Former John Lewis Director Craig Inglis to speak at Tuning In Retail

As lockdown relaxes and shops open their doors once again, Craig Inglis will present at free-to-attend livestreamed conference, Tuning In Retail: a one-hour event for the retail sector aimed at helping the marketers who work in the industry taking place on Tuesday 14 July.

As the non-executive Chairman of the Marketing Society, Craig is best known for his 12 years at John Lewis, during which he moved the brand to a more emotional positioning, driving market-beating commercial performance and becoming the first ever brand to win the IPA Effectiveness Grand Prix twice. He also oversaw the retailer’s world famous Christmas Advertising campaigns.

Hosted by Radiocentre, the industry body for commercial radio, Tuning In Retail will show attendees why retail brands both on the high street and online should check out commercial radio, which can help them speak to customers by reaching 36m weekly listeners.

Hits Radio presenter and music artist Fleur East will also be discussing the role of on-air partnerships with brands and how it fits with radio programming, while Global’s Creative Director, Jo McCrostie, will be on hand to deliver a session on creative tone and the speed with which a radio ad can go from brief to broadcast. Radiocentre CEO Siobhan Kenny will share the findings from a recent report, Commercial Radio: A force for good, which explores how the sector has responded to the coronavirus pandemic by not only continuing to provide vital public value output to its 36 million listeners, but also increasing the provision of essential news and information, broadcasting on average 25% more news bulletins that last 28% longer. Other sessions will focus on category specific research from Radiocentre and the benefits of audio branding.

The retail sector has historically been one of the top advertisers on radio, spending more than £56m in 2018. Retail brands have the highest radio ROI, returning £18.90 for every advertising pound spent – three times the press average according to previous Radiocentre research.

Siobhan Kenny, Radiocentre CEO, said: “The retail sector has of course been heavily affected by the coronavirus crisis. We want to help the industry get back in business by reminding them of the effectiveness and the speed to market of radio advertising. In just one hour, marketers can access a whole range of useful tips to help get consumers back in shops.”

With a higher share of media time during the “retail day”, radio is effective at building share of mind for retail advertisers. Retail brands have the opportunity to reach people in shopping mode, before the point of purchase and while travelling to the shops on the radio. Research shows that reaching people during related activities improves ad engagement by 23% as a result of the ads being more personally relevant.

Tuning In Retail will begin at 9.30am and follows May’s Tuning In Livestream event – a full morning conference that saw 1,000 virtual attendees hear from speakers including Geoff de Burca, Chief Strategy Officer at MediaCom, and Magic Breakfast’s Ronan Keating and Harriet Scott.

The webinar is free to attend and registration is open now.