The Brilliance of Fox News (Yes, You Read That Correctly)

I have a confession to make...a dark secret that I've been carrying around for some time now, something so deeply embarrassing that I've been reluctant to share it with my wife, my friends, and my family.

I read the Fox News website. Fairly regularly.

Perhaps reading is a slightly inaccurate description of my activities. Gawking is likely a more accurate term. Like rubbernecking at a car wreck, I find it impossible to look away from this shiny, misguided wreck of a “news” organization. Rest assured, I don’t go to the site to garner any real new and relevant information - rather, I regularly troll the site (especially its comment section) both to enrage and feel better about myself. Which, I’m sure is just fine with Fox News. Because I am not (and never will be) their target audience.

Lest you think that this post is nothing more than a self-indulgent pseudo-political therapy session, there is a point to my confession. That is, I have discovered that aside from getting your daily dose of misinformed, hyper-biased stupidity, there are a few nuggets of insight that event marketers can glean from Fox New’s example.

Message discipline is essential- despite its “Fair and Balanced” protestations, Fox News rarely strays from its conservative narrative. When a competing viewpoint does manage to break through its ideological firewall (usually in the “opinion” section), the purpose of its inclusion seems specifically designed to incite vitriol and witticism in the comment section. It manages to succeed with vitriol, anyway.

What this tells us - For a marketing program to be successful, it should have a single, well-developed theme it’s trying to convey. Make sure all materials and activities adhere to it religiously, and avoid putting out distracting and conflicting messages that can cloud your branding efforts.

Know your audience - There is little question who the typical Fox News viewer is. There’s also no question that the network knows this, as well. Unlike most other cable news organizations, Fox News was created to cater to a specific type of person (and ideological viewpoint), and they knew who its target audience was before it even opening their doors. This understanding has translated into consistent growth, without the wide audience fluctuations that plague other networks.

What this tells us - If you’re trying to build a brand, the importance of audience research can not be overstressed. You may THINK you know your audience, but do you know enough to really get inside their heads well enough to solidify their loyalty?

Pleasing everyone rarely leads to success - CNN is a perfect example of this. The grandaddy of cable news networks was once the most influential news source on television. However, once it’s competitors (Fox News and MSNBC) started chipping away at its viewership, the network went into a tailspin. In an attempt to defend its ratings between these two ideological outposts (although I would argue about MSNBC being explicitly ideological), CNN decided that the middle was the place to be, and coalesced its programming around being balanced and non-partisan.

It failed. Miserably.

The sad reality is, few people follow television news to be strictly informed. They want confirmation for their deeply-held, usually ideological viewpoints. By providing one without the other, CNN actually LOST viewers, and remains adrift to this day.

What this tells us - If you’re trying to target everyone with your brand messaging, you’re bound for failure. Because in trying to speak to everyone, you’re actually connecting with no one. Conversely, if you identify a specific audience, and research their wants, needs, and expectations, you've already done the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing. It simply becomes a matter of finding a channel to get in front of the audience, not figuring out how to connect with them.

I still disagree with most everything Fox News stands for (more in their marketing themselves as a “non-partisan” news source than their ideological viewpoint....maybe). But even I have to admit that their branding efforts are admirably shewed and effective. So there is something of value that can be taken away from Fox News after all.

Just not the news.