“I was in a store the other day where the local soft rock station was playing. They announced ‘You’re listening to KXXX, broadcasting in HD.'”
So begins a note I got yesterday. And I was reminded of a station’s website I saw recently where the words and graphic “in HD Radio” were snuggled right beside the logo.
And I got to thinking…
The more we tell listeners we’re “in HD” both on-air and on the web, the more they’ll be familiar with the term and the less that term will mean anything different than what they’re getting right now.
It’s like packaging that reads “new and improved.” We’re suggesting that what’s IN THE BOX right now is “in HD,” thus consumers will believe that they already “have” HD and are “getting” HD because that’s what we say we’re “giving” them.
And why should they go out and buy a radio to get what they already have?
This could be a mighty big problem.
And here’s the solution:
Don’t say it. Say something else.
For example: “in HD, but only on a new HD radio [for more information, visit [website] or [merchant]].”
Ditto for the web, where it’s even easier to be wordy.
Yes, this is “longer” than what you say now. But do you want to be terse or effective? Do you want to confuse or communicate? Do you want to sell HD radios or suggest that “HD” is simply a new “feature” of what you’re already getting without buying a thing – like a “new extra strength formula”?
Act now. Sending the wrong message will be deadly.
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