Radio Convention – Table Talk
Delegates were invited to wander around the conference room to take part in table debates each lasting a maximum of twenty minutes. Here are a couple of the best.
That Number Again … ! presented by Mike Bersin of EMAP Radio Group.
This discussion was about how to improve the quality of commercial breaks. Mike went through a list of some key tactical points with the help of some adverts that had aired on EMAP radio stations.
The points he was able to raise were:
1) Am I Proud Of Our Commercial Breaks?
2) If Your Not Happy With Your Commercial Break Decide To Do Something About It
3) If Your Creatives Don’t Know More About Advertising Than Everyone Else On The Station; Sack Them And Get Some Who Do!
4) Assume Control Of The Creative Process. Don’t Let Your Client Write The Commercial
Mike played a commercial for a tattoo removal service. This simply stated that service was available and gave a contact number for people interested. A delegate then said that he felt that the advert wasn’t particularly good. His reasons were; the advert wasn’t very distinctive, most people don’t usually listen to radio with a pen and paper and that the telephone number wasn’t very memorable such as a 0800 00 00 00. A good advert doesn’t necessarily need to have the telephone number if it is distinctive and can encourage people to listen again.
The next advert played was for the Rugby matches between Bath and Wigan. This was well received because the atmosphere of the advert was able to create a good mental picture. The importance of the matches being played was evident as it was a clash of the different codes for Rugby. It gave the impression of the event as being a must see opportunity to decide which was the better game of Rugby.
The final advert featured the comedy duo of Bob Mortimer and Vic Reeves, which was advertising the services of a sole Mercedes dealer within the Stockport area. This was humorous and distinctive as it stressed that they were the only Mercedes dealers in the area.
Unfortunately the bell went for the end of the session before any conclusion could be arrived at. Some points agreed by delegates were that the length of an ad campaign determines how successful it is and a good creative style can vastly improve the likelihood of it reaching its target audience. That said it doesn’t always matter how good a commercial is if the campaign is only going to be run for a couple of weeks.
What’s Happening In National Sales presented by Andrew Oldham of MSM.
The basis of this table debate was the predicted future of the radio market over the next couple of years, mainly in revenue development and accountability. With ILR no longer seen as only a local medium or one concentrated on major conurbations, there has at present been a high inflation growth of revenue spend in the medium. Andrew said that it is well anticipated that there will be a slow down of growth by 1998 as part of a continual 7-year revenue trend, with revenue being spread through more areas in the coming years.
With more regional press consolidation; the emergence of more satellite channels; the launch of Channel 5; the growth of cross media sales plus the fact that there is less of a dependence on ILR, there will be a need for a stronger sell for it. A solution to this would be more branded products. Ones such as Network Chart Show and the NNR packages have proven that agencies can get around the problem of different programming schedules for local radio stations.
In conclusion branded products are easy for agencies and clients to understand, they cross single station boundaries and they can command premium prices, which is good for the station.