ASIA

Content from BPRI wrote some time ago about the dangers of reacting to social media feedback and commentary as it is very often not representative of opinion residing in the broader community. I was reminded of this recently when assessing the relative merits of using an airline I had not flown with before.I linked out to one of the notable customer review websites and discovered to my horror a litany of disparaging reviews about the airline in question with the overview result that the airline scored an average rating of 1.6 of 5.  I found my interest in using the airline rapidly evaporating until I decided to compare the airline’s rating to other airlines I use and know to be very good.  This is when it became abundantly clear that a rating of 1.6 was actually a little better than average with some of the best airline’s I know rating less.

It brought home to me again just how perilous it is to form opinions of things based on what people might post.  Too often the people who make the most noise are those with an axe to grind while those people who are either happy or ambivalent don’t feel any need to stop their life and note that everything is fine and within expectation.In the media field I have seen songs, subjects, authors, artists, and personalities vilified by people on social media for various reasons while at the same time representative market research reveals a completely different picture.  To make matters worse, people with an open mind and a balanced approach to life are retreating from making comments on social media for fear of being trolled and made to feel bad or worse still; sucked into some form of malignant exchange with someone.  What this means is that proportionally, social media share of voice looks to be skewing towards an idiocrasy.So what to make of social media commentary? Generally speaking; favourable commentary is likely to be reflective of the broader market while negative commentary is likely to be not.  Mine ideas, thoughts and issues from your social media but never make quantitative assumptions of market sentiment based on social media, particularly if the context is negative.  A chasm is developing between the view of the world fermented by social media and what the majority of people really think, so mind the gap! […]

With so many podcasts out there Courtney Carthy decided he would celebrate one of the non audio parts that make up a podcast whole.Carthy, who was Creative and Content Director for Podcasts with the Mushroom Group, now is Director of Nearly Media, a podcast and digital media company.He saw how much goes into podcasts that are not audio prior to and post launch and has created a Podcast Cover Art Instagram page to celebrate podcast art world wide.

He’d love your contributions too, whether simply your favourite podcast art, or your own podcast. […]

More speakers have joined this year’s Radiodays Asia, the leading radio and podcasting conference in the Asia-Pacific, to be held 5-6 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Jacqueline Bierhorst, Project Director Digital Radio Netherlands & Country Manager, Radioplayer NLJacqueline Bierhorst has been a pioneer in commercial radio since 1987, specialized in distribution, marketing and content.  She has a strong track record in launching and leading successful commercial television and radio channels in The Netherlands and Belgium.  From 2011 till 2015 she was project leader on the roll out of the DAB+ network in The Netherlands for all commercial broadcasters. Since 2015 she is project director Digital Radio NL, a collaboration between public and commercial broadcasters and the Ministry of Economic Affairs coordinating involvement of all stakeholders and joint marketing of Digital Radio in The Netherlands.Jacqueline is owner of Jacky B Entertainment Solutions, vice president of WorldDAB, a member of the WorldDAB Steering Board, chair of the WorldDAB Marketing Group and an active ambassador of digital radio throughout Europe. Jacqueline is also consultant of the Flemish Government, Department of Culture, Youth and Media on the introduction of DAB+ in Flanders, initiating collaboration throughout the Flemish stakeholders on digital radio and country manager Radioplayer Netherlands.Adam Bemma, DVB, ThailandAdam is a media trainer and advisor based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He is also the English managing editor at Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).

Darshini Kandasamy, CEO Trident Media, and Between The Lines, MalaysiaDarshini Kandasamy ran Between The Lines, an email newsletter service that curated, summarised and contextualised daily news in Malaysia. She has formerly worked at the globally renowned Malaysian news site, Malaysiakini, written for international publications such as CNN and Foreign Policy. She also co-founded the non-profit Malaysia Information Literacy Education (MILE) group and currently runs Trident Media, a boutique writing, editing and media consultancyRon Baetiong. Founder and CEO, Podcast Network AsiaRon Baetiong is an experienced start-up founder in the Philippines who has done the following: Founded Podcast Network Asia, the biggest Podcast Network in the Philippines that helps podcasters produce and monetize their shows using technology; hosts the #1 business podcast in the Philippines, and one of the top entrepreneurship podcasts in Asia – Hustleshare; created ChatbotPH, the first chatbot development agency in the Philippines and led the company to be acquired by the Sterling Paper Group in 12 months since conceptualization; conceptualized, designed, launched and scaled the biggest nightlife app in the Asia – Partyphile.Lisa Leong, ABC Radio and Podcast Presenter, AustraliaLisa is the popular presenter of live radio broadcast show “Sundays with Lisa Leong” on ABC Radio Melbourne and the expert interviewer host of This Working Life on ABC Radio National and ABC Podcast.  She has co-authored with Mon Ross the award-winning book “This Working Life: how to navigate your career in uncertain times”.  A former Intellectual Property, Technology and Wine lawyer (yes, there is such a thing!) Lisa caught the radio bug in Hospital Radio in London in 2001. After graduating from the radio program at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, Lisa did a stint presenting the Late Night Australian Music shows on commercial radio stations Hot Tomato on the Gold Coast and SA.FM in Adelaide, before joining the ABC presenting the breakfast show for the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.  Lisa is also an award-winning innovator and master facilitator, her unique approach has been the subject of Harvard Law case study and inspired her TEDxMelbourne talk “Can robots make us more human?”David Hua, Director of Audio and Language Content, SBSDavid Hua has over 20-years’experience in the media industry and is currently responsible for output in over 60 languages. He has held a number of senior executive roles at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and has been responsible for diverse portfolios across content, marketing, commercial, radio, and digital.  Prior to coming to SBS, he led the ABC’s international services including Radio Australia, ABC Australia (TV), and digital services that connect audiences around the world with Australian stories.  David did most of his tertiary education at the University of Technology, Sydney where he received his Honours and Masters degrees in media communications. Born in Vietnam, David has lived in regional New South Wales before moving to Sydney.  He speaks Cantonese, Vietnamese and Mandarin.Radiodays Asia is a collaboration between Radiodays Europe, the world´s largest and leading conference for radio, audio and podcast, and broadcasting and podcast partners in Asia and Australia. The 2023 edition will run over two days in two tracks with 50 sessions. Top international speakers and industry leaders as well as successful producers and market experts will share their insights.Register for Radiodays Asia 2023 here. […]

Content from BPRBranding is important for every company, especially radio stations. The station’s “brand” or at least its perception in the minds of the listeners not only creates a memorable impression but it allows your listeners and advertisers to know what to expect from your station. It is a way of distinguishing your station from your competitors and defining your product offering.Put simply, a great radio brand is one that consistently delivers compelling content the audience wants and effectively differentiates itself in a positive way from other stations in the market. But that is a lot easier said than done.

Some important characteristics that make a brand great include:
A clear, compelling, and unique brand promise that is effectively communicated to the listeners. Those three words are important:

clear i.e., concise, and easy to understand.
compelling i.e., captivating because the audience wants it
unique i.e., no one else is doing it

A great radio brand is consistent in every aspect of the station…. music, talent, promotions, messaging, social media, audio & visual identity, and overall listener experience. Every song must fit within your brand promise. If your promise is “90s to Now” …. do not play any 80s. Listeners are not stupid.
Strong emotional connection. A great brand creates a strong emotional connection with its audience, evoking feelings of trust, loyalty and even love.
Authenticity builds trust with the audience by being honest and transparent about what the station promises to do and delivering on it. Any brand can make promises via marketing, but the best deliver on those promises and earn the trust of their customers as well as the community. Amazon is a perfect example of a brand that has earned the trust of its customers by being authentic.
A great station continuously strives to innovate and improve its content and position to stay ahead of the competition. That’s why strategic and music research are vital to a brand’s success.
Staying relevant to your listeners is crucial to a station’s brand. You must understand and respond to their changing needs and preferences. Zapoleon’s Music Cycles are a great example of the everchanging listeners’ tastes. See above re strategic and music research. How can you super serve your audience if you don’t know what they want now?
A great brand is able to communicate its promise in a believable way and always delivers on that promise. This goes hand in hand with authenticity.
What is your station’s USP? If you don’t have one, then your brand images will be weak.
Adaptability is important to a brand’s success as it allows for the station to evolve with the changes in the market and listener needs. Your station’s brand is then perceived as, to use an oft quoted term, “keeping up with the times”.
Perhaps it’s time to do a complete and objective audit of your station’s brand. This must include not just what’s happening on air but also marketing, social media and other platforms. Everything must be aligned. And please start with the research…. drill down on exactly what it is the listeners want. Remember, selling something no one’s buying is an exercise in futility.By David Kidd, BPR […]

BRISBANE, Australia – I have a confession to make: I had severe writer’s block before finally coming up with the topic for this article. You see, throughout the duration of my career, the industry has been primarily focused on deeper content integration, new emerging platforms, monetizing digital, and future-proofing revenues. Because of this, many of us are guilty of neglecting perhaps the most important aspect of radio sales: selling commercials.Don’t get me wrong. While we absolutely need to focus on diversifying our product mix, maximizing non-spot revenue, and commercializing our sponsorships and talent reads, the fact remains that pre-recorded commercials still represent the overwhelming majority of inventory sold on a radio station. Taking time to consider how you craft, sell, and deploy these commercials will not only give you a sales edge and make the campaign work harder, they may just gain the approval of a highly discerning Program Director!Here are four things to consider when looking to optimize your clients’ pre-recorded commercials:

Respect the format of the radio station.This one cannot be understated. Although a loud and obnoxious commercial laden with “earwigs” might help the brand cut through the clutter, it’s been my experience that commercials work a lot harder when they fit naturally into the format of the station. Is the station rock or adult contemporary? Are the announcers outgoing and bombastic, or do they have a more understated delivery style? What is the personality of the radio station and brand? The more you can replicate this style and feel, the more likely it will be invited in by the listener. This type of thinking can also help you gain a sales edge. I remember winning a large national contract with a fast-food brand due to our approach to their pre-recorded commercials. Naturally, all the networks were vying for this revenue and throwing all kinds of entitlements and value into their proposals. Debriefing with the client as to why we were successful, they told us we did one thing differently (which essentially decided it for them): we took the same piece of creative and tweaked the music bed to fit in with the format of each station (rock, ’80s, soft rock, pop, and R&B). This simple tweak added an entirely new dimension to the value proposition we were putting forward.Treat commercial airtime like content airtime.I’ll let you in on a little secret: the audience doesn’t consume radio the way we sell it. Everything that comes out of the speakers, be it content or commercial airtime, is a representation of the entire radio station to the listener. When formulating your commercials, you need to really think about this dynamic with the audience. How do you give the audience entertainment? How do you hook them at the top and keep them listening? How do you make sure there is a value exchange there for giving their attention? So much of great radio programming is about hooking, teasing, and then delivering the payoff; our approach to commercials should be the same.Leverage contextOne of the easiest wins that you can have is creating and instructing different creative executions to run during different days and dayparts. Resist the tropes and traps of overtly stating the context, such as “Monday-itis anyone?” Instead, really try to speak to the audience in a way that’s appropriate for the time they are listening. A Monday morning and a Friday afternoon are two very different mood states and mindsets for the audience. A Monday morning might be key for “information gathering” and setting the agenda for the week, whereas a Friday afternoon is about winding down and transitioning from work to family life. Think about how these two different need states might influence the copy, read, and music bed of the commercial. One of my favourite examples of this was a coffee brand that would advertise their drive-through options in the AM, promote the instant coffee options at 2 pm – 3 pm to fend off those afternoon energy slumps and then push their hot-chocolate ahead of the evening wind down.Mess with the clocks!30 seconds is a unit of time, that’s it. Don’t miss the opportunity to take that 30 seconds and re-divide it to make your clients’ commercial execution more impactful. Does a 15-second top and tail drive more engagement? Could you do a 15-second commercial and then splice 3 x 5-second “sonic triggers” throughout the break? What about a 15-second at the top teasing a 45-second “feature” at the end of the break? Don’t think about these executions as a clever tactic to sell but rather as a mechanism to tell the client’s story in a unique way.The Lesson: In a world of content integration, multi-platform executions, audio ecosystems, and digital amplification, there is still no better vehicle to connect a radio audience with a client’s brand than a pre-recorded commercial. Sometimes you simply can’t beat a classic!Jamie Wood is the Global Sales Director of Boost Media International, Boost provides revenue solutions and advisory services to media companies globally.  Jamie also hosts Media Sales Mastery a top rated podcast showcasing best practice from some of the industry’s top thought-leaders.   […]

Selling Radio Direct with Pat BrysonWhat CAN advertising do for businesses?In their heart of hearts, businesspeople want to run an ad today and have teeming multitudes run into their store tomorrow screaming out our call letters.

Since they all start with “K” or “W” in the US at least, customers will find it confusing at best to attribute their arrival to ads heard on our stations. Also, it’s not their job to help businesses know how their advertising is working. Customers want to get their needs met in the most expeditious way and go on with their lives.Measuring traffic flow is the best way to know if advertising is working. Over time, traffic should increase if advertising is effective. Note, I didn’t say “sales”. Once a potential customer crosses the threshold, it’s up to the business to sell them. Often, we get an interested potential customer into the store, but the “friendly, knowledgeable personnel” fail to sell them.Most advertising is designed to work over time. Why? Because on any given day, the national average for people who are “hot” consumers (those who are planning on buying TODAY) is only 2%. “Warm” consumers (those who are thinking about buying and developing their criteria for a purchase) make up only 8%. That means that statistically, 90% of the population is “cold”. They are NOT planning on buying today and aren’t even thinking about it.Our clients seem to think that every time one of their ads airs, everyone within their trade area is wanting to buy what they are selling. Not so.The main objective of advertising should be to predispose the 90% and the 8% to buying from our clients when they have the need. And no one, not us nor our clients can determine exactly when that need will arise. Advertising’s job is to make sure that customers will at least go into our clients’ stores or call them, or go online to their websites and give them a chance to serve them. Otherwise, if our clients’ names are not in the customer’s mental file drawer, they will never see that person. The customer will end up in one of the national chains that does have space in their file drawer.As we are in the sales process, we need to explain to our prospects how advertising works. The 2%, 8% and 90% also explain why advertising should be consistent and long-term. As advertising professionals, it’s up to us to craft campaigns that will work. Higher revenue awaits for our clients and for us.Main Photo: ShutterstockPat has a New Book […]