Post-Conclave Thoughts

Competition is the future for country and all "big" formats.

Personalities too.

The ONLY way to respond to it is to PLAN objectively and execute that plan passionately.

Learn the rules of offensive strategy and defensive strategy and keep reminding yourself WHICH of the two needs to be YOUR game plan at this particular moment.

We have gotten the knack of defining our targets better, using research and watching real usage patterns.

It's important to stay in close touch with your target audience, continually defining and redefining their evolving needs.

Change is the only constant in our business.

A few years ago, our positioning was defined almost exclusively by the music being played.

Today, targeting has become far more discrete than that. There are marketing positions, attitude positions and perceptual positions that have little to do with the music.

Two stations (or should I say "audio sources?") may play almost exactly the same music.

Yet, they are perceived differently by two different audiences who see them totally differently because they are presented differently.

Both may be on FM, one on FM and the other on satellite or a mobile stream and now there are new niches evolving due to this added listener choice, driven by the need for control and variety.