Advertiser's Guide to Better Radio Advertising

Mark BarberAfter graduating from the University of Life, Mark spent 18 years as a media planner in a variety of media agencies before joining the Radio Advertising Bureau in 2001. He has been using radio as an advertising medium since 1983, during which time his perspective has moved from audience cost-per-thousands to the communication benefits of the medium.Mark’s previous contributions to radio literature include Understanding Radio, the Brand Conversation Medium and Radio Advertising Effectiveness for Dummies. In his spare time, he supports Charlton Athletic, is teaching himself to speak Turkish, and entertains his children with bad jokes and poorly executed magic tricks. Andrew IngramAndrew has a broad-based experience in advertising and media. After graduating from Cambridge in 1979, he started commercial life in the advertisement department of the Daily Mail, going on through quantitative research, and qualitative research, and eventually moving into account planning before joining the RAB in 1992.Andrew’s previous books include Wireless Wisdom and Understanding Radio. He is a regular speaker at media and advertising conferences across the globe. In his spare time, he indulges in daughters and classic cars, and an art project involving old plastic bags in trees.The authors work together at the Radio Advertising Bureau on a daily basis, helping advertisers and agencies overcome the barriers that are preventing them from using radio advertising more effectively. It is this experience that has informed the development of this book.

“…a must-read…the perfect source of advice and inspiration for any client, creative or media agency wanting to deliver more effective communications through radio.” (Media Week, 28 June 2005)

• Foreword by Jo Kenrick ixHow to use this book xiAcknowledgements xiiiAbout the authors xvSECTION 1 The Case for Change 11 The Scale of the Medium 31.1 The development of commercial radio in the UK 51.2 Measurement and growth of the commercial radio audience 81.3 Who listens to commercial radio? 111.4 Radio’s status as an advertising medium 141.5 What does the future hold for commercial radio? 181.6 Summary 252 The ‘True’ Radio Context 272.1 Why and how people listen 292.2 Radio’s media attributes 332.3 How radio communicates 422.4 Effectiveness of the medium 482.5 Summary 513 The Need for a Different Approach 533.1 Why the need for a different approach? 553.2 Why does radio advertising have to be creative? 573.3 Why aren’t we better at using radio? 603.4 The challenges and opportunities of the medium 623.5 Summary 65SECTION 2 Harnessing the True Power of Radio 674 What is Advanced Level Creativity? 694.1 Effectiveness is a relative term 714.2 Three common structural problems 724.3 The crucial importance of brand linkage 764.4 Realism vs. shooting for the moon 784.5 Thinking at campaign level 804.6 Summary 805 Best Practice Process for Creating Better Radio 835.1 Providing the optimum radio brief 855.2 Judging good radio ideas 915.3 The art of radio production 1025.4 Branding in sound 1115.5 Summary 1206 Measuring Radio’s Effect 1216.1 Defining the research objectives 1236.2 The importance of split samples 1256.3 Where to do the research 1266.4 When to do the research 1286.5 Sample sizes 1296.6 Method and questionnaire 1316.7 Measuring the short-term sales effects of radio 1326.8 Measuring the effect of radio sponsorships and promotions 1346.9 Summary 136SECTION 3 Thinking about Radio as ‘New Media’ 1397 The New Challenges Facing Brand Communications 1417.1 The evolving consumer context 1437.2 How brand marketing is changing 1467.3 Dialogue, the new brand driver 1487.4 Summary 1528 Radio’s Role in Emerging Brand Thinking 1538.1 Radio as a brand conversation medium 1558.2 Harnessing the power of radio for brand conversations 1648.3 New conversational roles for radio 1668.4 Summary 170SECTION 4 The Seven-Step Guide to Better Radio Advertising 1719 The Seven-Step Guide to Better Radio Advertising 173Step 1: Define a clear role for radio 175Step 2: Keep the brief simple 176Step 3: Ask for the team with radio skills 178Step 4: Take care over tone 179Step 5: Use the right judging criteria 181Step 6: Use preproduction 182Step 7: Consider using a director 184Summary 185SECTION 5 Appendices 187Appendix 1 The RAB Bus Research Study 189Appendix 2 Radio Script 191Appendix 3 Online Radio Ads Track Listing (www.better-radio-advertising.co.uk) 193References 205Index 207