by Buzz Knight
"Every once in a while I find myself in the presence of purity-purity of spirit and love-and I always cry. It always just reaches in and grabs me." Those are the words of Steve Jobs about the "Think Different" Apple campaign from the Walter Isaacson Biography. This is the emotion we should all attempt to create whether we're Radio marketers or Consumer Electronics marketers. I wonder what the great inventors of yesterday would think of the Consumer Electronics Show?
How would Thomas Edison view the nearly 30 football fields of convention space filled with 150,000 inventors, entrepreneurs, business people and writers that roam for days like zombies looking for the next new thing? Other than complaining that his feet were sore Mr. Edison would no doubt be inspired to take his own ideas back to the lab and experiment and develop. CES 2012 is over and in the books and once again the spectacle here in the center of the digital universe has left me with some thoughts to distill for the radio industry at large.
VIBE AND CORE BELIEF
The vibe that presides over the event is the first element that comes to mind every time I attend. Fred Jacobs from Jacobs Media nailed it when he called it " optimistic, exciting, spirited and BIG!" There's a strong core internal belief that permeates the entire event. Unless you are here you really can't describe it. It's exciting, there are Neon backdrops , inflatables ..it's bigger than life. Radio has to always strive to be bigger than life.
We have the power and imagination to create bigger than life strategies. This has to start with a strong and passionate internal core belief that you can feel when you walk in the door of a radio station. We should raise our level of excellence in everything we present to match that spirit (to clients and listeners) on a consisent basis.
RADIO AND CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
More radio people need to attend the Consumer Electronics Show! Those of us who attend are certainly searching for the next new thing and even if it isn't ultimately always discovered the overstimulation of the event provides a motivating perspective. In 1924 the Consumer Electronics Association started out as the Radio Manufacturers Association. Radio is part of the Consumer Electronics Industry and let's get more of us to attend and feed our brain!
CONNECTIVITY
This is the "buzz word" of this years event. Everything changed when the smart phone hit the consumer as a device to connect them to everything and everybody. The smart phone has become the funnel of digital content and services and there needs to be a seamless experience from home to office to car. Radio plays an important part in the connectivity landscape when it relates to reaching our existing and potential audiences.
The car has become a big entertainment system on wheels and radio's place in that available hierarchy needs to be rock solid. I spoke with Jim Buczkowski the Director of Electrical and Electronics Systems for Ford and he said "radio has to stay focused on producing quality content with customers having so many choices."
PARTNERSHIPS
CES teaches us great examples about the opportunity for partnerships. Ford continues to profess a strong desire to use partnerships to build their brand in particular with Sync and My Ford Touch. According to Ford CEO Alan Mullaly .."we want to collaborate with everyone." The world is changing and radio companies are seeing the value of partnerships within our industry to get things done. IHeartRadio is a great example of that. The barriers are only in our mind not in the minds of our listeners.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
There has to be billions of dollars spent on Research and Development within the Consumer Electronics Industry and there are still more flops than winners. New York Times Tech Columnist David Pogue told me he thinks the whole tablet business has gotten "way out of hand" at CES and that 99% of the new product lines revealed at CES will collect dust on the shelves. That doesn't stop this group of wild thinkers from trying new, bold and different ideas.
David's favorite this year is the new Casio G-Shock GB6900 wrist watch that communicates with your phone using Bluetooth technology. Let's get out of the "we've always done things this way" mode and try some new angles on promotions, features and listener engagement. Lab groups are a great way to try ideas out on real people as opposed to radio people. Research and Development on the good and bad case studies is an example for radio to take advantage of from CES.
RADIO
Radio has some stories coming out of CES this year that are worth mentioning. Blackberry which has its own business challenges announced the new Blackberry Curve 9360 or 9380 smartphone with a chip built in for FM broadcast radio. Bob Struble from Ibiquity showed us a phone with a built in HD chip to broadcast in digital quality that could be available in the future. Bob did emphasize that the "digital consumer experience" both on a technical level and a content level needs to at least match the other services available to consumers.
INNOVATION
"You always have to keep pushing to innovate. Dylan could have sung protest songs forever and probably make a lot of money but he didn't. He had to move on. The Beatles were the same way. They keep evolving, moving and refining their art." The words of Steve Jobs once again which apply to CES and to our radio industry.
Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media. He can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com
Read more articles from Buzz HERE
Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
