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Business Week magazine recently called the mature consumer “a marketers dream.” Why? Because mature Americans exceed the national average in wealth and control more disposable income than any other any age group in America.
Today’s mature adults have dismantled the old stereotypes of adulthood. In the process, they have changed their own paradigm. They are healthier in mind and body than any previous generation, socially active, committed to a youthful lifestyle and living longer, fuller lives.
So why is Americas fastest growing demographic so devalued by both Madison Avenue in a not-so-silent partnership with our youth obsessed media?
Is 50 the new 30...or isn’t it?
I believe it is, so I created a new format that unapologetically targets the musical tastes of the mature consumer. It is called The Best of Everything®,
As a former Program Director and General Manager, I enjoyed programming both music and talk but anyone who knows me well will tell you that my first love, my passion, has always been music.
The idea for The Best of Everything began some years ago at an NAB Program Conference in San Francisco. As I walked the busy convention floor, it was apparent that broadcasters had minimal interest in creating new entertainment platforms for the rapidly growing mature market. Youth targeted music formats on radio were flourishing and mutating almost daily. Good for them. Not so good for older demos. Indeed, fresh concepts aimed at mature listeners were, for all intent and purposes, virtually dormant.
How ironic, I had just entered the age group that my own industry considered disposable. Like millions of other Americans of a certain age, I was about to disappear from the great American Media Radar Screen. Never mind that I was earning more than my four working youngsters combined. I was no longer a “desired demo,” I was yesterday’s news.
The frustration I experienced that day had an interesting effect. Instead of upsetting me, it inspired me. I felt creatively charged. By the time I returned to my hotel room, the germ of an idea to create a music format that would hit the emotional bulls-eye of the media’s “forgotten generation” had already taken root.
Having always been motivated by a wonderful quote from Albert Einstein; “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” I allowed my imagination full freedom to wander, systematically removing all standard radio format formulas from my mind, throwing Broadcasting 101 rules out the window in my desire to create a unique music format “for the rest of us.”
The initial concept, outlined longhand on a yellow legal pad, encompassed seven important, evolutionary decades of pop music. It would be a foreground format, (primarily vocal), served up on a kind of musical Lazy Susan. The foundation of the format rested firmly on two solid programming pillars; variety and surprise. As the “wheel” turned, listeners would never know what was coming next; Frank Sinatra or Fats Domino? The Beach Boys or “Jersey Boys?” Every few minutes one of 12 different genres would be served up. To my knowledge, it had never been attempted before. It would be an original.
And bear in mind: this was years before iPod, and its "shuffle" function; or the "Jack" format.
The acceptance of variety by the target listener was never a serious concern to me even though, at first blush, mixing such diverse categories of music together goes against the brain grain. But think again. Just a quick glance at your own music collection probably tells my story best. Is it a bit eclectic? Most collections are because we love and embrace variety from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to the music we enjoy.
So...today we are playing The Best of Everything on the Internet; the very best of everything…something for everyone...from Billie Holiday to Billy Joel…12 wonderful flavors of popular music…one continuous flow of easy listening songs and artists…blended especially for grown up tastes.
Although The Best of Everything has only been up on the web for a little over a month it is already attracting a small, but loyal, core of listeners. Based on the impressive batch of supportive email received thus far, we seem to have struck a responsive chord with exactly the audience that we knew existed. They were just waiting for a friendly tap. Admittedly, it is still quite early in the game, but the “recipe” seems to be working. Care for a taste? Click here:thebestofeverything.net.
Then, click here, and tell me what YOU hear: http://thebestofeverything.net/contact.htm
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