Your Morning Show Should Be FAIR to be GREAT

Any really terrific brand owns images that bring people in the door. Owning strategic images as a morning show assures that the show will own a base of listenership, which will build loyalty. The Reynolds Group only asks its shows to be FAIR in order to be GREAT:

F: Funny
A: Authentic
I: Innovative
R: Relatability

Listeners choose morning radio to have FUN. Listeners' lives, especially now, suck (if I can be so bold). They use morning radio as their 30-minute daily escape from the BS of their day. No successful morning radio show in America wins without humor images. The more your show creates fun, the more listeners will want to be around you.

AUTHENTICITY drives everything in life. As people, we make no time for anything (brand or person) who isn't the "real deal." Consumers (listeners) can smell a phony a mile away. The more real, authentic and vulnerable your morning talent are, the greater the chance they'll connect with listeners.

Apple drives its core following of very passionate fans by being INNOVATIVE. Every year, they release innovative products that capture their followers. Innovation is crucial to keeping P1s happy. What new ideas and benchmarks has your show done to keep its partisans coming back to your station?

Finally, we gravitate in life to people just like us, which is why RELATABILITY is so critical to any show. Listeners know instinctively if the program is choosing content that interests them. Choosing content is like choosing music -- only play the hits. The show should have a regular list of those pop culture and news stories listeners know of and care about to create their entertainment so that the broadest coalition of listeners believes the show shares their interests.

Shows that work on being FAIR build strong and positive images for an authentic and entertaining show that listeners will choose first when they wake up each and every morning.