Radio advertisers can learn a lot by understanding what frightens radio station programming managers the most, says Jason Brownlee. He should know. He’s tested the effectiveness of more than 400 radio case studies on RadioGAUGE…
In my experience, *the* most terrifying thing a Programming Manager has to contemplate is changing the presenter of his breakfast show. It’s no secret that listeners become very attached to their favourite DJs who weave themselves into the routine of daily life and become like real friends.

The second thing would be putting new music onto their playlist. People don’t like songs they don’t recognise and have been known to switch off from a station playing something unfamiliar and cruise around the dial until they hear a song they know and like.

Interestingly, the top 25% of radio ads in terms of creative effectiveness, as measured by RadioGAUGE, were on average 13% better at generating brand campaign awareness than the bottom 25% of ads. Top-performing campaigns often exhibited common attributes such as long standing creative strategies, familiar jingles, recognisable voices, regular characters and consistent story lines.

What am I saying then?

Here are three things, my points above prove;

1. Personalities need familiarity to be successful on the radio – presenters need to develop a rapport with an audience that, over time, will come to embrace them.

2. Music needs familiarity to be successful on the radio – as a song begins to break its way into awareness it builds familiarity within the minds of listeners, who will eventually take it to heart.

3. Commercials need familiarity to be successful on the radio – advertisers need to develop creative themes or templates that express the personality of their brand on the radio and commit to them over a long period of time.

Bottom line; building familiarity on the radio is crucial for any presenter, song or band that wants to cut through into audience consciousness and be taken into the hearts and minds of listeners. Brands that ‘find their voice’ on the radio build the strongest relationships with listeners, which invariably delivers the best ROI from the medium.

Jason Brownlee
Development Director, RadioGAUGE International