“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs
Another Steve – Steve Case former head of AOL – sees the world of business as either attackers or defenders. In his mind, it is essential for companies – especially smaller entrepreneurial businesses – to think proactively and innovatively:
“…I realized the world of business really separates into these two groups. The attackers are the entrepreneurs who are disrupting the status quo, trying to change the world, take the hill, anything is possible, and have nothing to lose in most cases. They’re driven by passion and the idea and intensity. Large organizations — and it’s true of Fortune 500s and it’s also true of governments and other large organizations — are defenders. These guys aren’t trying to pursue the art of the possible, how to maximize opportunity. They actually are trying to minimize the downside, and hedge risk. They’re trying to de-risk situations. Entrepreneurs can’t even think this way. It’s not even a concept they understand.”
Enter John Fullam, Greater Media Philadelphia’s market manager. For him, it coalesced with a piece on 60 Minutes featuring IDEO’s David Kelley. If you watch just the first few minutes of the piece, you’ll get a better sense for what the goal of Fullam’s innovation initiative was all about. Kelley is the guy who worked closely with Steve Jobs back in the day when the Apple that we all know first came together.
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It’s about “design thinking” – working as teams to create bigger, better, and more meaningful innovations. Small and nimble groups made up of people with different backgrounds who work together to brainstorm ideas. That’s what IDEO does, and Fullam attempted to replicate this structure within a radio cluster.
It worked. I was fortunate enough to be on hand as the teams representing WMMR, WMGK, BEN-FM, and The Fanatic rolled out their three best innovative ideas. And my question was whether this IDEO process using small, creative Ninja-like teams could actually translate to radio.
Guess what – it does.
There’s as much creativity inside radio stations as there is within any company. And teams were encouraged to reach outside the building for help if they felt it would be additive to the process.
The goal? Come up with three NEW innovative ideas per brand that drive engagement, ratings, and/or revenue.
To incentivize the brand teams, Fullam offered cash prizes, but the winner receives a trip on the company plane to have lunch with CEO Peter Smyth.
While I’m sure these incentives were helpful, I saw a competitive spirit from each team that went beyond prizes. They worked hard to come up with strong, clever, and breakthrough ideas; and they each used solid presentational tools to convey them to the judges.
And these weren’t pie in the sky concepts. Each brand was required to actually implement one idea during the first quarter of this year, so there were results to be measured along the way, too.
This exercise tells me that radio can do this – that there’s more brain power inside stations than many companies think, especially those that take the top-down approach where employee contributions are minimized, staffers aren’t allowed to attend conferences, and there’s virtually no personal growth. This initiative was not only a breath of fresh air for yours truly, but also was an indicator that many of the problems facing the industry can be tackled from the bottom up.
Smaller companies have advantages, and Greater Media Philly’s innovation initiative is proof positive that it can work. You may also remember that the cluster was also honored for being one of the top workplaces in town.
Coincidence? I think not.
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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