Hang on, this may hurt.

Your station’s biggest fans spend less than 10% of their waking hours with your station.  How’s that for perspective?  And most of that time is when doing something else; driving to work, listening at work, picking up the kids at school.

When was the last time you had a conversation about your station’s programming that revolved around their lives in the real world

Beyond music rotations,

beyond liners and sweepers,

beyond your next big Christian music concert,

beyond things inside your building.

The great brands (and stations) go beyond the nuts and bolts of design and reach into their listeners’ lives.  Starbucks is now famous for setting out to became “the third place” in people’s lives, after home and work.

“We want to provide all the comforts of your home and office.  You can sit in a nice chair, talk on your phone, look out the window, surf the web… oh, and drink coffee too,” said a Starbucks’ manager.

“Apple, Starbucks, Harley Davidson… all of these have done everything they can to understand the wants and needs of their customer, while delivering them at a human, interactive level.”

“You need to view your brand as a solution to a consumer problem, an answer to a consumer desire.  Then you should ask yourself what other solutions and answers are you competing against for those problems and desires?

Meanwhile you need to consider how you can extend your brand to provide more value to your existing consumers across more platforms – including the one called “the real world.”

Start with what’s important to your listeners in the real world.  Then connect your brand to what’s already important, particularly as it relates to the foundational elements of faith, family, and community.

If you’re willing to reach beyond what is inside your building you may discover what is really important to your listeners.