The People’s Choice

About two years ago, Target decided to take 18 of its stores and try a radical concept, and by "radical" I mean they replaced their standard hot-dog-and-Pizza Hut snack bars with a chain of "healthy" food spots. Instead of the aroma of popcorn as patrons entered those stores, there were... well, can you smell a salad from 30 feet away?

You know what happened. A couple of weeks ago, Target pulled the plug on the experiment. People just didn't buy salads. And there's a lesson for every business, including radio, in that.

I have no doubt that the original move was motivated by research. You can read all the articles you want about how people are drinking less soda and looking for better, healthier food options, but anecdotes aren't worth a lot if you're planning a business move. No, you'll do research, whether it's a series of focus groups or a survey. And when you do that, you'll ask, essentially, if people want healthier choices when they go to the Target snack bar, and they will undoubtedly say yes.

And they'll be lying, because if you're being surveyed or, worse, in a conference room being watched by mysterious unseen people behind a pane of mirrored glass, you are going to say what you think they want to hear, or what makes you look good. You are not necessarily motivated to be honest, because, let's face it, whether it's a pollster or some anonymous Target executive in the next room, you don't want to be judged, and you REALLY don't want to be thought of as a fat slob. So you'll tell them you would greatly welcome the opportunity to grab a salad or quinoa-infused smoothie or something when you stop by the Target snack bar, because you aren't going to admit that you'd rather eat even those hot dogs that have been rotating on those metal rods for generations than anything with kale in it. And, besides, while it may sound good to have the option to get a salad at Target, you don't EXPECT that. You expect popcorn and Icees. Maybe Starbucks, because every store everywhere has to have a Starbucks inside. But organic fruit cups? Not then, not there. You aren't going to SAY that, because you think it'll make you look like a fat slob. But that's how you think, and that's how you behave. You can't research around that.

I was reminded of all of this when hearing Larry Gifford's "Radio Stuff" podcast the other day, when he was talking to Dave Beasing about the last days of 100.3 The Sound in L.A., and Dave was talking about using these last weeks to do things that, in some cases, have gone by the wayside due to the PPM, like an "A-to-Z," just like the old days. I'll bet The Sound will be especially interesting radio in its final days because they'll be free of worry about the meters and the numbers, but it got me thinking about all the things that used to be conventional wisdom pre-PPM and the changes post-PPM and the thought came to me: Were we wrong all along? Were the things we did because of the measurement methods -- the quarter-hour sweeps tricks, the benchmarking, the shut-up-and-play-the-music edicts -- all in direct contrast to what people really want? Let me expand that a little: The diary system was, in some ways, like the research Target probably did. While some people -- maybe most -- tried to be accurate, and others lazy (no, you did NOT start listening to that station at 5 am and listen continuously until 11 pm), some also omitted what they didn't want the survey takers to know, because maybe they were embarrassed or maybe they thought they SHOULD be listening to something more edifying, like all-News or public radio or an all-Religion station. Much of this was wiped away with the PPM, sample size notwithstanding.

Which means that radio may not have been serving up what people REALLY wanted, just what they SAID, in a way, they wanted. We were feeding the need to aid recall, but we weren't giving the people what they really wanted. And now, while radio still has its reach, people are finding alternatives that DO give them what they want from audio entertainment media, which could be customized playlists or talk about things radio won't talk about (I hear they're called "podcasts").

That leads us to how to know what people want from radio, and I'd say that you can look at what we're seeing in podcasting as an indication. The audience is finding different voices, different topics, and while it diffuses the audience among hundreds and thousands of shows, it should tell you that the mass audience isn't as "mass" anymore, and we need to recognize that and embrace a more diverse set of topics, talent, and styles. They didn't say that in any research you did, but they're voting with their ears. Oh, and one very important thing: We've been programming to the PPM for a while now, but I think the future is going to be programming not to ratings but to engagement.

Yes, let's bring that buzzword back. It's really a function of advertising (and, for podcasts, maybe subscriptions), but in the future, will reaching a large audience but not really engaging them directly be the desired result, or will truly engaging a smaller audience be the currency? I think that, ultimately, it HAS to be the latter. And that means less worry about spikes and valleys in the minute-by-minute PPM data and more about whether you can deliver sales and leads and rabid fans to a client. Podcasters envy radio's attraction for brand advertising, but the per-inquiry, direct response model they've had since the beginning may be more effective in the long run. Not that it's anything new, considering the number of baby chicks Wolfman Jack sold.

And I don't want to denigrate the value of research for radio, or podcasting. Far from it. Research like the stuff Edison Research does with Infinite Dial/Share of Ear and Jacobs Media does with TechSurvey has been telling you some of the hard truths about what needs to change for the past several years. What IS different is that you need to ask different questions and not take what you get at face value, but the best way to know what your target audience wants isn't to ask if they'd want it, it's to observe their behavior. They will tell you they want salad. They want rotating hot dogs. They will tell you they listen to the radio at least once a week. A lot of them are using their Amazon Echos and listening to podcasts and streaming. You'll see that if you know where to look.

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What? Oh, right, last week. Sorry about that. Unavoidable absence, and while the reason for it is actually still in effect, I'll talk about it another time. Let's just say that I wasn't really in the best shape to write about anything at the time. Judging by this week's column, I still might be a little woozy. Oh, and if you're attending L.A. Podfest this weekend, I'll be there, so say hi. Maybe I'll tell you what the last week's been like. That's a warning.

Perry Michael Simon
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