Bonding

I'm a fan of Roy Williams, the Wizard of Ads guy (as opposed to the basketball coach). If you don't subscribe to his weekly blog, I highly recommend it.

Some time ago, Roy wrote about the difference between branding and bonding. This is the part I saved:

"Branding – as it is taught today – will at best cause people to remember you and have a mild opinion."

"But unlike yesterday’s branding, today’s bonding is the beginning of relationship, the essence of loyalty and the foundation of community among human beings."

"Bonding, when done properly, makes people feel connected to you."

"Bonding creates community – surrogate family – connectedness – relationship – belonging."

"The personality you craft for your brand is essential to the bonding process."

"In today’s hyper-communicated society, bonding makes a customer yours. Remember, it’s all about identity, a reflection of self."

What's your station's personality?

I think corporate radio, consolidated radio, has been almost entirely about effective branding. I don't hear lots of originality, but then, I think consolidated radio has been about building national (Wall Street) brands, so being original is not what they've been trying to do.

Your station, on the other hand, may be able to lead rather than follow.

What specific words do you use to create a bond with your listener?

What part of your listener's self-image do you reflect back to them?

That's worth thinking about for a while, huh?