SUMMER, 2003
First, Breen mischaracterizes how research is used to uncover format opportunities. "Need to find a new format for the dog in a cluster? No problem. Call the research maven of your choice, who will ask people who show up at focus groups questions they can't comprehend about mythical radio stations. Then, when the response is a quizzical look, the moderator will ever so politely but firmly beat on them until they give an answer -- any answer -- to end the torture."
Sorry, but I don't endorse focus groups to determine format opportunities...no knowledgable research "maven" would! When it comes to a crucial decision like a station's format, you need hard statistics that survey research -- not focus groups -- provide. Julian is attacking a straw man here.
But he does raise (what I think are) more serious questions that need to be addressed...
Breen states that "Market research always pulls radio toward the middle and effectively saws off any rough edges that make it interesting."
It's true that research done wrong can pull stations toward middle ground...
A common research mistake is overemphasis of "mean" statistics that end up making stations serve a mythical "average" listener. Of course, there is no "average" listener!
Research done the right way recognizes that the audience is made up of multiple segments of listeners, many of which deviate dramatically from the average in their attitudes, preferences and perceptions. Targeting based on this kind of analysis results in stations that are anything but "middle of the road."
No! Research doesn't inhibit radio's creativity...implemented properly, it enhances it!
For example, 20 years ago, I conducted research for Malrite, considering format options for its new FM in New York. The one that emerged was CHR... Based on my research, I was confident about the success of Malrite's CHR. I knew Z-100 was going to play the hits, and that alone would make it successful. But Scott Shannon went beyond hits to give Z-100 the exciting, "renegade" attitude that made it a super-success.
Did research get in the way of Shannon's creativity? Of course not! Research pointed the way to the "bones" of Z-100's format. Shannon put "meat" on those bones to give Z-100 a personality that took it to a higher level.
Great managers use research to be more creative, not less. I'm not talking about the kind of "creativity" that pulls off-the- wall format ideas out of a certain bodily orifice...I'm talking about creativity that better serves listeners' needs.
How can managers get into the heads of listeners without research?
Julian Breen decries "blind obedience" to marketing research, and I agree with him! Research should not and cannot be used to "dictate" every single aspect of a station's programming.
Instead, research is a tool that talented managers use to gain insights into listeners' mindset, preferences and perceptions. Armed with that information, they can make better, and yes, even creative decisions to better satisfy their present or potential listeners.
No way! It's understandable for those of us who have been in the industry for decades to be nostalgic about the way it used to be. I grew up in Chicago in the '60s and have fond memories of WLS and WCFL from that era. But when I listen to 'LS and 'CFL airchecks from those years, I'm amazed at how bland and middle of the road they were!
I got into research through programming and I laugh when I think of how we used to pick our music, especially oldies. We'd get a bunch of guys in a room and go over lists of records. "That's good," I'd say. "That sucks," somebody else would say. "What do you think Joe?"
Sorry, I'll take an auditorium music test over that kind of rampant subjectivity anytime!
Radio, after all, is most successful when it serves the needs of the listener. The best way to serve them is to determine what they really like, rather than guess at it or (worse yet) impose our own preferences on them!
It's certainly true that inspiration and creativity are rare commodities in today's corporate world of radio. But creativity has always been the exception in radio! The vast majority of radio managers have been content to follow industry trends and formulas that have proved successful elsewhere. This "follow the herd" mentality has now been exacerbated by top-down dictates in mega radio groups.
The proper application of research -- as a source of insight for local managers into their own markets' listeners -- can pave the way for true creativity in radio...the kind that focuses on listeners' needs, rather than ego, conventional wisdom, industry trends or corporate dictates.
Julian Breen is right that radio has problems. But research isn't one of them! Conducted and implemented intelligently, it is the solution.