Inside Music MediaJerry Del Colliano

It’s tough.

There are 95 million Millennials some as old as 32.

And 45 million Gen Xers – the bridge generation between Millennials and Baby Boomers.

Plus 75 million Baby Boomers still alive and kicking.

What a dilemma.

Do you make changes to accommodate the emerging and massive Gen Y or focus on Gen Xers and Baby Boomers who are more similar to each other than to Millennials.

Those of you who know me know that I taught generational media as professor at the University of Southern California so this is a topic near and dear to me.

The good news is that I think we can make the changes that Millennials care about most – no, let me correct that – demand from everything they do and even strengthen out position with Xers and Boomers.

Let me explain.

Here’s what Millennials want and some of what I am going to get into at my upcoming management conference March 18 in Philadelphia.

1. Authenticity – Radio doesn’t pass this test with them.  They want to feel that what we do is real, less bragging, more things drilled down to their interests.  Imagine a morning show like this.      
2. No hype – oops, we’re blowing that one, too.  Ever listen to a Jingle Ball promo.       That’s good stuff from our old playbook yet there is a better way to talk up our positives without one single hint of hype.
3. Consensus not confrontation – believe it or not talk stations could reimagine themselves if they changed the way they talk to people, but what used to work is clearly not working with younger demos. What would be the harm of changing the conversation and inviting an entirely new audience in.
4. Respect – put bluntly, Millennials think radio talks to listeners like they are idiots. I think they make a good point – NPR is the exception. There are lots of ways to change this.
5. Trust & fairness – you’re saying, huh! But just like Taylor Swift speaks to them because she is honestly telling it like it is, they feel more comfortable with people (and stations) that they can trust. Can you really trust a radio station? You had better figure out a way if I am getting this right.
6. Dreams – all the way from changing the world to building a better life. They live for their dreams and when a station becomes an enabler of them, they feel drawn to them. Contests and promotions can make a great statement if we will make them about dreams and not ratings.
7. Fun to be with – remind me to tell you about the generation being born right now and as old as their teens. The boys want to be thought of as fun to be with. When was the last time you heard a radio station that made a listener seem like they were fun to be with instead of the station trying to do it. Deadly.
8. Openness and diversity in programming & advertising – obviously stations come across like the greedy bastards we know run a lot of them and making the station more diverse and more open has instant appeal. Let’s brainstorm this one.

I hope you can reserve March 18^th for our one-day interactive teaching seminar in Philly – it’s fun, it’s motivating and enlightening.

The early bird price is about to end so reserve a seat at the lowest price that will ever be available -- Reserve a Seat

By the way, here’s a sampling of more topics …

• Better radio, stronger digital
• How much radio, how much digital
• Storytelling – Millennials’ hot new obsession
• How to get audiences to listen to songs all the way through – face it, they don’t and yet we’re building our entire station on the concept of music sweeps.
• What Millennials want the most -- Authenticity, no hype, consensus not confrontation, respect, trust & fairness, dreams (all the way from changing the world to building a better life), fun to be with and openness and diversity in programming & advertising. Now … here’s how to deliver them.
• Eliminating radio’s 3 biggest weaknesses – repetitious music, too many lousy commercials, outdated morning shows.
• Addressing radio’s biggest objections – too many commercials, repetitive playlists and not enough music discovery, morning shows that suck, stupid contests and promotions, too much hype. Damage control.
• Radio’s 75 million baby boomers, 95 million Millennials – what to do?
• Both music discovery AND ratings – how to add 2/3 more new music and not lose listeners.
• Beware of the digital dashboard – It turned out to be a Pandora’s box, sorry about that – but you know what I mean. A better Plan B.
• Forget other stations, YouTube is your competitor. Change your focus.
• Creating Binge Radio Content – yes, just like Netflix.
• Radio’s answer to on-demand – not doing the service elements of a morning show that stations love but listeners now get on their phones. On to exclusive new content that can’t compete with a phone.
• Millennial mistakes you don’t want to make – change the way you do commercials, talk to listeners differently, taking audience bingeing seriously, kill the 8 minute stop set before it kills you, don’t use social media to promote, ditch voice tracking and syndication, play games – hey, this is the gaming generation -- don’t brand or promote make personalities your “brand”.
• Start a video revenue stream – I’m doing it, let me show you how you can too for the same pennies I’m committing.
• What’s in the pipeline for radio – Is it really throwback hip-hop or something we’re missing.
• Taking back market share from below average digital competitors.
• Instagram is killing Facebook, but here’s what’s the next big thing in social media.
• 2 things today’s radio audiences cannot resist – service and humility. Discuss.
• If you’re thinking of leaving radio – make millions creating short form video like this.
• Not ready for major changes, at least do this -- refresh your radio station using a can’t fail checklist.
• Protect your station against competitors who drop their rates – it’s the biggest danger to independent stations and groups in 2015.
• Expanded group questions & answers – You fire the questions that matter most -- we load you up with solutions.

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