january 2013 pledge culture and biology of pledge 1 pledge culture: rituals and truths or why the...

January 2013 Pledge Culture and Biology of Pledge 1

Pledge Culture: Rituals and Truths

OrWhy the Regular Schedule Programs

Don’t Pledge Very Well


Pledge is

Not like being a doctor –formal school Pledge is an apprenticeship On the job training Learn the rituals and mores from a

master/mistress All of that training and practice

constitutes the pledge culture


Pledge Culture Rituals

Many are true… scientifically The practices are garnered from

years of use… and change gradually Example: from taped breaks, to air

checks to virtuals So why is it so hard to pledge regular

schedule?


Rituals are Habits

Look at how we learn to ride a bike Or more complicated to drive your car After lots and lots of practice you

finally get it And it goes on “automatic” Old habits hardly ever die… after

decades you get on a bike and after a bit be back in form


Effort Expended Learning


Biology of Habits

After you learn a habit or understand a ritual your brain slips into automatic

You no longer “pay attention” That’s what happens when you watch

a TV program or a pledge break… Automaticity dampens attention Neuroscientist have more dire label


Habituation

A habit or ritual is different Habituation is the result of lengthy

practice or repeated exposure Good side: Automaticity. I can drive to

work without sweating bullets. Bad side: if you are an addict, your

dose has to increase to get buzzed


Habituation:Continued

A television program suffers from habituation where people’s attention wanes from repeated exposure

And the same for a pledge break or a pledge drive

So one – not all – reason the regular schedule does not pledge is habituation


Learning from Antiques Roadshow

A television format is another form of ritual/habit

We have spent years learning the mores and have conditioned expectations about what is proper and expected… Judy Woodruff does not kiss and make out Ray Suarez on the NewsHour set


Antiques Roadshow Appraisal

1. Introduce object with some mystery2. Bullet points on distinctive features3. Provide historical context4. Epiphanies of lives and antique 5. What’s it worth6. Close the loop between owner, object

and apprasier


Why ARS is a Hit

There is a variety Objects Casting owners and apprasiers Length

Pacing is quick – short two minute segments

Cutting is quick and pink


Show Colleene Fesko segment


Segments Are Habits

Antiques Roadshow has a basic format that it spins off variation

The viewer has conditioned expectations and pays attention to that varies from expections

Pledge Breaks are expectations that rely on traditional TV practices


Ritual Pledge Break Elements

Type of break Live or virtual? Challenge break? Sustainer

Casting pledge talent Pacing and variety in the break

mostly occurs through editing


Building Blocks of Break

Program (reference to it)Program (reference to it) Incentives (Premium, member card etc.)Incentives (Premium, member card etc.) Mission of stationMission of station Case statement (Basic needs statement)Case statement (Basic needs statement) Member benefitsMember benefits Vote (your pledge is a)Vote (your pledge is a) How to pledgeHow to pledge Call to actionCall to action


Message Points PercentagesEight Station Averages – Two Selected Stations

0

10

20

30

40

50

Member

Benefits

How To Incentives Case Program Vote Mission Call

Action

Average WGBH KPBS


Pledging Antiques Roadshow

AETN pledged a special edition and it was #9 in total dollars for the drive

They used local talent, the usual premiums, and two breaks…

It uses a three talent rotation of 60-90 seconds per talent with each working up the premium ladder.


Show AETN segment


AETN’s Approach

The viewers hear their own voices and see their friends and neighbors

The tone is civil – southern civil The set is warm and red The appeals were mostly social

contract – the loaf of bread… Local is local


Using Tools of the Trade

Kansas City successfully pledged Finding Your Roots

Created a clever set of premiums that tapped into reservoirs of success elements: viewer desires/craving and the magic of TV

The program delivered a primed audience interested in genealogy


Creating a Premium Craving

Kansas City has one of the top 10 genealogy research libraries in the US

The “city” has a robust library culture and the librarians are raised in the civic culture to create public value

The premium was a $120 one day training session at the library (box lunch included)


Premiums Exist in Context Premium price ladders focus attention on the

mid range choices. In KCPT they had $3,200 premium, $ 120 and basic membership…The $3,200 premium makes $120 look like a bargain.

The breaks were mostly traditional with two major “new” elements… all the librarians on the set explaining things and a video visit to the library to see the “tools” and how to use them


Progressive Discourse

AETN Blencko excerpt


Creating Tension

KCPT employed a version of progressive disclosure – that is they did television and captured the viewers attention…

By mid-break viewers want to see that library and what you are going to do that day… and finally you do see… (play excerpt)


Show KCPT segment


Key Take Aways Habitation normally dooms efforts to

pledge the regular schedule, since both the breaks and the program are on automatic pilot

The station has to strive to localize their appeals (hear your voice) and appeal to local guilt mores to succeed

And/or create compelling local pledge premiums.


Pledging Local Acquisitions

These series tend to be music, Britcoms, travel, docs and drama

These programs attract genre specific audiences and have more varied appeals in terms of emotion and social relationship (drama)

Why we pledge is based on emotion not reason and contemplation


Most of Your Life is Unconscious

Emotions are feelings and not words…

Music is emotionalA Picture is worth a

thousand wordsSpeaking and thinking

in words is slow, cumbersome and mostly boring


Why Spock Would Never Pledge

Generally you decide first, often impulsively

Once you decide to pledge your mind goes looking for alibis

The premium is a part of the problem, not the alibi

Ergo our mission and case statements


Pledging Drama is Easy?

It is a local decision, and that has deep social roots…

The pledgers are local viewers hooked on the drama’s relational emotional hooks

Pledging is votingThe embers of arousal

need only be fanned


Erupter Breaks Could Float the Titanic Even the most

taciturn breaks can not stop the phones

Even the lack of premiums, logical ladders of offers can quell phones

Erupter breaks spoil pledge producers


Maine excerpt


Pledging Foyle in Seattle

Again local talent, local references, “your choice to view and pledge”

Bell shaped curve of pledge tallies

Here there is wit and wisdom

The middle level disappears


Does it Make You Warm/Mellow?

There should be some type of emotional “connection meter” If drama connects with viewers then it

should pledge if the series has density and production values

Same with music and some local docs

Nostalgia is a personal but it is a powerful emotional buzz…


Creating Local Pledge Documentaries

Designed to evoke nostalgia for times or people gone by

They validate people’s lives

Create a link between the station and its viewer community

They have some unique properties to succeed


Take Aways

january 2013 pledge culture and biology of pledge 1 pledge culture: rituals and truths or why the...

Documents

pledge culture rituals

pledge culturepledge

biology of pledgejanuary

pledge breakautomaticity

pledge isnot

pledge driveso

wellpledge culture

apprasierpledge culture