There are lessons to be learned from the rise of the New Orleans Saints from the bottom of the NFL barrel to Super Bowl Champs.  And there are parallels to your local news ratings as well.

For decades the Saints were the doormats of the NFL.  Fans took to wearing paper bags over their heads with “Aint’s” written on them.  Then - just a few short years ago it all changed.

Here’s how they did it:

• Hired a smart, innovative coach with a solid plan and the guts to stick with it
• He was also willing to take risks (like an onside kick to start the second half of the Super Bowl)
• The coach surrounded himself with smart middle managers (assistant coaches) who bought into his plan and were willing and capable to execute it ruthlessly
• The coach did not waver when his rise in the standings faltered last year - instead he went out and hired a new creative, fearless coach to shore up the defense - kind of like hiring a brand manager to be sure your plan gets carried out in the newscasts every day
• Along the way the coach had the courage to move out some players who were no longer on top of their games - or did not buy into his philosophy.
• He also brought in some bright new players to make the team stronger
• Then coach Payton demonstrated strong leadership every day in a myriad of different ways to keep his team believing in his strategic plan

This determined dedication led to the former NFL bottom feeders ruling the roost after their win Sunday.

Take a look at those bullet points again - they all hold the key to building a strong brand at your station.  If you couple the plan with buy-in from the staff, and consistency in your newscasts every day.  You can rule the roost in your market too.

Jim

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 11:32 am and is filed under Willi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.