The upcoming New Year’s Day in 2013 marks the two year anniversary of Oprah Winfrey’s channel, OWN. The launch of the channel in 2011 was spectacular. Back then, each week Oprah was counting down to her last Oprah show, and her audience was wondering what they would do without her. Watching Oprah’s network seemed the solution. They expected to be able to continue seeing Oprah on her new network. In addition, they expected to see other programming which would have Oprah’s inspirational touch.
Prior to OWN’s launch, an enormous amount of publicity was done. Oprah herself plus notable people who would be having a short series on OWN were guests on daytime and evening talk shows. In their chats and monologues, show hosts discussed OWN. You couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing about OWN.
Opening OWN on New Year’s Day was a stroke of genius, principally because the target market was available in droves. Since many were not football fanatics, turning on OWN gave them something to watch. Many, including me, acclaimed this as great marketing. It was, to a point.
Unfortunately, that is where the great marketing began to fall apart. While OWN had a few successful Sunday night programs featuring Shania, Fergie, and the Judds, most of the day the channel offered old TV shows and movies but not fresh content. Oprah was busy finishing her show and, therefore, did not have time to appear on OWN. Even after her show ended, Oprah still didn’t make appearances on OWN.
OWN viewers were not getting what they had expected.
In an interview on Good Morning America this week, Oprah admitted, “I expected it to be a lot easier. I expected to go into the office every other day or so. I wasn’t there. I wasn’t surrounded by all the people I was accustomed to working with. I asked myself, What have I done?
“Within the past year, I put two people at OWN who had run the production company for my show, and the last nine months OWN has been showing amazing growth. I am on OWN here and there with a special show. I discovered what anyone building a business knows: the business grows in direct proportion to the amount of work you are willing to put into it.”
Her extra effort is not the basis for OWN’s growth, however. We all know that you can work harder without growth as a result. Your smart work is what results in growth. Oprah worked smarter in that she was at the office, brought competent people on board, and got back on the air.
She is giving viewers what they expected. She is giving them herself on shows and her touch on programming. Luckily for Oprah, her fans have a great deal of pent-up demand and still want to see her.
Oprah experienced the forgotten part of marketing. Marketing is not just a flashy invitation to a party. Marketing is delivering a good time at the party when the guests arrive. The proof is in the experience. If the guests have fun at the party, they will want to return to future parties hosted by the same person. If they don’t have fun, they will not be back.
A critical part of marketing is the delivery of the product or service. If the customer gets what he wants, he’ll be back. If not, no amount of new flashy invitations will entice him. Remember to deliver what your customers want. That is an important part of marketing.
Prior to OWN’s launch, an enormous amount of publicity was done. Oprah herself plus notable people who would be having a short series on OWN were guests on daytime and evening talk shows. In their chats and monologues, show hosts discussed OWN. You couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing about OWN.
Opening OWN on New Year’s Day was a stroke of genius, principally because the target market was available in droves. Since many were not football fanatics, turning on OWN gave them something to watch. Many, including me, acclaimed this as great marketing. It was, to a point.
Unfortunately, that is where the great marketing began to fall apart. While OWN had a few successful Sunday night programs featuring Shania, Fergie, and the Judds, most of the day the channel offered old TV shows and movies but not fresh content. Oprah was busy finishing her show and, therefore, did not have time to appear on OWN. Even after her show ended, Oprah still didn’t make appearances on OWN.
OWN viewers were not getting what they had expected.
In an interview on Good Morning America this week, Oprah admitted, “I expected it to be a lot easier. I expected to go into the office every other day or so. I wasn’t there. I wasn’t surrounded by all the people I was accustomed to working with. I asked myself, What have I done?
“Within the past year, I put two people at OWN who had run the production company for my show, and the last nine months OWN has been showing amazing growth. I am on OWN here and there with a special show. I discovered what anyone building a business knows: the business grows in direct proportion to the amount of work you are willing to put into it.”
Her extra effort is not the basis for OWN’s growth, however. We all know that you can work harder without growth as a result. Your smart work is what results in growth. Oprah worked smarter in that she was at the office, brought competent people on board, and got back on the air.
She is giving viewers what they expected. She is giving them herself on shows and her touch on programming. Luckily for Oprah, her fans have a great deal of pent-up demand and still want to see her.
Oprah experienced the forgotten part of marketing. Marketing is not just a flashy invitation to a party. Marketing is delivering a good time at the party when the guests arrive. The proof is in the experience. If the guests have fun at the party, they will want to return to future parties hosted by the same person. If they don’t have fun, they will not be back.
A critical part of marketing is the delivery of the product or service. If the customer gets what he wants, he’ll be back. If not, no amount of new flashy invitations will entice him. Remember to deliver what your customers want. That is an important part of marketing.
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