CYBERTORIAL: Radio convergence has a lot of different definitions but at Primedia Broadcasting we believe it to simply be about making our content available on the platforms our audience want, in the format they want, when they want it, writes Paulo Dias.
Radio is no longer simply about radio stations. This means that radio advertising solutions aren’t just about radio. They are now more about solving client’s problems creatively and delivering them a quality audience across a range of devices and content types.
We consider ourselves to be at the forefront of every new convergence opportunity with the launch of our station apps, integration of Shazam into programming and Pop-up streaming radio stations, but despite massive technological innovation it’s all about keeping it simple and exploiting radio’s locality. In this way we can create the variety that only radio can offer and connect our audience and their city in a way no other media can.
Technology is opaque and faceless but we cut through this by continuing to build trust and maintain relationships and real connections with listeners. Not through algorithms but through real conversations.
Technology however does allow us to deliver content that is more niche and real and this way we can resonate with different pockets of our audience. The benefit for advertisers is that our platforms are moving from being a content delivery system into an audience delivery system.
This more connected, and trusting audience allows us to make another important shift on the traditional radio stream. Advertiser’s spots have always existed in ad breaks, it’s been in a break from content. We are now able to use the advertiser as another chance to create content. Some of our most successful campaigns in 2014 – like the BMW ConnectedDrive, Karan Beef Pop-up Dining Experience, Shazam and the Nissan Bakkie Bros took full advantage of this. It takes a mature advertiser to embrace this though; the advertiser needs to understand it’s not about how many times their pay-off line is mentioned but rather about how their brand essence is portrayed.
Our stations are playing in a really interesting place, because when clients are saying “No we’re not spending on radio this quarter”, we can now reply with, “Great because we’ve got this amazing cross-platform opportunity for you, with a ready-made audience on tap that we can deliver…just like that”.
At Primedia Broadcasting we know that radio is not a shiny new toy. We also know that radio is a damn good toy and there’s a reason radio has stuck around in the face of all competition.
Paulo Dias is a convergence specialist at Primedia Broadcasting. Follow on Twitter @PrimediaSales.
IMAGE: Primedia ©
