I’ve been a road warrior these past several weeks, providing me with the opportunity to carefully explore the seat pockets in front of me. Beyond the used wrappers and barf bags, Delta’s SKY magazine is actually one of the better reads, and in their May issue, the cover story highlighted Macy’s CEO, Terry Lundgren.
Lundgren is credited with re-energizing the venerable department store chain, founded 157 years ago in New York City. Now with 775 stores around the U.S. and a global expansion plan underway, Lundgren is the model of corporate leadership, having come up through the retail ranks, first as a buyer and then a store manager.
In many ways, he’s analogous to a radio broadcasting exec (think Bob Pittman or Dan Mason) who started on the air or in programming, and went on to run a major multi-media company. And like leaders who started on the content side of the business, Lundgren likes to stay in touch with his customers.
So the intriguing part of the article is the moment that Lundgren leaves the C-suite and his comfy office to stroll through the store, talking to his salespeople but also eyeing and speaking with Macy’s shoppers.
Here’s the quote:
“I want to see who the customers are. I want to see if they’re being taken care of.”
In radio, we’re living in a world filled with big data, metered measurement, and programmatic buying, so there’s never been a more important reason for radio’s captains of industry to “walk the floor” – or in this case, stroll into the air studio, show up for station events, and talk to advertisers who rely on their stations for marketing.
It’s amazing what you can learn by walking into a control room and answering the request lines for a half hour. Or attending a station concert or remote to talk to fans, as well as the clients doing the advertising.
While perceptual and music research are always eye-opening, sitting in the back room to watch focus groups is an investment that always pays dividends. And if budgets are tight, any station can afford listener advisory groups, held in the conference room – a great window into the world of the modern-day radio listener.
And it’s not just about understanding how listener attitudes, media, and technology are changing. It’s also about hearing from audience members about why radio still very much matters in their lives.
You may remember the movie farce, Soapdish, starring Sally Field, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Kline, and Robert Downey, Jr. from the early ‘90s. It’s the crazy story of a daytime TV soap opera and the whack-jobs who make it happen. Field plays the insecure, aging star of The Sun Also Sets. When she gets into a funk, her assistant (Goldberg) knows the antidote is to take her to an area mall where she always gets mobbed by adoring fans. Given our Macy’s story, it’s an ironic reminder that while it is easy to get caught up in the downdraft of bad ratings, mediocre sales, and the dark cloud over the industry, radio is show business, and our DJs and personalities are celebrities in their hometowns. Radio truly matters to millions and millions of fans all over the country.
It is always time well spent to watch and listen to the audience to hear their concerns, their changing media habits, and their overall outlooks. But the other value is the positive feelings you get from experiencing fan enthusiasm and energy. Too often, we end up talking about Wall Street, the agencies, and Pandora and Spotify. Sadly, the real players that matter – consumers – often aren’t heard.
As Terry Lundgren knows, the secret to great customer service is observing the customers themselves – how they interact with the brand and how they’re treated by our people.
Radio has the means to do this, while learning and benefittng from the process.
And we don’t even have to go to the mall.