World Radio Day: ‘Radio is you’

Today is #WorldRadioDay and 2017’s theme is ‘Radio is You’. Radiocentre’s George Butler explains why the listener’s unique relationship with radio continues to make it such a powerful platform for advertisers.

George Butler

IPA data shows that brands advertising on radio are four times more likely to be considered trustworthy. It’s personal and intimate, and as consumers become more cynical and media-savvy, not many media can make that claim.

The relationship between station and listener holds whether it’s Lincs FM speaking about Lincolnshire’s distinct issues, Chris Moyles chatting as if you were down the pub, or Terry Wogan who spoke to each listener like they were the only person able to hear him.

There’s no pretence or facade to radio; what you hear is what you get, it’s live, unpredictable and imperfect. This makes radio accessible, and indeed 90% of the population tune in each week, according to last week’s RAJAR.

It’s worth noting that I may be slightly biased. I work in radio and spent three years broadcasting for a student radio station. But that in itself is the beauty of the original broadcast medium. Not only can anyone listen, but anyone can also get involved. Whether that’s jumping behind the mic for a student or community station, or calling into their local station, no other medium allows such direct participation and live dialogue with what’s going out on air.

This is exactly why radio is still a success story and sustains those huge audiences. While working on Nottingham’s URN station, I was asked if there’s actually a need for radio anymore. We have TV and the internet for news and commentary, podcasts provide heaps of speech content and streaming services offer all the music in the world. But radio defies rational thinking, offering audiences a connection and something beyond their rational needs: a relationship.

So as we celebrate World Radio Day, there’s no better time for advertisers to remember radio’s USP and what makes it so valuable. Successful brands build relationships with consumers and they tap in to the emotions of their audience, just like radio does (also making their advertising more effective according to previous Radiocentre research).

This makes radio the perfect medium for brands to develop their relationships with consumers, through creative and charismatic ads or inventive branded content. Thousands of UK advertisers tap in to the emotional bond between radio and its audience every week, and with more effectiveness research publicly available that any other medium, here at Radiocentre we hope to help many other brands take advantage of it too.

After all, we aren’t rational creatures. We live in a world where things increasingly need a reason, they need a ‘why’… but sometimes things exist just because we want them to.

George is Marketing Executive at Radiocentre