The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Wherever I’ve visited in the World, I have always … and I mean ALWAYS … heard a radio station position itself with that same, inane line.

I have to say, I almost admire the balls of the above radio station for having the nerve to splash ‘ENJOY THE DIFFERENCE’ on their ad.

And what difference might that be eh?

Is it that one of your bland DJ’s now saya “You’re listening to 91.3FM” instead of “Radio WKRZ” or “Radio Heart”?

Oooooooh, that’s big news – hell, that would make me switch over, I mean, that’s just strategic genius.

Then there’s the fact they say they’re 100% fun when they also say they play the ‘biggest hits of the 90’s’ is confusing.

Well ‘Nothing Compares To You’ was one of the biggest hits of that decade and I don’t think “fun” is the kind of word most people would use to describe it.

Now in Asia, differentiation is an interesting concept. It’s interesting because one of the value systems of the region is ‘group acceptance’ and so being different from everyone else is actually a negative rather than a highly sought after marketing goal. Of course people don’t say that – they all claim to want to be ‘unique’ – but the reality is they only want that as long as they can be the same as everyone else at the same time.

Of course this can lead to incredibly frustrating times – however with reasoned argument, good insights and a sound, relevant business case, you can make it happen, as we did with SONY and our ‘FEEL’ idea.

Anyway the purpose for that brief culture lesson is that maybe Radio 91.3FM are simply playing to cultural rules and actively seeking to sound/present themselves as a similar radio station to all the other local independents around the World.

Believe it or not, this is not necessarily a bad strategy.

There are times when being like everyone else is a sound idea – for example if you’re way down in the public’s consciousness, saying you’re exactly the same as the leader and making sure that interms of media, you’re wherever they are, can lead to a real boost in your awareness, sales and profitability.

It’s nothing new … Heron paracetamol did it in Oz against Panadol and way back before the earth was fully formed, I did a similar thing with Fuji Film [at least interms of media strat] against Kodak.

Of course I’m being polite – because even if Radio 91.3FM were adopting that strategy, it doesn’t excuse the fact their ad is bloody horrendous.

And why the hell have they had so many name changes? What’s going on with that?

Of course letting people know when you’ve changed your name is important – but it never fails to amaze me how few companies take the opportunity to do something that represents a change in their fundamental offering – something that is genuinely beneficial to the end user rather than simply spending shit loads of cash getting society to think ‘same shit, different name’.

Recently our esteemed Mr Dodds slagged off Norwich Union/AVIVA’s name change commercial.

I understand why he did that – and I appreciate many of the subsequent disapproving comments are valid [though sometimes a name change has allowed people with talent get noticed and as such, realise their potential] – but compared to the numerous ads that try and do a similar thing [ie: the one above] or the countless alcohol companies who promote their new bottle [despite the fact it’s more likely to be seen behind a bar rather than in your house], I think it’s a hell of a lot better than most.

Of course all I’m doing is congratulating a semi-decent spot against a bunch of super low standard ones – abit like saying George Bush wasn’t as bad as Hitler – and without doubt it would have been so much better if they’d done something with their product that signified a real change and benefit to their customers rather than just relying on an ad [something that made people care about insurance, rather than just view it as a passive industry that makes excuses when you need to make a claim] … but given the legal legislation required to do things like that, married to the general apathy big corporations have to make something great happen, I guess the spot shows at least a bit of thought went into the campaign.

God how bad is that – I’m giving praise for a bit of consideration – is that how low we’ve gone?

Positioning – be it differentiated or not – should paint a clear and concise idea of that brand in your mind. It could be about who the company is, what they think, what they believe, what they want, what they do etc … it doesn’t matter [well it does, but you hopefully know what I mean] but to have something that actually tells you nothing, as Radio 91.3FM have just done, is pretty much against every principal of brand building.

Saying that, I know they’re a radio station … and I know they play music from the 90’s … so when you compare it to the rubbish McCann Singapore did for 987FM, you almost feel you’re in the presence of genius.

Yep, we’ve really stooped that low!