Terrific article on what sets Starbucks apart from any other coffeehouse. Hint: It’s not the coffee.
Note especially:
Starbucks is “less about the transaction, and more about the experience,” said Launi Skinner, Starbucks senior vice president for store development. Starbucks’ interior design is much closer kin to a modern bookstore than to a fast-food outlet, she said, because the goal is to nurture a long-term relationship with the customer rather than provide short-term refreshment.
Think about that from the Radio perspective.
How many of our decisions are aimed at the long-term relationship with our listeners? Because knee-jerk reactions to this Arbitron trend or that are anything but long-term strategies.
“Short-term refreshment” is equivalent to what happens on a moment-by-moment or daily or monthly basis. But the experience is a function of the long-term relationship. And that one takes months to gel and nurture and grow.
Maybe, just maybe, decisions made for the long-term pay off in the long-term and pay off handsomely.
Just maybe.