You Are the Brand

Howard Stern: “The King of Media”

If you’re working hard to earn your “15 minutes of fame,” you can give up the idea of having a successful brand right now. Successful branding is about making a name for yourself that keeps you competitive in your field over the long haul. Enter Howard Stern. When it comes to the self-professed “King of All Media” (giving yourself a great nickname is important), we are talking about one of the most enduring and successful brands in the history of entertainment media. Stern has been on the radio for over twenty- five years. He became number one in markets all across this country , big and small. He ultimately came to the number-one media market, NewYork, toWNBC in 1982, and it didn’t take him long to become the king of NewYork radio.You don’t have to like Howard Stern or his humor to appreciate his success and his extraordinary ability to create a brand that is anything but a flash in the pan. Exuding Confidence Howard Stern built his brand on his unwavering belief in his own ability to be the best. He has always had tremendous confidence in himself; in fact, in every radio market he entered, he announced publicly that he was there to be on top. He held public rallies at which he would make a spectacle of himself and put on often outrageous and sometimes crude performances. At first he attracted hundreds of fans—then tens of thousands as he gained free attention from the media, who gave him the label “shock jock.” Every antic was calculated to draw attention to himself, his program, and his brand and to make people remember him. It worked. The wild on-air antics that have swelled Stern’s audience into the millions are the visible part of his arrogant confidence that have made him stand out in a crowded field of shock jocks. His inter148 Howard Stern “The King of Media” Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:29 AM Page 148 views with porn stars, his strip beer pong contests, the world’s strongest naked woman competition, and the popular Gary the Retard’s Birthday Show are all examples of outlandish programs that keep his show alive when others around him bomb like old jokes. He farts in the face of convention and a whole lot of people love him for that. (At the same time, in more serious segments, Stern has demonstrated exceptional interviewing skills.) Yes, Stern loves his crude and rowdy skits, routines, gags, and big-name guests; they are an integral part of the brand he’s built over time. His listeners keep tuning in because they’ve come to respect and trust his “shocking” personality.To put it more simply: They know he’s one crazy guy and that he never disappoints. Stern made this style of promotion work for him, but not everyone can—I can’t. I’m not building my business on being a shocking guy. I’m not trying to sell anything that’s wild. I’m not going to throw insults at whole groups of people, knowing the media will put the spotlight on me tomorrow. But still, I’ve learned valuable lessons from Stern. For starters, I can clearly see that as I build my brand, I have to identify exactly who I am and what I’m selling, and then I must have the confidence to promote that without hesitation or doubts. I am what I am and make no apologies to anyone. Climbing Down Off the Pedestal After many years on the radio making millions, Stern decided to expand his brand by writing a book. In Private Parts, he shared the most intimate aspects of both his public radio life and his private life.That book was turned into a movie of the same name that further expanded his audience base and his brand. It’s worth our time to analyze why this book was so wildly popular and why it solidified his standing in the entertainment business. (The book debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list, and the movie grossed over $40 million in the United States alone.1 )The success of this autobiography starts with the fact that its brutally honest quality let Howard Stern fans into his life and made them fans forever. This book brought Stern down from the “celebrity” pedestal and made him “one of us.”Throughout his...