In an earlier post, we looked at three things that can be ratings killers. This is true in any of the 25 countries where we’ve worked… PPM or diary.

Here are two more:

4. Positioning in an area that’s irrelevant

Every radio station in every town, city and country, wants to identify, corner and flourish within a unique position – be it the “Listen at Work” station or the “#1 Hit Music” station. However, it is not enough to merely be ‘unique’; your brand also needs to be based in a key listener benefit.

If an on-air product is focused, let’s say, on 90’s Classic Alternative as a way to flank a Rock station in the market, the potential share of that station might be too small to win the larger battle. It just might not be big enough or be in the right target audience to be sellable. Your station might ‘own’ the format category, but the question we ask is “What do you win when you win?”

We sometimes see programmers who were successful in a particular market with a certain format come into a new market trying to make lightning strike twice without considering the nuances of the new market. Similarly, we need to be wary of blindly rolling out cookie-cutter formats and brands up and down the line. WKTU/New York was a uniquely New York radio station and just couldn’t be duplicated elsewhere, particularly in the late 90s and early 2000s.

We also see situations where a station tries to take a tactic that has worked with one station and plug it in hoping for a silver bullet. “No Repeat” is a great tactic, but it is only appropriate when it achieves a purpose for that specific strategic situation.

5. Not creating listener engagement

One of our clients, Key 103, Manchester, England’s #1 radio station, recently held a wildly successful, 10-hour, on-air fundraiser to benefit victims of an area explosion that left scores of individuals homeless. The radio event took on almost a life of its own as countless organizations from around the community rallied together to provide support, including considerable monetary contributions.

The station is also famous for its Jingle Ball and this year Summer Ball…pictured is a scene from Jingle Ball 2010.

And while the United Kingdom is still a diary market, the success of the station’s radiothon reminds us that no medium is more personal and more capable of engaging and rallying like radio. PPM is NOT telling us that radio stations should stop being a part of the community. Good works are still important. Today, we just need to execute a little differently – including more condensed content on-air and a lot of activity off of it. No one should be a slave to the PPMs. Visibility and community involvement (and not just when a sponsor is involved) are vital to building and sustaining a brand. Even in a PPM world, we still need listeners to choose to listen to our radio station, much like a voter chooses which candidate to vote for. We should continue to do things that win those listener ‘votes.’

Read 5 Things That Could Be Holding Back Your Brand, Part I here.