USING RADIO TO ACCELERATE YOUR SHARE OF THE MOTORING MARKET

It’s a commonly held misconception by some car brands and their agencies that radio cannot be used to build car brands, simply because it’s not ‘visual’. They believe that consumers need to see a car in order to want it. (In 2012, nogal?!)

But, as singh&sons ECD Roger Paulse argues, for most people, cars are about something far more important; “For the young driver it’s about independence; going on a date without having to be driven there. For others it’s about getting to work safely in a country that doesn’t have the best public transport. For parents it’s the best way to keep their kids safe during a journey.

These are the emotions that drive our desires – and guess what – they’re perfect to dramatise on radio, because they’re personal”.

While widespread industry perceptions such as ‘visual media is more effective in the advertising of car brands’ have done nothing to quell the misperceptions, the reality is that more and more car brands are beginning to see radio become a viable option in building the brands of manufacturers and dealers alike.

Radio offers brands an opportunity to find a home in the hearts and minds of listeners.

As The Mediashop’s Richard Lord points out in our Burning Question this month; “The vehicle market is increasingly cluttered and manufacturers are constantly fighting for market share. This means that strategically top of mind recall is of paramount importance and radio is ideal for creating this – the main reason being that the majority of radio listening happens in the car – and what better place to try and sell someone a new car than when they are sitting in their old one”.

According to RadioGAUGE UK, Radio has been proven to improve brand perceptions of advertised motoring brands by more than 80%, with the strongest performing automotive campaigns being those that use recognisable audio cues, consistent music, voices and /or slogans.

With brands such as Lexus (see Hot New Radio Campaigns) already realising that radio is about as close to the point of purchase as it gets, 2012 should be a great year as more and more car brands get closer to the action through radio and make their brand campaigns AND sales hit home.

Filed Under: Featured, the power of radio, why radio

Insider Info

With the proposed announcement of 3 new commercial stations, South Africa’s radio landscape is set to be immeasurably more robust in the coming year. It is without a doubt an exciting time for the industry to sit up, take notice and full advantage of radio’s unique offerings. Who better to set the scene than some of the radio business heavy weights we’ve come to know and respect. Ryan Till of Primedia Broadcasting, Nick Grubb of Kagiso Media, Rivak Bunce of United Stations and Eugene Zwane from SABC coming right up.

Radio as we knew it - Rivak Bunce, United Stations

The future is LOUD - Eugene Zwane, SABC

Rules of engagement - Nick Grubb, Kagiso Media

Radio: The driving force behind meaningful connections - Ryan Till, Primedia Broadcasting

Filed Under: the power of radio Tagged With:

RADIO AS WE KNEW IT

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The definition of ‘advertising’ has been changing over the last few years, with the most exciting thing about 2011 from a radio perspective, no doubt being how radically the definition of ‘RADIO’ has changed in response to this shift.

Go back twenty four years ago and I remember Stan Katz lecturing a couple of us novices with the words; “There has never been a simpler business invented than Radio – we build a great audience and then we deliver that audience to advertisers”. This was the definition of ‘Radio’ and to an extent it still rings true today. The product is the key. The passion oozing from the speakers delivers the listeners and the listeners deliver the advertisers.

What has changed forever is that Radio stations have morphed into multi-media brands generating content and experiences on an extensive range of platforms. The radio presenter in 2011 bears little resemblance to the DJ of old. Today, that presenter is creating, ingesting and re-purposing content and distributing it through multiple channels, on-air, on the web, on mobile and on tablet products.

Programming Managers who were once slaves to format, formulas and audience research, are seeing themselves as content managers and advertising has found respect as part of the content.

The new breed of programmers are smart, strategic and tactical thinkers able to use the abundant creativity in their station to increase the value of the commercial space.

This fresh focus on creating quality and value and making Radio’s customers happy, is bringing new enjoyment and satisfaction to those of us lucky enough to work in this business. The best consequence will be even better results for our business partners.

Rivak Bunce

Managing Director, United Stations

Filed Under: the power of radio Tagged With: ,

Radio – the driving force behind meaningful connections

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After riding through recessionary waves, emerging stronger and louder, 2011 has once again reminded us of the power of radio as a medium. A quick glance at the numbers and it’s safe to say that radio has proven its mettle time and time again…

With its unique ability to deliver unrivalled levels of immediacy, intimacy and recency, itis our belief that the emotional connection people have with the medium is what’s largely responsible for this success.

Radio has the ability to make people shed a tear, smile, want to share an opinion, be part of something and want to burst at the seams with pride. Radio has conversations with people, it talks one-on-one. For these reasons, radio can be very persuasive.

A sterling example of this is the Lead SA initiative which was launched last year. Built on a premise that calls on South Africans to be the change they want to see, ittruly has received an overwhelmingly positive responses from listeners.

In 2011, Lead SA rallied South Africans to get behind the Bokke; to support the Police Widows and Orphans Fund to the tune of R2.1-million; to sing Happy Birthday to Madiba and to even chase down a taxi driver who had broken the law!

From an advertising perspective, a definite highlight for 2011 has been FNB’s ‘Steve’ campaign. It has truly been encouraging to see a client who really understands the medium and how this can be translated into tangible results. The campaign was impossible to ignore and competitors followed with adverts that spoke directly to Steve.

Radio’s speedily carving itself the role of medium to ‘watch’ in 2012 and beyond. Despite the sexiness of our growing digital offerings and the unpredictability of our buisiness, radio’s real power is in the connection we make with our listeners, this is where the impact lies.

It’s also immediate and as such, programming can change from moment to moment, bookings can come in at the last minute and we need to be flexible enough to accommodate these changes.

Ryan Till

Chief Operating Officer, Primedia Broadcasting

Filed Under: the power of radio Tagged With: ,

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If online reaction to on-air content is a fair indicator of what drives listeners to our brands,
three great examples stand out;

There was the weekend where Jacaranda 94.2’s ‘kiss our morning stunt guy A-rod’ generated
record views, so did East Coast Radio’s (ECR) Sardine Run sightings. Did I mention the time
ECR asked KZNers to post pics of snow in the Drakensburg, the servers simply couldn’t
cope.

Why are these events significant? Simple. They demonstrate what our audiences are taking
from our brands, their willingness to join in the fun that we have the power to create, and the
ability to act as a focal point for communities to talk about things that are happening around
them – regional, local, personal stuff.

If radio stations haven’t already realised that formulaic, sanitised playlists with soulless talking
heads are not the way to people’s hearts any more, 2011 was yet another opportunity for
them to get the memo.

Reflecting on the big takeouts for this year; we’ve learnt that our talent is our future and we
want to look after them. We’ve learnt that if we invest in ideas and excellent execution
enough, huge growth is still possible in this ‘mature’ radio industry;

That our clients are sometimes great content generators, and working with them can create
compelling entertainment, whatever the commercial message.
We’ve learnt that the sum of parts can be bigger than the whole. Kagiso Broadcasting was
borne from that learning – and is now constituted as an operations-oriented division within
Kagiso Media that uses the power of all of our content, information, digital and broadcasting
efforts across the group to take radio into a strong and colourful future.

Nick Grubb
Chief Operating Officer, Kagiso Media
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Filed Under: the power of radio Tagged With: ,

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Against the backdrop of a recovering economy, radio in South Africa continues to grow its market share. Radio is on a roll and isn’t looking back anytime soon. About time the industry sat up and took notice, don’t you think?

When it comes to making that all-important and meaningful connection between brands and listeners, advertisers today are speedily realising that with useful content such asnews, weather, traffic, economic reports, sport updates, beauty, financial literacy and cookery features to take advantage of, maximising these positive environments through sponsorships is the ultimate differentiator in an otherwise cluttered media space.

More and more radio stations are reporting growth in sponsorship revenue as a result and advertisers continue to reap the returns.

Not so new to the circuit, but with a profile that’s growing, is the concept of ‘branded content’. Sometimes referred to as ‘destination programming’, commercial messaging is cleverly embedded intoregular programming and thus, not easily discernible as advertising. The obvious benefit for the advertiser is that listeners are more likely to experiment with brands that educate, empower, entertain and reward them.

That said, there is little doubt that social media platforms have strengthened the voice of the consumer, in much the same way as they have enhanced the stations’ ability to connect and get feedback from consumers in real time.

The extent of immediacy created by radio and social media platforms is frightening – in a good way! Through listener votes, tweets and facebook ‘likes’, new-age consumers can easily indicate what they want and are likely to purchase.

More and more brands are leveraging this positive environment coupled with presenter credibility and building qualified databases through which they can send targeted messages.

Adding short codes to radio ads along with a call-to-action has become commonplace. And it is this affinity that exists between Radio and social media that is driving the growth in Radio revenue. 

Eugene Zwane

General Manager, SABC Commercial Enterprises

Filed Under: the power of radio Tagged With: ,

Ten good reasons to advertise on radio

 

The RAB would love to take you and your team through the interactive, Power of Radio, 2 hour talk. Please contact gilda@rab.co.za to book.

1. Reach

No other medium reaches as many consumers as radio does in a single week.

It is generally consumed when other media cannot be – getting ready for work, driving in a car, at work – but it is also consumed with other media – whilst surfing the net, reading a magazine in bed etc.

The average South African consumer spends more than 26 hours per week listening to the radio

Source: RAMS 2010/2 (Mon-Sun)

2. Frequency

 

 

Repeated consumer exposure builds top-of-mind awareness and awareness is the key component in gaining market share.

Radio is the frequency-building medium because consumers listen to their favorite radio station for long periods of time.

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3. Intrusiveness

No other medium requires as little physical participation as radio.

Listeners cannot help but listen to an advertising message when in a ‘captive’ environment e.g. in a car.

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4. Fast turn-around

Radio commercials can be produced quickly and cost-effectively.

This flexibility allows you to change your message frequently and quickly with low production costs.

5. Targetability

 

Radio stations cater to specific audiences.

Radio advertising is an effective way of reaching consumers geographically, demographically, by interests (programming) and by their moods (time of day or week).

Click below to watch the ‘Smooth Classics at 7′ video clip

 

6. Theatre of the Mind

Radio is a dramatic medium which has the ability to stimulate the listener’s imagination like no other medium. The imagery on radio is limited only by the listener’s imagination.

This enables the consumer to form his/her own mental image of the brand.

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7. Fictitious Ambience

Radio ads allow advertisers to include noisy crowds, runaway trains, wildlife, explosions and marching bands without having to build any sets, make costumes or hire scores of actors.

Agency: DRAFTFCB, Johannesburg
Client: Lego
Title: Fantasy

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8. Low Ad Avoidance

Research shows that consumers are far more likely to avoid television ads than radio ads.

Western International US’s Ad Avoidance Study estimates TV ad avoidance at 44% and radio ad avoidance at only 16%.

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9. Mobility

The mobility of the medium means that you are able to speak to your market closest to time of purchase and place of purchase.

The ability to listen whilst on the go means that radio has a far more widespread impact than any other medium.

10. Support

 

Radio is often used as part of a bigger marketing strategy.

When used with other media – TV, print and online in particular – radio can very effectively reach an extensive audience and add valuable frequency and intrusiveness.

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Filed Under: insights, the power of radio Tagged With: ,