Mass Personalization

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Just look at how people are and will continue to use media:

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All content will no longer be scheduled, but will be on demand. Consumerswill obtain information at anytime, from anywhere and anyhow they want to.

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All media will be united on a single unified digital platform. Distinctdistribution channels for various content will melt away in the eyes of theaudience. The changes occurring today are a major paradigm shift from mass media tomass personalization. The business, production, marketing and consumptionof media have been organized along fixed distribution channels likenewspaper deliveries or scheduled broadcasts for decades. These fixeddistribution channels create an artificial scarcity, creating mass consumermarkets, thus driving up ad rates. Once consumers become untethered fromthese fixed channels, what holds media together? What makes it valuable? If we can't force people to watch our broadcasts, how do we hold theirattention? The answer -- community and relationships.

The Community Is the Star

We all have one of those friends that does all the talking. You know what I'mtalking about, that friend who traps you on the phone for hours on end. Fromthe audience's perspective, broadcast works much in the same way. Bydesign, broadcast is a one-way medium. As a result, we talk "at theaudience". We've kept the audience at arms length. We don't listen. Even theterm "audience" is a passive term.I prefer the word "community". While the community still wants us to domost of the heavy lifting, they want to feel appreciated. They want to beheard, to be part of the overall creative process. They want the option of interacting. The Internet has now made the community an active part of media. Over 35 Web bloggers scored media credentials to the DemocraticNational Convention this week and I'll tell you one thing, traffic to their sitesis most likely greater than to your station's Web site. Broadcasters need tostart cultivating a two-way relationship with the audience its serves.

Super Serve Your Target Community

In an effort to stave off declining audiences, most broadcasters have soughtto attract larger audiences by diluting their content with national fare orusing "car-wreck" content for a short-term ratings boost. We all know this isnot the best course of action, but we feel few options have been left to meetthe short-term goals laid out before us.While not intuitive to most, I think broadcasters should pursue the exactopposite strategy. Laser focus on your core local community. Super servethem. Don't offer them just news, become a resource for any and all localinformation. Become a "must have" source of local information in their lives. You are the expert in your local community. The single competitive advantage of local broadcasters is local content.Many will argue that there is too much local content. I don't think there isenough. Right now it's all the same. Doesn't anyone have an original ideaanymore?Reality television has already begun to dry up the syndication model,another key component of the business model of the local broadcaster. Whilestill a very young and unproven business, Video On Demand will eventuallyreplace the current syndication model.

Then what are local broadcasters going to put on the air?

Time Warner Cable in Wisconsin recently rolled out a new service called"Wisconsin On-Demand". They have on-demand channels focused on localarts & entertainment, education and sports. They even produced their ownlocal reality show. Instead of having a reporter covering some boring Boardof Ed meeting, they express education content in a different way. They havepartnerships with local colleges to deliver lectures and coursees on demand.Useful information.

So now broadcasters are going to give up both their Internet and on-demand television opportunities?

Anchors and reporters should serve the community as "guides" or "experts"in the community, not just someone who reads very well off a Teleprompter. They should be approachable and should be interacting with the community

on a daily basis and I'm not talking about some cutesy promo spot.Begin regarding your Web site as a datamine of information about your localcommunity. All media platforms like television, radio, print, cell phones, PDAsand whatever the next technology happens to be are all touch points toconnect with your community.For decades broadcasters had the luxury of sitting back and having peoplecome to them. Now the tables are turned. Go to them. Stop trying to makethem come to you. Be where they want to be and how they want to accessyour content. When Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, retired he was askedwhat are three things that GE needed to focus on for the future. He said,"The Internet, the Internet, the Internet." The future of local broadcasters islocal, local, local. Local broadcasters now need to think of themselves aslocal media companies.

Attract the Community to Your Brand

Most broadcasters would argue that their purpose is to attract the largestaudience possible. There's nothing wrong with that. Instead of hitting peopleover the head with shock-value content and endless promos because youhave decided only offer local content through one touch point (television),start thinking about attracting them to your overall brand. Once you startusing your brand to unite your content across various platforms, you start tosee where your audience went. They are still there, but they just want to youto be more accommodating to them.All media going forward will be based on communities. Media professionalswill soon stop identifying themselves by the platform they distribute theircontent through, like broadcaster, newspaper report or magazine editor. It's just media now. They will now identify themselves according to thecommunity they serve. Maybe it's a national community focused on health ora local community facing a variety of issues important to them. Yes, I do believe there are many issues that are of similar concern to localcommunities across America, but as I have traveled around, I find it difficultto see the unique identity of any local community when I watch localbroadcasts. It's all the same stuff. My parents recently moved from

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