You know how weird (and scary) it can be to hear your own aircheck from years ago. Cue the cringes.
My equivalent is this blog. I’ve got every post I’ve written over the past 18 years in the cloud. And on Thursdays, I’ve been going back in time to pull out my “reruns” from JacoBLOGs past. I don’t pick ’em at random. I try to choose old posts that still have some resonance today.
So for today’s #TBT post, I’m going back further in time than usual – to May 2013 to be exact. Of course, I write about media, technology, music, and radio mostly. And those worlds have been known to change quickly and with frequency. There’s a little danger in going back a decade to find a post that still resonates.
This particular post is all about knowing your brand, what it means and how it’s different. In other words, a relevant topic to the here and now. Radio broadcasters, in particular, didn’t have to trifle with these issues many years ago. In a world where new music exposure was essentially controlled by what you heard on the radio, stations could keep it pretty generic.
Now that every radio company is on “digital steroids,” what makes them unique from one another? Hop on my elevator and let’s find out. – FJ
May 2013
A recent article on CNBC’s website highlighted the coffee wars between Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and McDonald’s and gave us a glimpse into some “corner office wisdom” each company’s corporate leadership.
But what struck me in the story was Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz’s take on the competitive landscape, in addition to how he considers Starbucks a different player in the field.
In the process, he reeled off his company’s mission: “The sourcing and roasting of quality coffees and the experience we create in our stores.”
Succinct, simple, direct, and solid. Pretty much what you’d expect, right?
But it dawned on me that many CEOs (including yours truly) might not be able to effectively do the same when describing their brands in what is known as “the elevator pitch.”
Whether you’re a barista at a Starbucks in Muskegon or you’re the company’s CMO in Manhattan, knowing your position and your goal in a brief, one line statement has to put you at a distinct
advantage.
That’s true of radio companies, consultancies, and hardware stores. But how many of your employees couldn’t echo the CEO’s vision – assuming there is one? And I’m not talking about “maximizing ratings and revenues.” That’s not a position – it’s a goal.
At the Worldwide Radio Summit last week, Erica Farber moderated a great panel of industry leaders, including John Dickey, Arbitron’s Sean Creamer, and Marketron’s Jeff Haley. She asked her panelists to give us a :60 “elevator pitch” about “What is the definition of radio?”
It was a fascinating exercise, and a bit of a struggle at times as a smart group wrestled with that fundamental question. While some of the responses could have been more succinct (there was one very tall building that made for a long elevator ride), it served as an insightful look inside the minds of radio’s corner office executives and how well they think on their feet. (Answer: Pretty well.)
Back to Starbucks, and it was also telling that Schultz offered a glimmer of insight into how Starbucks envisions its social and digital media initiatives: “All of these things have given us the ability to create significant channels of distribution outside our stores.”
Seeing social and digital as connected extensions of the brand and its physical stores says a lot about how assets like Facebook or Pinterest should be viewed. And yet in so many radio conversations, they are considered to be burdens, obligations, or expense lines that may never be monetized.
You don’t hear Schultz talking about goals for more “likes” and “followers.” Nor do you hear him talk about making money on Facebook. And here’s a brand that has 34 million followers. Yes, they drive sales with deals and promotions (they’re a retail outlet after all), but many of their communiques and posts are community-minded.
During times of great change, employees need to know they’re on the same page with the corner office. And vice-versa. It’s not about those banal “mission statements” that you see on many radio 
station walls. It’s hearing from the person at the top about the company’s real goals and how everyone on the team – right down to the receptionist, traffic manager, and HR director – needs to be in-sync. It’s about giving everyone a picture of what success looks like in radio in 2013, and a vision for the future.
So I started working on my own statement of purpose for Jacobs Media, and came up with this: “Facilitating and creating strategic solutions for media brands through a combination of research and marketing intelligence utilizing traditional tools and new media channels.”
Perhaps it’s not as elegant or concise as Schultz’s Starbucks statement, but it’s a start.
Can you state your company’s true mission (without the snark)?
And if not, that’s a question for the corner office.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Using Radio to Impact the Lives of Young People and Serve the Plymouth-Canton Community.
Impressive! And we still have 20 floors to go.
Can you state your company’s true mission (without the snark)?
There’s a difference between an 30-second elevator pitch and a mission statement.
“Facilitating and creating strategic solutions for media brands through a combination of research and marketing intelligence utilizing traditional tools and new media channels” is the beginning of an elevator pitch; too long and wordy.
How about: “Creating and facilitating impactful solutions for media brands.” That’s your mission statement. The rest of the above describes how you do it.
Rule of thumb: If your company’s mission can’t fit on a t-shirt, it’s too long and your employees won’t articulate it.
content gets better the more edit we do and the more time we invest in it. Jim, thanks for making it better and giving us the “T-shirt Rule.”
“If it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it out.” ~ George Orwell
Fred, I’ve been using the Elevator Pitch for more than 20 years. It started when new sales reps struggled to understand Mainstream AC and Hot AC. Those formats are more difficult to explain than Country or Rock. It helped me to refine the purpose and focus the branding based on that elevator explanation.
Bonus: I’ve moved the exercise to morning shows over the years. Let’s say we’re in an elevator and you’re wearing a Fred & Paul in the Morning shirt. I get on the elevator and I ask, “What’s Fred & Paul in the Morning?” You have ten floors to explain, and it can’t be only “It’s a morning show on Rock 103.”
This exercise helps define the hit images of the show/brand. For a team situation, it illuminates the players who feel differently about the show.
I love the idea of a morning show “elevator pitch,” a great way to define a show’s uniqueness.