog, Karmazin, Media, Media Trend Watching, MySpace, PPM, Radio, Sirius, XM