The False Promise Of Variety

Marketing case studies offer frightening evidence -- proceed with caution. Consider Mennen's campaign for "Mennen E." Millions later, the company's focus group autopsies revealed consumer confusion. "Why would we put vitamins under our arms?" Recently, Burger King's agency convinced the company it would be good to personify "The King" leading to a massive-headed, horse-faced "King" that would send any seven-year-old screaming from the order line. Let's include Blackberry's 2015 new smartphone campaign where they tweeted a picture to unveil it ... but sent that picture on an iPhone (quickly discovered but disastrous for Blackberry).

Radio brands' promise of "Variety" can be viable. Some of our firm's programming clients use it successfully, mainly because they understand the importance of giving it meaning. Instead of empty phrases such as Best Music Variety or Real Rock Variety, clever program directors realize the difference between sloganeering and making a position. Fortunately, some of our clients using the Variety strategy to define it far beyond the phrase alone. Music menu promos, listener-cameos and other connections to the phrase can give it clarity and credibility.

Research easily finds "variety" is an essential part of a listener's choice. Sometimes, however, through careless interpretation of research where listeners have responded to a series of song-hooks grading "variety" with high marks, the easy-button quickly stamps that description on a station's image. But what listeners may really be telling us is simply, "You need to play a lot of my favorite songs!" So, with some people who advise or program radio stations, the "Variety" strategy, unless done with depth and definition, can simply take an easy way out resulting in a watered-down selling proposition that never connects. Why?

"Variety" is difficult to viably deliver. If you promise the "Variety" position, you may be faced with a problem you can never completely solve. Branding is always faced with the potential for creating a promise-performance gap and the less differentiation between your format and your competitors' means a prescription for disappointment. In those instances, there may be very little music separation between you and your competitor. Too much variety -- be it Rock, Country or AC -- and you can lose your core music "center." Yet too much focus necessarily breaks the very promise of "Variety."

What winning radio brands and their PDs have learned is this: Listeners want a variety of their favorite songs, not 1,000 songs (500 of which have little appeal, not to mention poor test scores).

If you decide to take the "Variety" position, (1) connect it to a narrower subset such as 35-49 females. You can't have "Variety" targeting Adults 25-54; (2) our clients know that to win that position, it must be masterfully baked into their imaging -- relentless music-menu promos and underscored in song ramps and fades; and (3) never fight a competitor that has owned the "Variety" image as clearly demonstrated through ratings or perceptual research.

Goodrich Rubber once thought they had a counter to the Goodyear Blimp: "We're the Ones Without the Blimp!" You guessed it ... Goodyear's top-of-mind scores went up! Meanwhile, not long ago in England, Hoover promised a "free trip with every purchase!" Someone forgot to do the math: the company lost $50 million on that adventure!

It's good to remember: A brand is a promise, wrapped in an experience, framed in credibility.