Kneale Mann's Article part Two

You can build a MySpace page in two minutes and scour for “friends”. MySpacers want control over their environment then share it, belong to others, and build that community.

I was on a train recently and I was fascinated by a group of high school students on a school trip. I watched how they interacted with each other. They shared snacks, checked out each others’ iPods, talked, laughed, and read aloud. They were creating content in the context of their own space.

My eye suddenly caught a couple in their 60s on the other side of the train who were sharing a sandwich. In this noisy train car, they created their own community – a community of two – and it seemed that the rest of the world didn’t matter.

Then there was me, with my laptop open and tunes cranked in the headphones – creating my own environment. It was a cocaphany of sounds by people co-creating …on a train! Was this an isolated event? Is life like that in people’s every day lives?

When I go to Starbucks – anywhere on the continent – the same thing happens. I get greeted cheerfully and receive my order promptly. Starbucks is a brand and a community, it is not coffee. Coffee is simply the conduit, the delivery service, the gadget.

Apple does not sell portable digital music devices – they sell a community and a lifestyle. Why do we honk or wave at someone who has made the same car purchase as us?

Content, context and community are powerful forces we cannot ignore.

What’s also important to note, is the content, context and community we are building inside our own environments – our radio stations. We have all used the phrase “customer service” ad nausea but do we follow through? I view ‘customers’ as three groups – our listeners, our clients, and our selves. Are their needs different? No. They each have the need to flourish and yes …belong!

What kind of community exists inside your radio station? Is it co-creating with your listeners and your clients? What are the needs of your employees and co-workers? Is your sales department asking your clients what they need to be successful? Are you asking your listeners and potential listeners what they want?

Think beyond the announcers, music, sales, imaging, creative, promotions, interactive, and marketing – those are paramount to your success – but turn the focus back on your community and give them the content they crave.

In my 15 years at the Edge in Toronto, one of my annual favorites was our EdgeFest concert. During this daylong event which featured a dozen or so bands, there was a sea of 35,000 people sharing, enjoying, and co-creating.

Make it about them, and they will make it about you. Your competition is not gadgets or other radio stations – it is people’s time. It’s your challenge to create that desire for others to want to belong to your space.

Are you creating an atmosphere that will satisfy people's inherent need to belong?