Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #684: Give the People What They Want — Really?

There’s an old saying, “Give the people what they want.” That was the gospel.

But Volkswagon didn’t agree. People were driving huge cars when the original Beetle came out – but then millions and millions of VW Beetles were sold.

George Lucas didn’t. The sci-fi genre was pretty sparse when “Star Wars” came out. Hollywood moguls said people didn’t want that. They were, uh…wrong.

Apple didn’t. They knew a more intuitive computer was better. And a laptop (or later, an iPad) was a much better choice for millions of people than a giant, heavy desktop computer. Plus, Steve Jobs knew that a sleek, futuristic design for a mobile phone was going to make huge, complicated phones horribly outdated. They CREATED desire.

Give people what they want, sure, but also give them new approaches.

Example: My brilliant partner John Frost consulted a station in Austin, Texas. One of the first things he did was to have them play “The Eyes of Texas” at noon every day. People didn’t know they wanted this, but it set the station’s tone as being a TEXAS station. It was what they wanted, but they may not have known that.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking that a corporate, format-wide 300-song playlist is what people want. I’d like to drive a couple hundred miles WITHOUT hearing the same, beaten-to-death songs on every station in a given format.

I’d like to hear Promos and Production in general that can compete with Hollywood movie trailers.
I’d like to hear disc jockeys that sound like they came from the same region they broadcast to.

I’d like to hear something that SURPRISES me, rather than just “what people want.” And I’ll bet you would, too.