All on-air news promotion is derived from one of four master promotion platforms. Your effort might borrow from more than one, but at least one of the following four is sure to have birthed your idea. Knowing when and how to use them is key to developing campaigns that work.
Leadership
This platform represents the gold standard. You’re the market leader. You have the highest ratings and viewers recognize your #1 standing. A station regarded as the market leader should always use this platform. Seize every opportunity to broadcast your leadership position.
You’ve established a powerful way to differentiate yourself from the competition. Don’t waste this opportunity – especially if you’re the one station that gets to use this claim (in some markets the news battle is too close to call).
What’s the advantage? Most people want to associate with a winner. Rooting for the underdog is an overblown myth. Ask Las Vegas. More money is bet on favorites than underdogs.
You reward your viewers for their good judgment when you use this platform. You remind them of their excellent choice. You also plant doubt in the minds of other viewers. They ask, “How come I’m not watching the leading station?”
You’ve seen this platform promoted in a variety of ways. They include the “News Leader”, “Most watched station”, “Number 1 for News”, etc. Pick whatever verbiage you like.
Just make sure that you trumpet your leadership position.
Avoid using this approach if you manufacture a leadership position. Say you win only one demo category – the 18-24 demo – by 2,000 people. That lacks the gravitas to use this platform. You haven’t established a viable leadership position.
Your recognized leadership claim must be credible to work.
Personality
This platform is the most widely used and often bleeds into the others. It’s here that you highlight your news team or specific individuals. This approach tries to humanize the station by making a personal connection with viewers.
It’s powerful when done right. It works best when the people promoted are market favorites. Let me underline market favorites. Their standing with viewers creates positive feelings toward the station. The station benefits from this association.
Promoting talent who lack a strong bond with viewers has little benefit. Just because the talent is your front line team doesn’t mean they have earned the good graces of your audience. Making them the centerpiece of your promotion sometimes works against you. It could remind viewers what they don’t like about your station.
It’s also a mistake to promote talent before they have settled into the market. Stations feel a need to introduce new talent with a splashy promotion campaign. Risky move.
Avoid building expectations that can’t be met. Let the person establish himself (or herself). Identify what people like about them or how they contribute to your news identity. Only then is it the proper time to add them to the promotion mix.
Coverage
The spotlight shines on news coverage rather than the people presenting it in this platform. This approach is expressed most famously by the “Coverage You Can Count On” campaign.
Some stations have clearly differentiated themselves by their news coverage. They may hold perceived coverage advantages due to the presence of bureaus or by emphasizing certain topics within a market.
Long running and highly promotable segments such as investigative units, health reports, etc. also add to the mix. It’s also not unusual in smaller markets to see a station with technological superiority gain an advantage in coverage dimensions.
This platform works well against a strong personality based campaign. The counterpoint helps stations who can’t compete on personality “muscle” or those who choose to offer an alternative to personality based promotion. The coverage platform provides a clear contrast.
The caveat? Coverage is less sexy than its personality counterpart. Emphasizing coverage requires precision and the support of a news effort that adds credibility to the claim. Viewers must truly associate your station with the coverage dimensions you highlight. You must “walk the walk” for it it to be effective.
Personality dimensions are also more easily associated with a station than coverage dimensions. Viewers recognize the differences in talent more readily than the differences in coverage. Make sure viewers associate your station with the coverage dimensions you are claiming.
Presentation
This platform emphasizes how the news is presented. It was birthed long ago by the likes of “Action News” and “Eyewitness News.” It still survives today in the form of “11 at 11″ or similar formats that promise an uninterrupted look at news and weather at the top of the program.
You’ll also see Fox affiliates use a derivative when they promote their 9p or 10p earlier start.
Most of its recent use has centered on providing viewers certain time benefits – earlier newscast starting times and compressing major news into a digest at the beginning of programs.
The platform has the potential for broader use. It will rise again when a station successfully creates a newscast that blends the best of broadcasting and the internet. Such a format will justify heavy promotion.
Making The Right Choice
Which platform works best for your station? Knowing the appeal of your news product will guide you to the answer. Promotion campaigns work best when they accurately reflect what viewers think about your station. See your station from the viewer’s perspective and you’ll make the best choice.
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