A Marketing Hit, that is.
But then again, a hit is a hit in any category.
Here’s advice from consultant Dan Herman (see the entire article here):
Success Has Its Rules The formula postulates that each marketing hit is composed of the following four elements: 1. Marketing hits are usually not large innovative leaps. The new product or service should be based, as much as 80%, on a format that has been successful numerous times in the same category. The format assures familiarity, promises consumer satisfaction and minimizes adaptation efforts on the part of the consumer. 2. The product or service should be innovative by approximately 20%, which provides the new experience, the uniqueness, the additional benefit or any other reason to switch from the current product, or to at least try the new one. At the very least, the innovative part will offer the consumer a feeling of novelty, freshness or “up-to-datedness.” This novelty should uphold the next two rules. 3. The product’s novelty should address one of the “unsatisfiable” need [These are wishes that cannot be realized but we will relentlessly attempt to fulfill them, like eternal youth, sex appeal, adventure, etc.] or “regenerating” needs [the kind that require ceaselessly new fulfillment. e.g., the need to renew oneself, remain up-to-date, discover and be tempted or seduced, the need for belonging, etc.] 4. The product should include an element of “cool,” “wow” and/or a “twist” that creates a viral motive (or, in other words, will supply buyers with a good reason to tell other potential buyers about the product). Such a viral element motivates spreading the buzz, because the spreader has a social benefit to gain by doing so: attention from others, interest, appreciation and an image of being up-to-date or a trendsetter.
This explains why listeners don’t like new songs – unless they sound familiar.
This explains why the quickest route to building a ratings success out of the box is with FAMILIAR music, not NEW music
And this also explains why so many of our new station efforts fail: There’s no “cool.”
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