(Make sure you read the first post on this blog. This is a continuation of the story. I think stories are great ways to share ideas and experience. Don't you?)
We thought we hit pay dirt.
The consumers told us what attributes they wanted to see in our product. Consumers and product = viewers and newscasts. The same principles apply across industries.
We took all of their input and put together a product and a marketing position that would make us both unique and desirable. Internally we used an acronym to define this brand to the staff.
Relevant to women
Emotional storytelling
Devoted to the Tampa Bay lifestyle.
RED. We were to be the RED station. It told reporters how to cover stories. It told marketing how to promote stories. It told programming which shows to buy or produce. It told the sales department and other departments which came in contact with the public how to talk about the station. It was weaved throughout the entire organization. We were excited.
It was working. A ratings slide was stopped and we were starting to show growth. The market was talking about how we were taking a different approach. It was a bit polarizing. Half liked it. Half didn't. But appealing to half the market left us with a huge potential audience? Things were looking good.
But then came along some well-meaning consultants with a new market survey.
They presented it to the whole staff and it showed that while our branding was being recognized, the station was sliding in the "breaking news" and "big news story" images. Those in marketing said; "So what? That's not what we want to be famous for." But it was too much for highly trained and experienced journalists to accept. They could not handle being seen as being "soft" on news.
And that's when the whole thing started to unravel.
Next: What do we learn from this? And how does it relate to the branding of other products.
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