Radio needs to “agree on technology and compete on content”

The radio industry needs to “agree on technology and compete on content”, radio futurologist James Cridland told delegates at today’s MediaTel Group ‘Future of Radio’ seminar.

Cridland was speaking in a discussion on the difficulties marketers can encounter when considering buying radio advertising.

Mike Gordon, group commercial director at Global Radio and former News Group Newspapers chief, said that buying radio advertising is fundamentally complicated. “It’s not like buying press advertising,” he added.

He said that radio companies have to make it simpler for advertisers to see how they are reaching people and offered the example of Global’s approach to its Heart brand.

“Heart is now a brand of 33 stations locally delivered. It’s easy to talk to a marketing director now compared to several months ago when we were selling several different brands,” he said.

“We’ve been presenting way too much complexity to marketers.”

Morag Blazey, former chief executive, PHD and chair of the IPA Radio Working Party, said that the industry should work together to simplify processes. “The radio industry should collaborate on technology so that it is very simple to buy from different groups – make it a simple process.”

However, not everyone was in agreement. Dominic Woolfe, director of outdoor, press and radio at Starcom MediaVest, said: “It is a myth that radio is difficult to plan and buy. The real issue is re-engaging the planning community. It [planning and buying] is not difficult.”

Also at this morning’s event was David Meliveo, marketing director at Autoglass – which spent around £6.5 million on advertising in 2009. He said that while buying radio advertising can be a minefield, the fast pace of technological change means that the majority of media is becoming increasingly sophisticated and more demanding.

“Buying radio is not easy but for a marketer every single channel is becoming more complicated. Consumers want to engage with brands through different methods like online and mobile,” he said.

MediaTel Group’s Future of Radio seminar was sponsored by Ipsos MediaCT