Radio is the magic catalyst that enhances all media

At Radio Works Season 3, an event organised by Radio Mirchi in Delhi on October 10, 2006, Martin Bowley, chairman, British Television Advertising Awards, and director, Future Marketing Awards, spoke about the effective use of creativity in advertising on radio. He delivered a speech on ‘Creativity and Effectiveness in Radio Advertising’, in which he talked about matters such as how radio, when combined with various other media, could reach a wider customer base for various brands, including service brands.

Terming radio as a personal brand conversation medium, Bowley told the audience how creativity and effectiveness could be brought about in radio advertising. This, he said, was vital for an emotional connection with the end consumer.

“Radio can work wonders with other media, even with its biggest enemy, television,” Bowley said. “While radio has sound, television has branding. Radio brings more executions and reminders to TVCs with the use of sonic logos.” Together, the two bring about cost-effective frequency of the advertising message in the consumer’s mind, he stated.

Moreover, television and radio are a powerful combination with which to reach out to housewives and children. Here, he said that the time consumed in radio listening is greater than in television viewing until mid-afternoon. He cited the findings of a McKinsey and Co. report, which revealed that real ad spends on television had increased at the rate of 40 per cent in the last decade, while television viewership went down by 50 per cent worldwide.

Bowley then offered another comparative analysis. He described radio as a push medium and the press as a pull medium and both as complementing each other. He attributed this to factors like immediacy of consumption, personal media and the geographically targeting opportunities enjoyed by both. “Radio can increase the reach of the press,” he said.

Outdoor media, too, is an effective partner for radio since both are travel-related and high-frequency media. “Another important factor is that both are immune to time-pressured consumers, since they are consumed while doing other activities such as driving,” Bowley remarked.

The Internet, via offshoots such as podcasts, microsites and links across radio stations, could work wonders for effective advertising on radio.

Lastly, Bowley combined radio with sponsorship and spoke of how radio can maximise brand reach in that way. He enumerated ways of creative buying on radio, including focusing on a specific time, putting spots before the news, solus breaks and sponsor-syndicated shows, and tie-ups with events of community relevance such as health and sponsor editorials.

Towards the end, Bowley marked off six key ideas for creating a successful advertising platform on radio. These included celebrity read bedtime stories on radio, sponsored songs for children on particular time bands, short soap operas aired in between shows, driving listeners to websites through links, destination broadcasts for travel clients and creating awareness around events such as parties. These, he said, could bring in greater and more assorted advertising revenue.

Bowley also tried to reinstate media planners’ belief in radio as a medium, saying that radio notches up high on the trust scale as compared to the other media. Also, the closeness of radio to consumers by way of its easy integration into its listeners’ lives makes it an easy-to-consume medium. “This aspect should be utilised by advertisers while designing spots for radio,” he signed off.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!