SPIKE JONES - BEETLEBOMB
WHO IS THIS GUY? DON'T KNOW,
BUT LOOKS LIKE THE TYPICAL FM RADIO LISTENER
This is a real-life example of failure. Not of the AM radio station, but of stations that mimic them.I had gone to one of my favorite drinking holes in Yoga, a Izakaya named Sakura. Sakura has been in the same place for nearly 30 years. It is a very old fashioned neighborhood drinking hole in the wall.
I always like to go to these places like Sakura early as that allows me to drink quietly before the crowds, to talk to the owners about what's really going on with the Japanese people in the neighborhood (I've never seen any foreigners there), and it allows me to reflect on various things.
When I entered the bar, there was one other gentleman sitting there drinking. I had seen him there before. And, as with the last time I saw him, he was already pretty drunk when I entered.
Since I had seen him before, and since Sakura is a very friendly place with a "family" type of atmosphere, I said, "Good Evening" to him. He was, as before, pretty fashionably dressed (for a nearly 65-year-old guy) and was deep in conversation with the bar owner. I started listening to their conversation. He was talking to the "Momma" of the joint and explaining something about a sponsorship with a world famous sports wear maker - thereby explaining why he was so fashionably dressed. He explained how the sports wear maker traded clothes for advertising and how the old model of advertising (paying for commercials) was dead.
I knew from just hearing a bit of his conversation that he must have been in broadcasting and knew what the hell he was talking about. I joined into the conversation. I was surprised to find out that he was working at one of the most famous AM radio stations in Japan.
I asked what he did and he told me what his position was at the radio station. I was shocked when he told me his title and job and gave me his card. Now, don't misunderstand, this is not some crummy little radio station in Japan; there's not a person over the age of 12 who hasn't heard of this radio station. They broadcast horse racing and professional baseball too. This station is one of, if not thee, most famous of the (generic) AM radio stations in Japan.
Well, the old guy went on and told me all about his problems at work with declining revenues and sponsorships. I listened and didn't say anything about having worked at an FM station before (actually, in the late 1980's, I did host a radio show for three years on that very same AM radio station... I think... Or was it the competing station? I can't remember because in Japan they all sound alike.
In fact, all of the radio stations in Japan all sound exactly alike, be they AM radio or FM radio. The only way anyone can tell the difference between one station to the next is by looking at the number on the radio tuner or waiting until that station's call letters and name are announced.... Yawn....
Anyway, the guy went on and told us about how, about 4 years ago, that this station had made the genius move in a policy switch to target only 35 ~ 55-year-old people with a emphasis on mostly males. This little tidbit of information just floored me. Why?
Well, because, here is a very old school AM station that's been around since the late 1950's. They are one of the four or five dominant radio stations that everyone has heard of. All cars in Japan have AM radios (FM radios are rare). Everyone knows this particular station.
With that ancient history and the fact that this station broadcasts boring stuff like professional baseball and horse racing that interests old people, you'd think that their policy was always to target 35 ~ 65-year-old men. But no, you'd have thought wrong.
So why is this interesting and why is this an example of how not to do things with an emphasis on branding? Well, because, it's not so much that this old, dusty, tired and worn out old war-horse of a radio station picks such a policy, it's because, about 4 years ago, about the same time that this old guy says his AM radio station embarked on this policy, a FM radio station announced that they were doing the exact same thing!
Yes. About 4 years ago, the so-called international FM radio station in Tokyo, InterFM, proudly announced that they were going to target 35 ~ 65-year-old males. Talk about a bunch of parrots!
AM radio is supposed to feature talk radio and target older people. FM radio is supposed to feature music - and, in the case of a supposed "International radio station" like InterFM, they're supposed to target a younger audience and not broadcast things like horse racing.
But, unbelievably, InterFM did start broadcasting horse racing! Have you ever heard of such a thing? A FM radio station broadcasting horse racing? And not in the native language of the host country. Absurd.
So, InterFM continues to lose a million (USD) a year. Is it any wonder? They are dead as a doornail come this July. I wrote about that in One More Phase in the Shattering of Main Stream Media here.
Now, considering the above, you can see why this is a lesson in how not to do things.
If your company is a smaller or a newer company in a well-established market and you want to succeed in that market, if everyone is selling turnips, you'd better find something else to sell or you will be out of business.
InterFM? Targeting 35 ~ 65-year-old males? What a brilliant - and so incredibly original - business strategy.
Why do they even bother? If they are not going to even try to make money or set out a niche in their market then it's time for them to shut the power down and go off air.
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For more on the death of major broadcasting in Japan here's more information:
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