Like a lot of people who have worked on the strategic side of the radio business, I’ve collected a lot of marketing books over the years. Like many strategists, I’m always looking for another angle – a new way to think about the marketing of radio. And of course, we’re all looking for that Holy Grail book that will guide us.
Later in this post, I’ll give you a list of my top 5 media marketing books. I’m not recommending you buy them or even read them. But each has played a role in shaping my media “world view” over the years.
I believe the first one that truly hit me between the eyes was the Ries & Trout classic, “Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind.” The book was first published in 1980, and probably did more to shape the thinking of radio programmers during that decade – and beyond. While AdAge ranked it at #56 on its list of the 75 most important marketing books, “Positioning” took the #1 position in a 2009 AdAge reader poll. I suspect if you queried radio station executives of a certain age, “Positioning” would win the same honor.
Up to the point Ries and Trout arrived on the scene, many radio stations marketed themselves based heavily on what they did, rather than “the hill” they wanted to win – or “own.” Ries and Trout’s “positioning” philosophy was to (hopefully) be first-in on a position, and then lock it down, on and off-air. The consumer is bombarded with marketing messages, so it’s all about the perceptions of your audience and your market.
Last week, Al Ries passed away at age 95. Jack Trout died in 2017. Together these two marketers rocked the world of advertising…and radio. Interestingly, they were known as “marketing mavericks” when they first began espousing their “controversial new idea,” as AdAge put it.
Bill Moyes, who ran “The Research Group,” was an especially big proponent of Al Ries and Jack Trout’s thinking, a core component of his marketing model. And the “Coleman Pyramid” – 40+ years later is
very much leveraged on the “positioning” core philosophy.
The “base” of their pyramid has always been about owning a music or spoken word format position. It’s what a radio station must do first, before developing personality, creating contests, or marketing the product.
It was certainly front and center when I launched the Classic Rock format just a year or so after “Positioning” was first published. It was abundantly clear to me – thanks in no small part to the writings of Al and Jack – that my client stations had to circle their marketing wagons around being “THE Classic Rock Station.”
And their thinking served me well as I marketed my own services in ads and columns that appeared in the radio trades. Becoming “the Classic Rock guy” was a position I staked out.
In radio, Ries and Trout seemed to show up at the conference room table for all key strategic meetings – at least in spirit.
“What’s your position?” “Is there a position?” Can you own (or win with) that position?” were the FAQs that dominated most discussions – back then and even today.
And of course, there was the corollary – RE-positioning your competitor. That reverse strategy became popular as well. If a station could recast its opponent in the mind of the consumer, that was a perfectly legitimate marketing goal.
In their heyday, Ries and Trout attracted an impressive array of clients, including Apple, Disney, Ford, and Samsung. Like any major philosophers, the duo attracted critics as well – especially at the agency level, where creative teams could get a bit bent out of shape by Ries and Trout’s advice and prognostications. One creative officer sarcastically noted, “They position themselves as the Moses of the marketing world.”
And Al Ries is quoted with his apt comeback, “Many times, an agency refuses to accept a strategy because it wasn’t ‘invented there.'”
The duo went on to write several other marketing books, including another of my favorites, “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.” You’ve heard me quote it on many occasions and blog posts.
Ries and Trout eventually split up, and Ries went into business with his daughter, Laura, becoming Ries and Ries, and later just Ries. (The name itself conveyed their position.) Laura told AdAge:
“My father, my mentor, my partner. He loved his family and his work, and with me those two collided. The education he gave me was priceless.”
There are many radio and media programmers, managers, and strategists nodding right along, most of whom learned the principles of “Positioning,” applying them with skill in familiar situations pitting radio station versus radio station.
But in the multi-dimensional media world in which radio finds itself struggling in now, too many have apparently forgotten
the lessons they first learned from Ries and Trout.
What is broadcast radio’s position in the expanded media ecosphere of today – and tomorrow? What position can radio “own” in a media maelstrom that includes streaming, podcasting, video, gaming, and other entertainment verticals? What is it that radio does better/differently than everyone else?
Maybe it’s time to re-read “Positioning.”
My five favorite marketing books, not in any particular order:
- Ries & Trout’s “Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind” – Explained above.
- Seth Godin’s “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable” – A brilliant little book that reminds readers brands won’t capture attention and stand out unless they truly do remarkable things. I also love Seth’s “Permission Marketing.
- Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese?” – An amazing little parable about opening one’s eyes to change. It works for individuals, as well as for entire industries. As digital grew in magnitude but many radio executives denied it was happening, I often thought of the “radio cheese room.”
- Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” – Published in the late 90’s, this one resonated with a lot of people, listing those admirable qualities that lead to success. Perhaps my favorite is “Begin with the end in mind,” a key step many skip over. As a consultant, it is always necessary to know what a win looks like. Surprisingly, many people – even within the organization – don’t know.
- John Naisbitt’s “Megatrends: 10 New Directions Transforming Our Lives” – One of the older books in this group, “Megatrends” was published in 1982. It convincingly made the point the socioeconomic (and geopolitical) forces in our world impact our lives, our careers, our businesses. If you think about America and the world in the past 5 or so years, it is hard to ignore these forces, whether we’re talking political change, health, climate, and so many others.
I know many of you have other favorites, or will be aghast I missed an obvious one. So, please use “comments” below to let me know what I – and JacoBLOG readers – are missing.
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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Great list of books Fred. It’s been a long time since I read Positioning. I may need to pick up another copy. I loved Purple Cow and 7 Habits. I think we need to remember Covey’s adage “Think first to understand then to be understood” in these crazy days.
Thanks for responding, Bill. Glad to know the post resonated for you.
This post brings back fun memories Fred. I remember using that book to make sure we won the “more music hill”. Is that hill even still in view for radio vs Pandora, etc? But the basics of that book still apply. Another great book is “only the paranoid survive” by Andy Grove who used to run Intel chips. Lots of lessons in there about companies who lost their positioning, then lost their way….
Phil, thanks for chiming in on this. You comments reflect a number of others. Somewhere along the way, the key players in our business stopped educating themselves on the basics, failing to pass that knowledge down the line. We’re paying for it now. And I remember Grove’s writings – always good stuff.
And yes, the “more music hill” went the way of “20 song music marathons,” and is just another of radio’s lost causes. Thanks for these reminders.
Fred, MANY years ago, I attended a meeting (at the Detroit chapter of the marketing association?) where you spoke and used a pithy phrase that explained positioning perfectly:
“YOU’VE GOTTA BE FAMOUS FOR SOMETHING”…talking about your time at WRIF and how you developed that station’s persona.
It’s stuck with me all these years.
Mark, I don’t remember the specific meeting, but I DO remember than mantra. I still use it today. Thanks for reminding me.
I first read “Positioning” in 1981 and have read it once every year since then. Some of it is dated but it’s the thought-discipline that is so worthwhile. Anyone in any business will benefit from this book.
Indeed, Barry. It is a different world today, but the underlying fundamentals are mostly the same.
I once constructed a “holiday” tree in my living room. I looked at it and thought “just one more ornament”…then “oh, one more” -and so on until it collapsed under its own weight. Many marketers (and radio stations) seem to have that problem. If you Google “The #1 rule of marketing” you’ll learn from Forbes:
“marketing first and foremost is about creating and keeping a customer.
Even though there are many shiny objects, new marketing channels and changing methodologies every day, the smartest brands in the world never lost focus. (Think Coke, McDonald’s, Google.)
To stay ahead of the game, keep things simple and make sure that your marketing efforts directly align with your consumer.”
Granted, the radio game has 2 customers, the listener and the advertiser. In a lot of cases, I guess the shareholder has become a third. But in the case of many companies, maybe the shareholder realizes a bad investment when he/she sees it. (.33 a share?)
My point (before all of those shiny objects got in the way) is that you can keep it simple, keep your focus-and win. Broadcast radio still has its advantages (free, easy to consume, high quality) but many things have gotten in the way of those benefits. Time to whittle them down to a few, ain’t it ? (Oh, Fred-you already said that.)
There’s a lot to be said for the Law of Focus, Dave. The radio industry has lost sight of many of the fundamentals the past decade or so. And yes, it has taken its toll.
Fred, that’s a great list of marketing books! One that’s quite helpful with marketing to women is “Don’t Think Pink” by Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned.
Thanks for this, Joh.
Chancellor AM/FM Programmers and Marketers from the late ’90s will remember Steve Rivers giving us a laminated card with the Laws. Gold. The Law of the Opposite is the most fun to execute. I wonder how The Law of Line Extension has created noise in this medium. My go-to in the last decade has been The One Thing by Gary Keller. Thanks for the timely post, Fred.
Appreciate it, Ron. There was a high priority back then to educating programmers, and having everyone speaking the same language. There was always room for disparate points of view, but at least everyone was operating on the same playbook.
Yup, and Greater Media programmers will remember getting a laminated card with the 22 laws from me in 1994. I still carry one of the few I have left today and often pull it out during brainstorming meetings. It remains on top of my list as the most useful marketing book ever, even surpassing The Positioning book.
I remember how influential those books were for you, and rightfully so. I expected to hear from you on this post, Andy.
We used to joke about building a holding cell at the station for anyone who broke one of the immutable laws.
And you were the “sheriff,” right? These days, you couldn’t even get an arrest or an indictment.
Since 1996…
The word ‘positioning’ can also be used when it comes to a cluster-wide strategy among all the stations.
I still find it odd that so few of the radio companies don’t think smarter and play a bit more defensively when there are economic options to do so.
Oddly, Marty, I think “cluster positioning” was a bigger deal in the earlier days of consolidation. I remember architecting a number of “rock walls,” designed to be reasonably impenetrable (or at least, discouraging) to other market clusters. Like a lot of protocols in our business, this may be another lost to expediency.
Cannot believe he was 95. We had him as our keynote speaker for the MAB summer conference back in 92. He did a magnificent job and I was lucky enough to shadow him all weekend. It was worth a $10,000! A giant. Absolutely a giant.
Last week Dan Wieden and now Al.
An amazing pioneer, Bob. I never had the pleasure of meeting with Al or Jack. Thanks for the comment.
All first class books that should be read by every member of the staff whether they are in sales or programming. We all can learn from classics if we get out of our own way and keep an open mind. Thanks for sharing, Fred! As always! Pat
My pleasure, Pat. Sometimes in our haste to accomplish our ratings & revenue goals, we lose sight of the strategic building blocks those aspirations are based on.
Not sure if it’s politically correct these days or not. But I had a radio owner in the 90’s where this and “Art Of War” were required knowledge…both helpful
It’s been years since I read it – I remember Ed Christian recommended it to me. I recall it was hardcore, but worthy the read.
I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Laura Ries called “Focus” in Bogotá, Colombia, in July 1997.
Later, I attended Al Ries’ presentation of his book “Repositioning” in San José, Costa Rica, in 2006.
“Positioning” and “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” are books that, even years after they were published, I continue to reread on a regular basis.
I always have them on hand…
Both books were mandatory reference for us when we worked with the great John Parikhal in the creation of different radio formats in Colombia, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica and Panama.
Thanks for sharing your list, Fred.
Tito, lucky that you got to see Jack and Laura in person. As you point on, both books will outlive their authors in relevance. Thanks for chiming in on this one.
Great column. Two books to add to your list:
The Marketing Edge: Making Strategies Work by Thomas V. Bonoma (1985)
The Mind of the Strategist: the Art of Japanese Success by Kenichi Ohmae (1982)