Advertising Makes For Better Radio
Chris Goldson, sponsorship & promotions director at Virgin Radio, discusses radio’s ability to deliver irresistible advertising content, giving real results for advertisers and a compelling listening experience.
There’s a real buzz around radio at the moment and Virgin Radio and the rest of the commercial sector is riding on the crest of a new wave of investment in the medium from advertisers. The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) recorded a 3.4% year-on-year rise in Q2 revenues to £85m – a very healthy increase indeed in such a competitive media climate. Various factors are helping drive this resurgence as commercial radio looks to claim back a bigger bite of the advertising budget pie.
Firstly, there are great listening figures across commercial radio – we are seeing strong market leadership with 53.6% share among 15-44 year olds. Secondly, digital listening is opening up a new raft of opportunity for forward-thinking radio companies, with15% of all listening to commercial radio done over digital channels. Virgin Radio is leading the way, with 20% of our listening over digital growth platforms such as the internet, DAB, Digital TV and mobile phones.
The unique quality of the medium itself is enabling advertising to enhance the listening experience. This is another reason for the buoyant radio advertising sector. Despite the rise in revenues and listener figures, some commentators are quick to argue that advertising can negatively affect a listener’s experience of tuning in to their favourite show; they claim that too many ads with annoying jingles can make listeners change channel or switch off. However, we’re seeing a completely different side to how advertising impacts the listening experience and connects brands with consumers.
I passionately believe that no other media can deliver irresistible content – branded content that actually has something in it for the listener/viewer/reader/user – as well as radio. Branded content in the form of radio sponsorships and promotions delivers real results for advertisers and compelling content for listeners. As part of our Access All Areas proposal, DJs, producers, digital experts and the sales team all contribute to brainstorm ideas with our clients to ensure that our on-air branded content feels natural and not forced upon the listener – ‘irresistible’. These brainstorms marry client objectives with the editorial style of a particular show or station. The client fully explains their product or service, and we all get our heads together to come up with a concept that will really engage listeners and give them another reason to tune into the station.
Virgin Radio recently partnered with Buena Vista International for a promotion that ran on the Sony Gold Award-winning Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show ahead of Ratatouille’s general release. We devised a highly customised and interactive promotion mechanic that ensured the film’s great content was brought to life on-air and got the clients key message across that the film would be showing at cinemas from that Friday. The mechanic was truly irresistible as we had our listeners in mind right from the start of the concept development. Each morning from Monday to Thursday the ‘star’ of the film – the rat Remy – described a classic French dish on-air to Christian.
This irresistible content made for great radio as Christian’s 1.2m audience listened hard to the clues described by Remy, called in for a chance to win the great prizes or just listened to see whether the caller would guess correctly. Over the course of the week, we also ran trails on-air and created a bespoke microsite at www.virginradio.co.uk so that a greater reach of listeners knew about the storyline and details of when the film was out. The campaign was a resounding success with our listeners and the campaign played a part in Ratatouille being one of this year’s most popular films.
However, it’s not only the sponsorship and promotion element of radio advertising that engages listeners and makes them want to listen for longer. Spot advertising has long been the most popular way for brands to use radio to connect with listeners and accounts for 80% of commercial radio’s revenue – it’s still a powerful way to use the medium. We know that some ads can be annoying but many more are humorous and intriguing and you’ll find people engaging with them rather than turning off. Virgin Radio goes the extra mile to make sure that listeners are getting more from spot advertising; currently we’re working with mobile marketing specialist Eagle Eye Solutions on a new mobile phone voucher service which will add more value to spot advertising for both the listener and the advertiser.
This partnership will mean that brands can include a text number in a spot advert and use radio as a direct response medium. After texting a number given out on-air, listeners will receive a voucher via text message, including a unique PIN number to be redeemed at a store or retail outlet using in-store Chip and PIN terminals. Through this partnership, clients will receive valuable accountable information about customers and their consumer habits. By listening to the adverts on the station, listeners are incentivised to try new products – we’re finding that food and drink products are proving particularly popular.
While there may be a number of factors driving advertiser interest in radio, we can’t underestimate the power of the medium itself. Radio provides an experience like no other media and advertisers can use irresistible content and innovations in spot advertising to ensure that listeners enjoy the brand’s role in the listening experience. This is a huge selling point for commercial radio in an age of Sky Plus where ads are a turn-off on most other media.