A Pre-Book Competitive Overview

It's never too soon to audit yourself these days, since there's always "the nest book" just around the corner:          

• Evaluate key competitors’ positioning statements, claims, benchmarks and stationality.  Is there anything we need to defuse?
• How can we further maximize the strengths of our cluster to block and/or reposition our key competitors and those of our sister stations?
• What tactical/strategic outside media (TV, billboards, mail, stealth telemarketing) campaigns are we likely to be up against?  Will our programming/marketing arsenal be competitive and crippling?
• Are there new players?  Who are their consultants, programmers and companies?  Can we predict and “borrow” possible strategies, tactics, features and devices before they are aimed at us?
• When was the last time the most recent perceptual/strategic action plan was reviewed for compliance?  Is the on and off-air brain trust following the game plan?
• Has the programmer and marketing executives spent a day away from the station to critically listen and evaluate product performance?
• Prizes:  “dollar for dollar,” how are we likely to be remembered in the mind of the listener?  Is this a “hill” we even care about?
• What mechanisms are in place to insure we  seize “the moment/ big events” as they pop-up.  Are key community, industry, media (etc.) contacts in place?  Have we done a good job delegating the bases on the playing field so we won’t miss important opportunities?
• Is the station and the cluster’s Marketing Model (Target+Product+Position+Promotion) current, active and actionable?