Is The Parade In Front Of Radio?
I’m a nut for grabbing information from other industries and seeing what I can apply to what I do. Honestly, there’s a lot more learning going on about our audience OUTSIDE radio.
If you know me or have read anything I’ve written over the years, I am a fanatic about being local. That may sound strange coming from a guy who was VP/Programming at ABC Radio Networks. I’m proud to say that we had affiliates using our 24-hour formats that won top community service station of the year in their states. We encouraged that by counseling affiliates to put their money into local news and community involvement programming while we handled the music and personality portion of their format.
As the Internet exploded my mantra was “the only way to be global is be local.” I still believe that and evidently so does Macy’s.
The headline in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal read:
Here’s the quick back story. Macy’s, then Federated, gobbled up a bunch of local and regional brands. These were brands like Marshall Fields in Chicago, Burdines in Florida, and Foley’s in Texas. Macy’s inflicted its national brand across the country changing local traditions and working strategies to meet its national vision. Hey, we’re global, baby!
Before I finish this story, let’s put this in a radio perspective. It’s not hard. Its the same story line we’ve lived but have yet to grasp the moral of the story.
Federated had been buying strong local and regional brands across the country. A couple of years ago the decision was made to build a national brand. They owned the most famous department store in the country, Macy’s. Macy’s, of course, is the most famous because of the parade and movies more than actual nationwide knowledge of the offering.
Most of the local and regional chains were famous and highly thought of. We’re talking Marshall Fields in Chicago, Burdines in Florida, and Foley’s in Texas. Macy’s brand ego convinced the powers that be that Macy’s was a stronger brand in Chicago than Marshall Fields. They must be smoking the good stuff.
Let me put it another way. Imagine the New York Times or Wall Street Journal (pick the one you hate the most) bought your local paper. They do the same thing to your local paper. Now, it’s the New York Times Chicago instead of the Chicago Tribune or the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Post. The New York Times publishing the Dallas Morning News from New York? How Texan.
I read the analog versions of the Dallas Morning News and Wall Street Journal daily. On Sunday, WSJ is replaced by the New York Times. The “local” editions mean local advertising. I have never read anything in the Times or the Journal about in Dallas than I hadn’t read first the local paper. My favorite paper is the Los Angeles Times. I get it on the Internet.
Okay, here’s one closer to home. ABC tried this in the early 80s with SuperRadio. The concept was to use the WABC line-up across the country because WABC was a huge Top 40 station in New York. It was probably one of the network’s biggest failures. WABC was a great station for New York! In fact, it was so finely programmed to New York that it didn’t relate to anywhere else in the country. A compliment to WABC programming and a raspberry to the folks that thought anyone outside of the New York area knew or cared who the talent was. And, it’s happening now as media in general because more shallow (hard to believe, huh?).
Hopefully, radio will figure out what Macy’s finally has. You have to appeal to local tastes to stand out in a world of people grasping for the universe. And guess what, Macy’s is moving money into radio, newspaper, and the Internet in an effort to be more local. I wonder if they’ve been listening to just how local we are these days? Guess not.
Macy’s has found good success with its celebrity brands like Donald Trump and Mariah Carey (Rush Limbaugh and Tom Joyner). And while those brands see increased sales (more cume) when used during TV spots they haven’t overcome the customers dislike of the more national feel and attitude of the stores. Sales dropped last year 15% despite the increased sales in the national brands (TSL).
Macy’s is allowing local stores to control 15% of their merchandise for the local market. They’re targeting zip codes through the Internet, continuing newspaper, and putting more into radio.
Maybe Macy’s discovered that you aren’t local if you’re just targeting a demo. There is no such person as a 25-34 woman. That’s not personal. You have to make it personal in some way. Talk to them about things they care about. Make them feel special. You win.
BTW, there was a very disturbing thing about this article. The sub headline read, “Marketing Shifts To Web, Radio, and Newspapers, Away From Television.” There were specific questions about newspaper, search marketing, TV spots, and Macys.com. There’s nothing about radio except a mention in the headline.