ASIA

Selling Radio Direct with Pat BrysonIn working with my salespeople, I often hear, “The presentation went well but my client must take it to…(fill in the blank)”. One thing’s for certain, if we don’t have Mr. or Ms. Big in the room when we present, most of the time we won’t close the agreement. In fact, I think 85-90% of the time when we don’t close business it’s because we are talking to the person who can say, “No” but can’t say, “Yes”. That’s the person I call Mr. or Ms. Not-So-Big. It is common for businesses today to have multiple decision-makers or ultimate decision-makers in another geographic location. Getting to the “Yes” person can be difficult.Obviously, we must try to get Mr. Big involved at the earliest possible time. But what if we CAN’T get to Mr. Big? What do we do? There are several avenues we can employ with Mr. Not-So-Big to increase our chances of getting the sale.
First and most obvious, we can try to get Mr. Not-So-Big to arrange a meeting with Mr. Big. Ideally, that would be in the Phase Two Customer Needs Analysis meeting. Failing that, he needs to be in the presentation meeting. That can’t happen? Now what?
We can find out just how “sold” Mr. Not-So-Big is on our proposal by asking him, “On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being you don’t like it at all and 10 being you have to buy it now, how sold are you on our solution?” He needs to be a 10+, completely sold on the proposal, or he probably can’t “sell it up” to his boss. Remember, if HE pushes our recommendation, and ultimately the boss buys it but then feels it didn’t work, Mr. Not-So-Big gets the blame. No one will risk their job to sell our programs!We can also ask Mr. Not-So-Big to authorize the agreement “contingent on” the approval of Mr. Big. This is another way to test his commitment.If he won’t sign the agreement, you can ask if he’ll write on the proposal, “This looks good to me. I think we should do it.”Another technique is to rehearse Mr. Not-So-Big for his meeting with Mr. Big. “Do you think Mr. Big will have questions about this campaign? What do you think they might be? How will you answer these questions?” In other words, you rehearse his answers with him to these possible objections.As you go through this process you’ll get a feeling about how likely it will be for Mr. Not-So-Big to be able to sell this to his boss. No one can sell our campaigns like we can, but sometimes Mr. Not-So-Big has to serve as our proxy. Get him ready to carry your message forward.Happy Selling!Main Pic: Shutterstock […]

India’s Red FM announced season 2 of the Quiz India Movement, a celebration of India’s unending curiosity, thrill, and sharp intellect.The contest began on May 29 and will run till June 29,  alongside the T20 World Cup.National Content Creator Award winner RJ Raunac,  will host the show.The first live quiz is scheduled for  June 7 and will be a weekly event every Friday until  June 29. Each question in the live quiz awards Rs. 21,000, and there are weekly bumper prizes of Rs. 1,00,000 for a few lucky winners. Additionally, the powerplay section offers more opportunities to win big.Speaking on the announcement, Nisha Narayanan, Director & COO, of RED FM, and Magic FM, said, “Last year was the first time that a radio network introduced live broadcasting in gaming and the unprecedented success of Season 1 of Quiz India Movement made sure we brought it back for Season 2. Our objective with QIM has been manifold, establishing QIM as an IP that sets the gold standard for quizzing in India and blending the power of radio and digital for the ultimate user engagement experience. Incorporating an engagement hook that brings the audience back every day to play was also a decisive factor in creating the Quiz India Movement. Season 2 is based on the T-20 World Cup and the seasons to follow will have varied themes. We are looking forward to our audience’s continued love.” […]

Malaysia’s Suria FM won international recognition with an award in the ‘Live Event Radio Streaming In Malaysia’ category at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting+ Awards 2024 held at Singapore on May 30.The Malay-language station won the award for Jelajah Suria 2023 programme. It was received by the station’s general manager DJ Lin.The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting+ Awards is an event that aims to recognise innovation and excellence in projects that advance the broadcasting industry through content, innovation & digitalization. This program is open to all broadcasting companies and industry partners around the Asia Pacific region.Expressing gratitude for the recognition, DJ Lin said: “I believe that this success is the result of the efforts and commitment of my men at Suria FM who are committed to producing quality products and content for all our loyal listeners. Thank you to Asia-Pacific Broadcasting+ for this award, as well as to the Solar listeners who have always inspired us to continue to innovate in the world of radio broadcasting. This success would not have been possible without the strong support of all of you.” […]

Content from BPRFor the past century, radio’s primary method of delivery was by radio waves – amplitude modulated and frequency modulated signals. In order to hear broadcast radio transmissions, listeners required radio receivers. In the early days, these were big bulky devices but technological developments in the mid-20th century allowed radios to become much more portable. Battery-powered transistor radios could now be taken to the beach!The 21st century marked the start of the digital age and with it came a host of cable and Internet-delivered audio and video.  What was radio to do? The initial response of radio broadcasters went something like this: “We’re radio! Our listeners can hear us wherever they go. They don’t have to pay a thing to hear our programs. Nothing to worry about!” Then came Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Tidal, Amazon Music and You Tube.
Whether we like it or not, our love affair with radio transmitters may be coming to an end. The good news is that listeners can now hear our programs digitally. For portability, nothing beats the smart phone and radio broadcasts are easy to find if the listener knows where on their smart phone they are located.
Our monopoly of audio content has long passed. However, radio is still competitive if we make accessibility to our programs obvious to existing and potential audiences.The following steps can help to make your transition to digital a bit easier.
Teach listeners how to access your programs in ways in which they perhaps are not familiar. A simple example is to tell listeners that they can listen to your station on any device that accesses the Internet.
Radio programs no longer need to be heard in real time. Make your breakfast program available at any time during the day. Special programs should also be available beyond their specific broadcast times.
Make yourself visible. Think beyond audio and embrace visuals. Listener loyalty can be enhanced if listeners can make visual connections with your air personalities, programs, and services. Your website is the perfect place to do this.
Give listeners incentives to move beyond traditional modes of transmission. Create and promote programs and services unavailable via AM or FM.
Programs and services available only digitally offer value added to advertisers and create new sales opportunities
Promote, promote, promote! In this new media environment, radio’s best hope for survival is to move into a digital mindset and bring our listeners along with us. Our top promotional priorities should be directed toward this end.
By Andy Beaubien, BPR […]

According to the latest Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) survey by GfK in partnership with Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM), the appeal of radio remains strong with 20.2 million listeners tuning in for an average of 12 hours every week in the first half of the year.The latest survey was conducted over six weeks from Feb 18 to March 30, covering 6,000 unique individuals aged 10 years and above, in Peninsular Malaysia.“Some 14 million listeners are tuning into their car radio in a week while home-listening remains prevalent with 12.6 million weekly listeners. This radio-focused survey collects detailed information on the breakdown of live radio listening every 15 minutes for a week, including when and where they tune in. The ability to analyse and plan for every quarter-hour enables radio networks, media agencies and advertisers to make more informed decisions about their radio campaigns,” GfK said in a statement.FM radio sets continued to be the most common way to access radio, with 17.9 million listeners tuning in, followed by 3.4 million via televisions and mobile phones as well as personal computers or tablets.Drive segments (Monday to Friday, 4pm to 8pm) attracted the highest number of listeners, with a weekly audience of 13.7 million listeners, while breakfast segments (Monday to Friday, 6am to 10am) achieved 13.2 million listeners.In terms of language, Malay stations have maintained their lead with 13.2 million weekly listeners, followed by Chinese language stations (4.4 million), English language stations (3.4 million) and Tamil language stations (1.6 million) listeners.CRM vice-president Rizal Sahimy said radio remains relevant among Malaysians throughout the year, including during festive seasons and school holidays for music as well as entertainment at home or on the move.He said this was seen in RAM Wave 1 2024 with the first three weeks of school holidays and second three weeks of Ramadan.Radio listening patterns during Ramadan revealed more people listened to the radio earlier in the morning (Monday to Sunday, 5am to 6am) with 1.1 million listeners tuning in and during the breaking fast period (Monday to Friday, 7pm to 8pm).GfK Media Measurement Lead – Malaysia, June Pang said radio also has the ability to adapt accordingly in meeting the expectations and demands of audiences while continuing to attract listeners across all ages to tune in wherever and whenever they are.Radio has also demonstrated a high social media engagement, with 7.2 million people claiming they have read or interacted with a radio station’s/show’s/presenter’s social media page in the past month. […]

On September 3 this year Podcast Day Asia returns to Kuala Lumpur. Programmed once again by Podnews Editor and Radio Futurologist James Cridland, Podcast Day Asia is set to be a day full of fantastic speakers.Whether you are an independent podcaster, work within the audio industry, or run a company specialising in podcasting, there is lots to be learned from others in the industry, make connections and expand your network.You’ll hear from experts in the fields of monetisation, listener trends, strategies for growing your audience as well as your business and hear about the latest technology advances, particularly with AI tools to help you get better at what you do. Plus you’ll be inspired by content creators such as NPRs award-winning Emily Kwong (Short Wave, Where We Come From and Inheritance) and others.Podcast Day Asia Programmer, James Cridland said: “Podcasting in Asia is growing fast, and after the success of Podcast Day Asia last year, we’ll be back bigger and better this September. We’ve a great mix of experts from across the region and the world, and I’m delighted to see so many people already planning to be here. With the launch of the new podcast ‘Inheritance’, Emily Kwong is an ideal keynote speaker from NPR in the US. She will be sharing her knowledge and expertise with the group, and is the perfect speaker for us.”Taking place in one of the tracks of Radiodays Asia, tickets for this event are priced for independent podcasters as well as more established brands, or you could buy a ticket for the whole Radiodays Asia event taking place over three days and includes a broader range of audio topics and training.Register for Podcast Day Asia 2024 here. […]