Frost Advisory #428 – A Cup Of Coffee And A Programming Lesson

If I were to eavesdrop on a programming conversation around the coffee machine at your station what would I likely hear?  Would it be about the music and deejays, the promotions and contests, and that complaint from that listener.  In other words, the things closest to you.  Like coffee.

While these elements are important to the station’s design and must be done well, they are not transformative.  Why?  Because those things are all about us.  And the closer things are to us the more important they seem.  To us.  Like coffee.

Dunkin’ Donuts is in the process of remaking their brand.  They’ve dropped “Donuts” from their name, slyly moving from a strategy of donuts first to coffee first and beginning to tell a bigger story.

America Runs on Dunkin’ – And Now, So Does a Tiny Home.

Enjoying a morning cup of Dunkin’ at Home Coffee gets you going so you can power through your day.  So why not power where you drink the coffee – at home?  The Home that Runs on Dunkin’ is a custom, transportable tiny home that runs on biofuel created by spent Dunkin’ coffee grounds.

“I’m incredibly excited… to take wasted resources and to convert them to fuel to make the world a cleaner place.”

https://youtu.be/CZJL36cKM_I

(https://www.dunkinathome.com/whats-new/home-runs-on-dunkin)

“Our purchases remind us – and announce to the world around us – who we are.  Our favorite brands communicate what we stand for, what we believe in.  We direct our dollars in ways that reflect our values and offer a glimpse of our souls.”

Roy Williams

Dunkin’ Donuts may have started out as nothing more than a simple fried dough confection, but they’re shifting their story to connect coffee first to a vision for a better future.

Your radio station doesn’t have that challenge.  Your station is intrinsically built on purpose.

Our mistake is when we think it is about the music and deejays, the promotions and contests, and that complaint from that listener.


John Frost

John has been a successful major market DJ and Program Director for such companies as CBS, Gannett, Cap Cities, Westinghouse, Multimedia, and Sandusky and publishes the Frost Advisory.

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