I saw this road sign recently and couldn’t resist pulling my car over to take this picture.

Seems to me this sign communicates two distinct messages. First, the road I’m traveling on is currently free, which is undoubtedly obvious. Second, that someday it won’t be, which is undoubtedly negative.

Obvious and negative. Interesting concepts for marketing lines, don’tcha think?

Whether it is as seemingly insignificant as pointing out you’re airing the FINAL traffic report of the morning or afternoon (translation: if you want another traffic report you won’t find it here) or as significant as claiming your station has a wide variety of music all the while knowing that listeners come to you specifically for a narrow niche of music, obvious or negative marketing messages don’t add value to your station’s programming.

I’ve heard of a station that claims to be the “official” Christmas music station, without any explanation of what that means or how it is of value. (By the way, that’s not necessarily a bad concept but its value is directly proportional to its benefit to the listener).

The Contemporary Christian music format, perhaps more than any other, has real benefits and real value for listeners. We don’t need to just make stuff up that doesn’t matter.