As an announcer, you’re constantly being asked – who are you? What are you about? What sets you apart from everyone else?
They’re some of the hardest questions to answer simply because nobody can answer but you. The hardest decisions to make are those you have to make alone.
But at the NAB RadioShow, a few experts have given us the bricks and a bag of concrete to pave the way to finding your own brand –
Ann Compton – White House Correspondent, ABC News Radio, broke news of September 11 attacks
D.L. Hugley – Nationally syndicated radio host, Entertainer, comic, Reach media
Steve Jones – Author of ‘Brand like a rock star’ & Vice President, PD at Newcap Radio Canada
Moderator Mike McVay asked each of the panellists “How did each of you create your brand?” Anne answers “there was no planning, no particular strategy, but I did have timing.” Steve picks up the thread “You can’t sit down and create a brand for yourself that is different from who you really are. People can smell a fraud a mile away. You need to be transparent and speak from the heart. The brand that you portray to the public needs to reflect who you truly are off the air.” D.L. adds “to me, branding is just having a clear perspective.”
Consistency seemed to be the buzzword of the session. Steve, who compared his views to rock bands suggests AC/DC as a perfect example of this. “Take AC/DC, every single one of their songs uses the same four chords. They discovered what made them successful and they stuck to it. You need to know what people can expect from you and consistently give that to them.”
Here’s a bit of an exercise for you as you sit at your computer or phone reading this – look down at your clothes. What are you wearing today? Everything that you put on this morning is making a statement. Your clothes speak of the brand you portray to the world. Steve explains “If Taylor Swift had twerked at the MTV Awards instead of Miley Cyrus the other week, it would have been a very different story. Taylor Swift would never dance in such a way, because it goes totally against her brand.”
Steve speaks of the three P’s – position, presentation and passion.
Position – listeners need to know what to expect from you
Presentation – present your views in line with what people expect from you
Passion – you must be passionate in the way you do it
D.L. describes the job of a radio announcer as someone holding a mirror. “That’s what we do. We’re holding up a mirror to society for them to look at themselves. The only difference as announcers…we add our personalities. We’re talking about what everyone else around the world is…we don’t get the information any faster. But we do have to add our own take on that information.”
The addition of social media has definitely changed radio, especially in the past 5 years. “Often this can be a double edged sword” describes Ann. “The world is now filled with citizen journalists. Every single person has the tools in their hands to be reporters, and now they have the distribution method which can be dangerous for talent.” Steve adds “take stars like Tiger Woods, Hugh Grant, Bill Clinton and Lance Armstrong. They’ve all suffered brand damage. The mistakes they made didn’t fit the image they portrayed to society. That’s not to say you can’t recover from that damage, but these are perfect example of personalities not fitting the brand they have created themselves.”
Being a personality is not about being perfect. It’s important to be authentic and carry yourself with integrity and honesty. Be exposed and be human. We are all imperfect. Why do you think society loves it when celebrities fail? Because it makes them feel better about themselves! Baring yourself and showing your imperfections will make people like you even more” explains D.L.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a beauty product, a TV show, a clothing line or a person – you have to make people care about it.” Steve adds “know who will hate you. Not everyone has to love you. You don’t need 100% of listeners to win a survey. You only need a small percentage of that audience to LOVE you.”
In the end, we’re all brands. Whether we realise it or not, we all are a brand in our families, at our workplaces, amongst our friends – yet have never sat down and constructed this brand formally. As an on-air talent, it should be the same process. It should be a natural progression. A brand is simply how people perceive you.
Kristie Mercer is reporting from the NAB RadioShow for radioinfo.