1. Radio Advertising: Is anyone listening out there?
2. SA companies rapidly adopt Facebook and Twitter for marketing
3. Ambush journalism
4. Basic tips for dealing with the media
5. Check your body language

 

Radio Advertising
Is anyone listening out there? Getting value for your radio adspend
07-MAY-09

By Charlene Smith, director of Charlene Smith Communications

Ad revenues are plummeting - which should see a rise in shorter, pithier, more imaginative advertising – but we’re not, and it’s because the money people at companies have stopped listening to the creatives.

The financial crisis is seeing everyone trying to market better, but companies have also become more demanding and are more likely to use their own staff in ads – and the lack of experience always shows – or to tell scriptwriters and even camera people what they want.

Too many ads preach instead of entertain. Or if they try to entertain they may offend – DSTV and Nando’s ads have recently generated controversy. Advertisers tend to, on average, spend more money on TV ads because everyone wants '30 seconds of fame on the box', but radio has the greatest capacity to cater to the imagination, and print ads stay around longest.

Too few see radio ads as an investment or advertisers fail to interrogate their brand and see which, of the plethora of radio stations out there would bring them the best return on brand.

If the marketing manager listens to Highveld or KFM and so does the CEO, then that is the station they are most likely to go for without questioning too closely ad spend, listenership (their target audience may mostly be listening to Ukhozi or East Coast radio) and whether that radio station is the best fit for their product.

This quick check list is for those new to radio advertising: • Advertising during drive time is best because people are at their most attentive for the latest developments in news and traffic reports.

Drive time times are: 6am to 8am and then again 12pm to 2pm and finally 4pm to 7pm. Anything after those times, especially 2 to 3pm and after 7pm to 6am falls into radio listening dead zones, unless there is a particularly popular presenter or programme on during that time.

The weekend tends to be a low listenership time, unless it is a niche programme people love - always be guided by the latest Radio Audience Measurement Survey figures.

• Identify which DJs resonate best with brands to ensure the authenticity of a promotion.

• Do not offend or insult. Steer clear of anything that could be construed as racist, sexist or stereotyping a group. Clients tend to believe that if you repeat something loud enough people will listen, and that has created predictable and dull radio. A whisper more often forces people to listen.

Don’t use popular voices, go for a voice or sound that is different and encourages people to listen. The voices of Isidingo, Generations and Sevende Laan stars are over-used; take the time to listen for a fresh voice that can belong to your brand, not a pre-existing brand (the soapshow).

People tune-out during ads if its hard sell rather have a conversation with the consumer. Be careful not to preach nor lecture; it should be a dialogue between equals, anything condescending is a switch off.

Match your brand to the LSM (Living Standards Measure) level of your listener. Match your product to the station or programme. For example, if you are advertising a product that requires thoughtful listening, avoid a station with a strong voice (from the broadcaster) and music content; your ads will get lost in the general 'noise'. Rather look at thoughtful stations with high income and well educated listeners and place ads in current affairs programmes or drive times. Such stations include SAfm, Classic, Lotus, RSG, Jacaranda, Kaya, Ukhozi, Lesedi and Metro.

Radio and TV are vanity media best suited for strong economic times. The advertiser loves the fact that his or her spouse and friends come up to him or her and say 'oh I heard your company ad' – but too many fail to evaluate whether this is actually resulting in sales. Rely on a radio and TV presence from the free advertising you do i.e. through publicity.

Remember too that unless your ad is brilliant, people have low recall of ads on radio and TV; we are attuned to 'tune out' when we hear advertising. The advantage of print (paper or web) is that it is available for ages, in magazine racks, bookshelves, doctors consulting rooms, the web and most often has multiple readers. If I read something interesting I can tear out (or print) the article, scribble down the name or phone number and contact you later.

Consumers usually listen to radio in the car and lack access to a pen and by the time the next news item or music comes on, their mind shifts gear. Television is most often watched in the living room while relaxing; consumers need repetition or an incredible (often high cost) ad to remember it.

Have synchronicity between public relations and ads. It is a big mistake to go for mainstream publicity and confine ads to trade publications, as an example. Times are tough, suppress ego, and go for value for your ad buck.

Charlene Smith is director of Charlene Smith Communications, she is also a multi-award winning journalist with print, radio and television expertise and is a popular media trainers. Book for her June media boot camp in Cape Town via email.

SA companies rapidly adopt Facebook and Twitter for marketing but still confusion about what works

South African businesses are rapidly adding social media marketing sites like Facebook and Twitter to their advertising and marketing budgets while the list of those using Skype to cut travel and call costs is rising rapidly.
Nando’s as an example, has 307 461 fans on Facebook, marketing manager Sylvester Chauke says “media is free but attention is not.” He says it requires persistent thought and hard work.
Liza van Wyk of AstroTech whose training company runs a new course on social marketing media said: “we began devising the course when we began considering using social media marketing and realised neither we nor our consultants were very certain about what to do or which social marketing media were the best to use.
“Once we began investigating it we realised it was a challenging undertaking that turns traditional marketing and advertising concepts on their heads. Creating a “buzz” makes social media marketing work – it is whether you can provoke conversations with the public in ways that grab their attention. Hard sell is a turn off.”
And social marketing media popular now could lose favour in a few years; both MySpace and LinkedIn are seeing dwindling popularity, as examples. Futurist author, Raymond Kurzweil says that in the first 20 years of the 21st century we will experience as much technological change as in all of the 20th century and by 2027 it will take only seven years to experience as much technological change as in the entire 20th century.

Ford now spends a quarter of its marketing budget on digital and social media and Kodak employs a ‘listener” to track and respond to social marketing media. A key trend is that consumers, newly empowered by social media marketing use it to hail good products and good service and to slam those they don’t like.
Dell computers, as an example, found that when it first had a Facebook presence it was inundated with complaints, however, by promptly responding to them, it has turned the tide from overwhelming complaints to praise and it has used feedback to help it create better products.
“Many companies grow their initial exposure on Facebook or Twitter by offering discounts or special deals, having competitions or give-aways. It is a good starting strategy but over the long term it has to be backed by a brand that consumers trust and like,” Van Wyk says.
Nando’s, as an example, trades on its cheeky television and print ads to drive a reasonably tame Facebook site that tells consumers about special deals. “Social media marketing builds a fan base on existing goodwill to the brand, it then further influences consumers on sites like Facebook and Twitter,” Van Wyk said.
Web commentator, Mitch Joel of Six Pixels of Separation writes that: “Making the social channels 'work' for you takes months of providing value and being a part of their community. Social Media is not a silver bullet. There are not countless uninformed consumers floating around in some world called Web 2.0 just waiting for you to sell them your wares. People engaged in these online social channels are not looking for your advertising, they're looking for engagement.”
Jennifer Laycock of Search Engine Guide says any business who values social media traffic solely by looking at how many buyers or leads it produces is short sighted. “People don't wake up one day, decide they want a widget, take a direct route to get to it and make an immediate purchase. Tracking social media metrics as if they do leaves far too much value sitting out in the cold.”
Van Wyk says, “Consumers are much fussier, in future 60% of them will access social media marketing on their cellphones, they can switch off and on at will. Already 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations and only 14% trust ads. Social media marketing taps into that.
“Other changes are coming: already 100m Facebook users (Facebook has 500m users) access it from their cellphones. So the challenge is to make small, high impact messages. And video is becoming increasingly prevalent – YouTube, as an example, serves up 1bn videos a day and by 2013 most online traffic will be video.”

Ambush journalism

Ambush journalism is a commonly used tactic by investigative journalists - it is occasionally used by other specialist journalists too especially those in business, politics, health or consumer journalism.

When economic situations are difficult, as at present, this increases. It also rises as consumers/shareholders become more aware of their rights. Or if there is a situation where corruption or maladministration or any other criminal act is believed to have occurred.

You have all seen - and loved - ambush journalism on television. Ambush journalism occurs when journalists just appear at a venue (your offices if you are really unlucky). If they are television media they will arrive with a camera (visible or concealed) and begin recording immediately or often before they enter the premises. The anticipation is that you will behave like an idiot - namely refuse them access; put your hand over the camera; become abusive, raise your voice, insist on your rights and deny, deny, deny.

Ambush journalism can also occur when you are invited into radio or television studios or a print journalist comes to your office and says they want to interview you about something that poses no apparent threat to you eg a new product, new appointment, new strategy. Be very wary of ego when dealing with the media, it will always get your into trouble.

Once you are happily ensconced in the studio or the journalist is in your office with tape recorder (visible or concealed), they will start asking gentle questions which slowly become more complex. Soon the intensity of the questions escalate and it is only when you are a mile under mud that you realise that you can't get out of this.

There are several rules.

* Honesty and openness are the golden rules.

* Journalists approach you because they assume as a leader in your organisation/person with expertise that you KNOW answers to questions. Answer all questions but if you don't have a fact at your fingertips immediately access it OR say, I will get back to you with this information (and give a time either that day or the next) and honour that promise. If it is for a deadline that day - with a breaking story eg the roof collapses at your office, you will need to work out a response, which must be honest and still get back to them with full details as rapidly as possible.

* Don't go on the defensive because they will begin or intensify their questions. Listen carefully, take notes, appear sympathetic to the complainant and willing to help heal the situation even if it was not your fault. Journalists look for bad guys and heroes - strive to be the latter.

* If you or your company have erred, admit it and go out of your way to make amends, the amount of money it may cost you now is considerably less than if a negative report is aired.

* Never lose your temper, point fingers, shout, blame anyone else, be insulting, criticise the media - the calmer and more dignified you are, the more credible you will be and the better chance of a positive outcome.

* CRITICAL POINT: All staff especially receptionists, branch managers and junior members of staff must know to never give journalists information and always to call the most senior member of an organisation who ideally should call the media consultant urgently. (After is much harder to resolve)

* If the situation involves another company in your group and that company is not your responsibility, do not answer questions for them, the CEO of that company must handle it. It is easier to resolve a challenge facing one company. When it comes to two it is far harder and more complex.

* Give facts only, NEVER opinion.

* If you can give journalists steps to help the public/investors/shareholders/key participants/delegates do it - they love solutions-based step-by-step solutions to avoid or get out of trouble for their readers/audience.

* If you do an interview, follow it up with a brief - ideally one page - written synopsis of what was discussed and email it to the journalist. Do not do this in a legalistic manner (never use legal jargon. If you consult a lawyer it is a terrible idea to get your lawyer to phone or write to the journalist, if you try and intimidate them they will respond in a very aggressive manner), do not be defensive, just lay out the facts of the issue in question.

* Ask for all the contact details of the journalist - get correct spelling of his or her name, phone, email, his or her media organisation, the programme/publication it is destined for and date of publication/broadcast.

* Give all your details to the journalist as well as the media consultant's details and inform them they can contact you at any time (this obviously includes weekends and after hours).

If you feel the matter was handled badly by the journalist you can contact the journalist's editor but know too that it would have had to have been really bad conduct for you to get anywhere with this. Only very senior experienced journalists handle investigations or are allowed to ambush.

If a matter is published or aired that contains inaccuracies then complain to the newseditor, senior producer, editor or station manager. If they do not respond in a positive manner then complain to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission or the Newspaper Ombudsman.

It is very important to remember that although you may have always had reams of positive news coverage a small incident can change that. Please do not rely on old friendships with journalists to protect you, they won't if they believe you or your organisation has behaved inappropriately. Follow these guidelines and - fingers crossed - you'll never need to use them, but note too they are among the most important you will ever learn in media training.
Charlene Smith.

Basic tips for dealing with the media (Charlene Smith (c))

Reputation is everything – please never underestimate how prepared you need to be for interviews, how cautious you need to be while being open, engaging, friendly and charming while never fake.

Pay attention during media training, it is deliberately high pressure - if you don’t feel anxious, you’re in trouble even presenters who do this every day have butterflies before a show.

 Scan your environment, watch/read/listen to a wide variety of media, be interested and interesting.

Pomposity and arrogance will always get you into trouble – humility is a virtue.

Simplicity in language and appearance is the general rule when interacting with the media and the public.

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We are living in the midst of one of the most exciting eras in human history. The Knowledge Era. Information has never moved faster or with greater accuracy.

These are the years it took for 50 m users: radio 30 years, television 13 years, IPod three years, Facebook added 100m users in 9 months, IPhone hit 1m in 9 months, You Tube serves up 1bn videos a day and by early 2010 160m tunes had been bought from ITunes. Most online traffic by 2013 will video and 60% of it will be viewed on cellphones, according to Toby Shapshak, editor Stuff.

Facebook has 500m users, 100m of which interact with it via their cellphones.

MXit has 60m registered users.

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations - only 14% trust ads – using the media appropriately is relatively inexpensive and gives the greatest credibility available.

There is a rapid rise in citizen journalism and their cellphone videos are being used by all major television networks or finding their way onto YouTube.  This trend will increase and means it is extra important for companies to be ethical.

“Citizen journalism is being at the wrong place at the right time,” Irwin Manoim founder of Big Media, South Africa.

Kodak now has a Chief Listener who monitors what is being said about their brand, most major organisations have individuals or departments who do nothing but monitor and work with social media, many major news organisations now have Tweetdecks running and monitor that.

In 2009, one in 2 couples that got married in the USA met through social media

The quest for knowledge, for original ideas, for challenging opinions, careful considerations has never been greater.  The internet means it is harder to lie and more likely that our foibles or indiscretions will show BE VERY CAREFUL of WHAT YOU WRITE ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER OR ANY OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE.

The media are always looking for new approaches, that which is different, controversial, fascinating or challenging. Those who know how to respond rapidly, politely and engagingly in their area of expertise will find they become sought after by the media – and that has huge payoffs in terms of personal reputation, credibility and in terms of being sought after by clients and other opinion leaders.

RESPECT THE MEDIA and the incredible skills involved and it will help transform your life and your company for the better.

Do not assume that because you can send an email, you know how to write. You don’t. There are special skills necessary to do copy writing for an ad, write a novel, research a non-fiction work, write for a financial magazine, compile a newsletter or write for a daily newspaper or add marketing material to a social networking site or blog.

Do not assume that because you are a fabulous dinner party host, an engaging corporate presenter or trainer that you will come across well on television or radio. Chances are you won’t. They are completely different mediums. It’s a little like the difference between being a Hollywood movie star and a great Shakespearian theatre actor, few can do both.  As simple examples: as a presenter or trainer you need to project your voice, on television or radio you need to drop your voice, speak slower and articulate more carefully. At Toastmasters or a dinner party everyone may laugh at your witticisms, on television or radio you will be almost certain to offend and could be pilloried by the media for your insensitivity – jokes and witticisms are best avoided when speaking with journalists unless you are a seasoned media pro and even then I’d urge caution.

In media training pay attention. Focus. Make notes. Go home and practise. Use the knowledge learned to interrogate your work environment. Listen to how you explain things. Quell arrogance; be humble, open, and accessible. Read, watch and listen to a wide range of media – if you say, “I only listen to Classic FM, I only ever read the Financial Times and I only ever watch the BBC news” you are profiling yourself as a singularly dull, pompous and aloof individual. How can you be good at what you do if you don’t open yourself to a variety of experiences and if you aren’t taking note of what your clients (rich and poor, great and small) may be reading/listening/viewing? Ensure you regularly listen to, view and read media that is different to what you normally expose yourself too ESPECIALLY if your clientele/workforce are reading/listening or viewing those types of media.

Check your body language