Too often it’s easy for music-oriented radio stations to forget this twist on the old marketing maxim:
“You are not what you play, you’re the benefit of what you play.”
Even if the benefit is getting airline travelers into their seats faster, as it is for Delta, according to this article:
Though playing “elevator music” during boarding is nothing new, Delta is among the first to concoct a contemporary music mix specifically targeted toward getting customers to their seats faster and keeping them there. “Obviously, today’s travel experience is stressful,” said Chris Babb, Delta’s product manager of in-flight entertainment and media. “This is one way we try and reduce that stress.” Two years ago, Delta started playing contemporary music during passenger boarding. Soon, flight attendants noticed that playing upbeat music encouraged passengers to take their seats and get settled faster. “Once we started down that path, we put more research into it,” Babb said. “It’s made quite a difference for our passengers and flight attendants.” The song lineup changes each month, with a diverse mix represented, but the target for each playlist is the same: Welcome passengers on the plane with familiar-sounding tunes, get them to their seats quickly with upbeat tracks and help them settle in with more lulling melodies.
In my opinion, not enough stations appreciate the environmental benefits of their content based on how, when, and why listeners use (and I mean use, not simply hear) their stations.
This is particularly true in that most environmental or all workplace formats, Mainstream AC.
Try to answer this question:
“What problem is the audience hiring my station to solve?”