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This is the tale of two telephones. I call them
both phones but that is about all they have in common.
One is functional. You plug it in. You dial a number. You talk.
You hang up when you’re done. No more, no less.
The other can be used to place calls, as well, but that hardly the
reason people choose it.
I grew up playing the board game Monopoly for hours and hours and
hours with my friends Rodney, David and his younger brother Mark.
We were excited at the prospect of being the first to land on
Boardwalk and Park Place. The utilities--Water Works and the
Electric Company—were so boring their spaces were in black and
white.
Utilities are there to simply function. Water, electric, telephone.
One phone is designed to simply connect with that utility. The
other is designed for the imagination.
It strikes me that radio stations can be as distinct as these two
phones. One is no more meaningful than its most basic
function—turn it on to listen; turn it off as desired. The other is
the centerpiece of a conversation with like-minded people who care
deeply about their faith, their families, and their communities.
My I-Phone isn’t just about the technology of the phone, it’s really
about me. I have so personalized it to my specific interests that
I’ll not likely ever change to another kind of phone. Apple has a
customer for life.
My apps are about my interests. When I share my apps I’m sharing my
life. (I have an app just to help me share apps).
The fact that one can plug
a telephone cord into a wall and lift the receiver to call someone
is not likely to be the subject matter of conversation among raving
fans. (Although my uncle used to tell the story of when his
grandparents first got electricity they’d sit around and watch the
light bulb). The fact that a radio station is on the air and plays
five songs in a row and has disc jockeys and features is not what
makes a radio station remarkable.
Hugh MacLeod says, “It’s not what a product does that matters to us
so much, it’s how we socialize around it that matters.”
The new I-Phone 4S has a new feature called Siri that I heard about
from my daughters and several friends long before I ever upgraded my
own I-Phone. A friend demonstrated it to me by dictating a text
message telling his wife where we were meeting for dinner. (He was
no less enthused about Siri despite the fact that “she” didn’t get
the message correct and couldn’t locate his wife’s name in his
contacts). Siri has value far beyond the information it gives. Siri
is the “remarkable” that people talk about. In other words, the
Apple I-Phone 4s has socialization built in!
Great stations have listeners that are engaged and share the station
with others--not because of the radio things the station does but
because of how meaningful it is.
MacLeod says, “Social and personal identity involves a lot of
sharing what matters to you most, with those who matter to you most.
It’s an amazing thing, when your customer base not only buys your
product but also consciously takes individual responsibility for
your success.”
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John is a partner in Goodratings
Strategic Services, and has been a successful major market disc
jockey and program director for such companies as CBS, Cap Cities,
Westinghouse, Sandusky, Gannett, and Alliance during his 38 year
broadcast career. John joined Goodratings’ partner Alan Mason in
1999.
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