RAB Gets Reinvigorated For The Digital Age
The UK’s commercial radio body, the RadioCentre, has re-launched the Radio Advertising Bureau in a bid to reinvigorate the industry and ‘activate radio in the digital age’.
“The marketplace has changed in 15 years and that’s why we need a new RAB to shape and lead the industry for the next 15 years,” said Andrew Harrison, CEO of the RadioCentre.
The re-launch is made up of several elements. The RadioCentre ‘Certificate of Excellence’ initiative will be launched in April 2007 and will recognise radio planning and buying excellence by media agencies. It will encourage investment in radio across several criteria but with particular emphasis on training and development for young media planners. The aim will be for all new media planners and buyers to go through an RAB training course with a RadioCentre week-long internship programme available.
‘Radio and the iPod’ study is a new analysis that sets out to discover how people use iPods/mp3 players and radio and how this will effect developments in future listening habits. The study demonstrates that radio and iPods are developing into complementary technologies, fulfilling different needs. The new RAB will use this research in assisting media planners to understand radio audiences in the most effective way.
The ‘Radio 3.0’ concept is a summary of radio’s role in the digital age and how the medium has evolved to adapt to changes in the media ecology.
The 3.0 initiative is an ongoing programme of activity designed to shed light on this rapidly evolving third age of radio. The aim is to amplify the benefits for advertisers via developing new insight into how listener behaviour is evolving in the digital age; identifying new opportunities for brands to develop more effective connections with radio communities, and promoting and facilitating access to these new communication opportunities for advertisers.
Another new initiative, the RAB ‘Effectiveness Tracker’, will aim to help advertisers enhance their understanding about radio’s return on investment (ROI) and the role of creativity within this. It will be free of charge for qualifying advertisers.
The long-term ambitions are to provide an accountability measure for a broad range of radio advertisers; demonstrate how campaigns have performed relative to those of other advertisers (from the same sector, where appropriate), and to relate campaign performance to creativity, as well as identifying opportunities to improve creative and therefore campaign performance next time around.
As well as all of this, the RAB Creative Consultancy services have been developed to provide bespoke advice and support to advertisers to help them meet the challenges of advertising on a predominantly ‘visual free’ medium.
Three services are designed to support both new-to-radio and existing radio advertisers in their quest to develop effective radio creativity.
Recently, the RAB announced that Simon Redican was to become the new managing director of the company (see RAB Appoints New MD), following on from the appointment of Martina King as chairman (see Martina King Appointed RAB Chairman).
The RAB has said that it will strengthen its board in the coming months, with King chairing an operating board that includes the sales directors of all the stations. Nick Hewat, Virgin Radio; Duncan George, GCap Media; Karen Stacey, EMAP; Don Thomson, Chrysalis Radio; Adam Bullock, UTV Radio; Neil Webster, First Radio Sales; Julian Carter, Guardian Media Group.
In addition to the strengthening of the RAB board, an RAB think tank will be formed, meeting quarterly, again under the strategic direction of Martina King. Sitting on the think tank will be Fru Hazlitt, who will join as the new managing director for GCap London (see Hazlitt Takes MD Role At GCap), Morag Blazey, the CEO of PHD and head of radio at IPA; Derek Morris, former chairman of the RAB and chairman of ZenithOptimedia and Jon Wilkins, the founder of Naked. It is intended that younger planners will fill two additional places and nominations will be invited from media agencies.
“Radio is the natural complement to new media like the iPod and online,” said Martina King. “Commercial radio still delivers the big UK audiences that a series of fragmented and global social networking sites can only dream about. These are the stories that need re-telling clearly and powerfully to rebuild momentum for the business and what we have talked about today will remind media buyers and planners that commercial radio is still a fantastic place to advertise.”
The RAB was formed in 1992 and was a successful revenue-driver for the radio industry during the 1990s as well as a pioneering media body. In July last year, it merged with the Commercial Radio Companies Association to deliver a single point of contact and a joined-up vision for UK Commercial Radio.
RAB: 020 7306 2500 www.rab.co.uk