104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

4/27/2010 Authors: Heather Diaz Penny Patton Parker Stotts Carla Villalobos

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Table of Contents KRBE’s Objective ...... 3.1 Background: (level 2) ...... 3.2 Methodology (level 1) ...... 4.1 Brand Analysis: ...... 4.2 Competitor Analysis ...... 5 Consumer Analysis: Class Survey ...... 8 Consumer Analysis: Team Survey ...... 3 Qualitative Research: Emotivescapes (level 3) ...... 4 Qualitative Research: Word Association (level 3) ...... 5 Qualitative Research: Brand Association (level 3) ...... 6 Key Issues (level 1) ...... 7 Strategic Objectives (level 1) ...... 8 Brand Positioning Statement (level 1) ...... 9 Concept (level 1) ...... 10 Execution ...... 11 Conclusion (level 1) ...... 17

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

KRBE’s Objectives 3.1

104.1 KRBE came to us concerned about their 18-24 year old target market. They felt as if there is a lost connection and that the 18- 24-audience presence is not as strong as they would want it to be. KRBE wants to bridge the target and the station together and form a stronger listenership.

Goals: o Increase and strengthen the 18-24 audience o Increase tune frequency

Background 3.2

• KRBE (104.1 KRBE), is a Top 40 (CHR) radio station based in Houston, Texas, United States. o Branding: 104.1 KRBE o Slogan: "Houston's #1 Hit Music Station" o Format: Pop Contemporary Hit Radio o Broadcasts in HD o Internet Streams

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Methodology 4.1

In order to achieve a successful executed campaign we had to take a series of steps to get to reach goal.

Brand Analysis 4.2

KRBE offers has always offered the most popular music because they offer only songs from the top 40 billboard hits, which range from: rock, pop, hip-hop, country, alternative. Their format is designed for one to get a daily dosage of pop culture. Anyone can listen to KRBE and instantly know what is hip, cool, and/or popular in a few minutes. Even someone can be out of touch with society and music and learn about the current trends in music. KRBE can be the one to help one fit within society and knowing the most popular songs bring a sense of ease because one is within the loop of pop culture.

Any 18-24 can get lost within society due to a immense amount of workload from school or their job. KRBE is designed so everyone can get in touch with the current trends by hearing only popular songs. Other stations play old and new songs, and it’s confusing because one doesn’t know what’s hip and what are the new songs.

• KRBE listeners o 18 - 40 year-olds who enjoy listening to popular songs • KRBE’s Format: o Old in the morning and progressively gets younger throughout the day

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Competitor Analysis

• Direct Competitors o KKHH 95.7 . Branding: Hot 95.7 . Slogan: "Houston's Hot Hits" . “Hot Hits HOT 95-7 is Houston's hottest new radio station for ALL the hottest hits!” . “This is the new generation of radio that YOU control. “ . Rhythmic-leaning Top 40 o KBBX 97.9 . Branding "97.9 The Box” . Slogan: Interactive Hip-Hop and R&B . KBXX, "97.9 The Box" is a Houston-based radio station with a Mainstream Urban musical format. . “The Box is currently the only station that plays hip-hop and modern R&B; music in the Greater Houston area. . “If it's hot, it's on HOT 95-7!”

• Indirect Competitors o KTBZ 94.5 . Branding: 94.5 The Buzz . Slogan: Houston's New Rock Alternative . Modern rock radio o KMHX 96.5 . Branding: Mix 96-5 . Slogan: "Today's Best Mix” . Adult Top 40 o KODA 99.1 . Branding: Sunny 99.1 . Slogan: The Best Variety of Yesterday and Today . It is a mainstream adult contemporary station, marketed to the at-work listener.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Consumer Analysis

After we had a better understanding of KRBE and its competitors, now have to understand what other people believe about KRBE, and whether it correlates with KRBE’s objectives.

If the 18-24 audience does not feel strongly about the presence of KRBE we need to find out why. Is it because of the format or because they are not interested in radio?

There are many questions, therefore our class conducted an in class survey with 25 questions and each team conducted their own surveys too

Class Survey Our objective was to collect opinions about radio and KRBE and we received 100 responses.

It is important to know about if there is any trends about radio in general that could explain the current 18 – 24 year-old trends because most people don’t know when that age group listens to the radio, or if they listen to the radio at all. Also, the class can discover about KRBE’s placement in the radio industry compared to it’s competitors.

Method: The class made a survey with both quantitative and qualitative questions that was provided online through SurveyMonkey.com. Through the results we received knowledge about the current perception and usage radio and KRBE.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Interesting Results: • 65.9% listen to the radio in the morning most often • 50.6% refer KRBE as the #1 Hit Music Station • 25.3% Won’t 39.8% Might recommend KRBE • KRBE is a station for Teens (44.6%) or Adults (26.5%) • 53.6% wouldn’t/ 39.3 % might go to a KRBE event • How often do you visit the KRBE website? o 77.4% Never o 15.5% Rarely • Do you listen to the Roula and Ryan Show? o 28.6% - Heard about it, but never tuned in o 32.1 % - Listen Occasionally o 20.2% - Listen on a regular basis o 2.4% - The only thing that they listen • How Appealing is the Roula and Ryan Show? o 35.4 % - Isn’t that appealing o 25.6% - Somewhat appealing o %%.%% - Not appealing

Consumer Analysis CTND.

After discovering these interesting results we wanted to further expand our consumer analysis. There was more information left to uncover, therefore we created a survey within our individual team.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Team Survey Objective: Collect more information on a subconscious level. We surprised our college peers on campus as we randomly presented these surveys and asked them to take a minute to complete the survey. There was no pressure involved, we simply walked away and picked up the survey 5 minutes later, or they found us and they handed to us personally

Methods: we used three qualitative research methods: emoti*scapes, word association and brand association. Since this was unexpected and a different type of survey, each student filled it out quickly and they gave a more in depth result than a pick one of above type of survey online. With our results we were able to identify how radio listeners feel and how they relate to KRBE.

Emoti*scapes The survey consists of different pictures that represent an emotion. It lined on a graph because each X& Y axis represents a general area of emotion. We asked students to circle the pictures that best represented how they felt about KRBE and this method helped discover how some people feel about KRBE on an emotional level.

Results: The most common responses: Positive: confidence, at peace, harmony, entertained, motivated, happy and trust. Negative: bored, confused and irritated

Conclusion: The station has the ability to evoke feelings of nostalgia, and feelings or redundancy and annoyance.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Word Association The survey listed a variety amount of descriptive words and each word is categorized into a grouped of 4 or 5 depending on each. It revealed people’s feelings of how they relate to 104.1 KRBE and what they think about the station

Results: The top five words people associated with KRBE were: happy, friendly, cool, family-oriented, and all-American radio station.

Conclusion: Listeners associate KRBE as a traditional, radio-friendly station

Brand Association We put together different radio DJ personalities from various radio stations in Houston ranging from KRBE to the Mix to the Buzz and it revealed if people really know their DJ’s and what they prefer in a DJ. We asked radio listeners chose the DJ’s who they identified for each question. Questions asked are as followed: Which two people you want most relate? Which two DJs would you not want to listen to? Which two DJs would you want to listen to on a show? Who do you think Roula and Ryan are in the collage? Do you think it matters how DJ’s look like?

Results: Students picked DJ’s that look young, and resemble them. The DJ’s they picked as those that they wouldn’t want to listen were usually older people or others that looked full of them. Also, only one person knew who are Roula and Ryan, everyone else either picked Roula or Ryan

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Key Findings

• Testimonials: o “I do not like how much they repeat music. They will repeat to the point that you cannot stand the song anymore.” o “It’s too boring takes me back to Backstreet boys and N*Sync when I use to listen to it but all their music is the same every hour and it’s too much rock for me can’t listen to 104.1 when I’m going out. Reminds me of sunny99.1.” o “I only tune to it when there’s nothing else on that’s if I don’t have a CD around” o “I don't really listen to it at all. Sometimes they'll play a song or two I like.” o “Sometimes they play a song or two I enjoy within an hour. “ o “Occasional good songs” • Most likely wouldn’t recommend KRBE to a friend. • Wouldn’t go to a KRBE event. • There is rarely any DJ recognition. o The survey results revealed users didn’t recognized who are Roula and Ryan. • KRBE is repetitive. o Despite radio users revealed KRBE is repetitive they never mention the reason why is because KRBE’s playlist is strictly formatted around the top 40 billboard hits. In other words, there is no bridged connection between the two. • There is no online traffic to their website. • Lacks consistency between their brand image and music played throughout the day. o Yes KRBE has always offered the Top 40 Billboard Hits for many years, however the different types of music played and the on-air format differs throughout the day. • Lack of shared identity between the radio station and the listeners. • Listeners want content that is not boring but entertaining. • DJ personalities are vital o However, their looks don’t serve an importance. o The listener wants to relate to the DJ.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Target Audience: 18-24 year-old females

We chose females because KRBE presented to us that a larger amount of their audience are female listeners. We didn’t chose male listeners because the Problem Solvers felt it will be easier to gain more female listeners. As young adults they are trying to find themselves, they want to belong, they want to fit in and they fear the thought of being alone. It will be easier if we target a specific target since 76% of the people who took the Surveymonkey.com survey were females and it will secure us better results

Goal: We want listeners to get an emotional benefit from listening to 104.1 KRBE.

Other stations brand themselves from their DJ’s, format, or logo. It is rare to find a station that show’s someone will gain an emotional benefit from listening to the station, usually other stations emphasize a winning a prize instead. We want others to tune in because they will gain something personally that can possibly uplift their spirit and would want to keep tuning in.

We decide to call our group: Pop Culture Enthusiasts

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Pop Culture Enthusiasts: Target Profile 1

Independent Isabella

She is a student at the University of Houston with a major in Theatre. Every morning she has a long commute to school, which she doesn’t mind as long as she is being entertained. Isabella loves music and is inspired by pop culture. This tech savvy chic loves to take her iPod everywhere she goes. She works hard for her money to pay for college tuition because she is highly motivated to succeed and at night she likes to hit trendy club spots in the Houston scene, and attend the hottest events in town.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Pop Culture Enthusiasts: Target Profile 2

Busy Beatrice

She is an active student majoring in Computer Information Systems and she can always be found at the nearest computer or free Wi-Fi place around campus. Beatrice is an Intern at Dell Computers, so she is constantly busy and rarely has free time. In order to get some peace and serenity her favorite place to be is in her car listening to her desired tunes as it seems it takes her 45-minute to get anywhere around town. Beatrice has always seen herself as a music lover and can’t live without her iPod. This music lover gets her daily dose of news from the Internet or her favorite morning show on the radio and she prefers to listen to her hometown DJ for latest updates on entertainment, celebrity gossip and news. Beatrice enjoys going out with her friends and being in the lime light, which is why you can always find her in the coolest places in H-Town.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Key Issues

There are uncontrollable forces that must be noted and must be worked around.

Radio Stations: They are going to be around, and no matter the type of the format, it will always remain a competitor whether it is a direct or indirect competitor.

Technology Influences: The 18-24 year-olds are heavily exposed to these devices because it became a habit at a young age. ◦ These range from MP3 Players, iPods, Cell phones, car adapters to listen to audio capable devices, CD’s, iTunes, Pandora & similar online radio formats and satellite radio

Diverse Audience: It’s impossible to target everyone and each cultures responds differently to each style of music. However, this can become a benefit if KRBE strategizes this issue correctly.

KRBE’s Current Perceptions: It’s important to keep in mind these issues discovered may have been perceptions formed over time, or it can be perceptions formed recently, or perceptions formed about radio in general or just about KRBE

Based on our research: ◦ Perceptions of KRBE ◦ KRBE is considered old ◦ Same format (repetitive music) ◦ Trending actions of 18-24 year-old associate with KRBE ◦ Tune in once in a while ◦ Don’t listen for long periods of time

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Strategic Objectives

Learning from our key issues we developed our strategic objective in order to execute a successful campaign:

We need to strengthen their audience by redefining people’s current perception of the station. We have to let people know KRBE has always been there. KRBE wants to help them reconnect with society, KRBE wants them to know the latest popular music so they can fit in within society, amongst their friends and whenever they are out in the scene.

We want the user to tune in more frequently. It is more important for 18 – 24 year-olds who are frequently on the go to tune in whenever they can. It’s not a focus on how long they tuned in, if we can manage to get the users to tune in for moments at a time, eventually they is a great potential that listening durations may lengthen as they spend more time with the station.

We can increase emotional benefit; this is a tactic that has not been seen from other Houston radio stations. This is critical because we want 18 – 24 year-old listeners to know they will gain something for each time they listen, and it is not a physical prize that requires a phone call in order to gain that benefit. . These emotional benefits can range from: • A sense of self-satisfaction, a sense of security that they now are fully updated on what is on the scene, what’s hip, what’s the latest gossip, get the best tips; and a sense of happiness because KRBE makes them feel as they fit in within society.

Most importantly when people are ready to go out, whether it is out with friends, work, and school or to the club, now they are ready to take on whatever may bring. They feel confident because KRBE makes them feel cool, hip, mellow, fun and apart of society.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Brand positioning statement

To young pop culture enthusiasts: 104.1 KRBE is the best station providing the most up to date information of pop culture, ranging from the news to music.

From this we developed our concept: Get your daily dosage of pop culture with 104.1 KRBE.

We want the listeners to tune in frequently aspiring to get the latest updates of pop culture ranging from music to news Testimonials that led to our concept . “They play popular hits, so if you are unfamiliar with popular music you will catch up instantly.” . “If there is a popular song, I can turn on 104.1 KRBE and will hear it soon” . “104.1 KRBE can keep me up-to-date and in-the-know.”

We decided to strategize our campaign with an underlying theme using popular v. unpopular and our ads will show KRBE makes you popular by getting the latest updates. Specifically, we want people to understand that getting your daily dose of popular culture will help you fit in, so we’ve created a campaign featuring a theme that involve fitting in.

http://www1.arbitron.com/sip/displaySip.do?surveyID=SP10&band=fm&callLetter=KRBE We present you with our strategy, and we feel as if this is the best method for KRBE‘s goal.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Media Tactics:

Execution

Tagline: The Right Hits for a Perfect Fit, KRBE – Fit in anywhere, anytime. with KRBE you are in! It fits perfectly within your life, so you can fit in perfectly with everybody else.

• We will execute the ads in the Malls, and we will place it in the Mall Kiosks. Billboards, Magazines, online media tactics, online interaction, mobile application. Our goal is to make KRBE more interactive with the 18 – 24 listeners. Attend different Bars/Clubs 18-24 year-olds frequently go. Have more presence at the Universities. Ex: tailgating, DJ at student events Connecting Radio Station to mobile devices, requests on phone, allowing students to come into the station. Have a student be a DJ for a day.

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104.1 KRBE Strategic Account Plan

Appendixes

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