Our format is foundationally based on values. It attracts people that share those values, both listeners and staff. In visiting a station I often observe how we come from different places and backgrounds but we’re all in the same room at the same time because of shared values.

The great irony then is that too few stations communicate shared values and vision with their listeners. Stations are more likely to message the attributes of the music itself (positive, encouraging, uplifting) which are generic to any station playing the music than message something unique and preferable to their own brand, a more important factor in markets with multiple CCM stations.

It’s the difference between being a commodity and being a brand.

Years ago I visited a radio station where I learned the fascinating story of their birth. The people of the town joined together to lobby for their very own local Christian radio station. So they raised the money, found a church willing to donate the office space and invited this particular company to plant a new station.

On my first tour of the station I inquired why I had never heard this amazing story on the air. They were stunned. They had never thought about it. It was a message that was so familiar to them that they had not considered how powerful that story could be to listeners and donors.

“Our findings show that consumers (listeners/donors) will reward brands who want to make the world a better place and who reflect their values. A massive 77% of consumers prefer to buy from companies who share their values.

A brand’s values serve as a way to express identity and personality in the marketplace, a way to identify with the consumer.”

Maria Garrido, Chief Insights Officer at Vivendi