1. SET UP
The best promotions are those that involve the audience in their creation. Consider ways to involve or create the perception that listeners had an influence in the promotions idea, prizes or rules or even final judging.

2. TEASE
Don’t reveal everything at once. Have a plan to progressively release more detail and new ideas in the lead up to the promotions launch.

3. UNVEIL
Spare no effort in making a big noise and gaining as much exposure as possible for the launch of a promotion. Even an on-air contest like cash-call can have an event supporting its launch such as a publicity shoot of a bank manager and guards escorting the money to the radio station in “the cash call chest”.

4. EXPLAIN
Sometimes complex production techniques can confuse listeners. What a listener can’t understand quickly becomes a turn off. A good tip is to produce your promotional announcements then play them to some staff unconnected to the promotion to see if they understand.

5. SPIKE
Introduce an unexpected twist halfway through a promotion to spike awareness. This will renew interest in the promotion and freshen the sound of it on-air.

6. IMPACT
The culmination of a promotion should be designed for maximum impact. Too many promotions run by radio stations “fizzle” instead of “sizzle” at their conclusion. To ensure this does not happen plan a spectacular finale. Think about holding a staff meeting the night before the promotion finale to wind up staff energy and enthusiasm.

7. OWNERSHIP.
A promotion worth doing should be a promotion worth owning. Make the name and every element of the promotion as proprietary to the station as possible. Things to consider include registering the promotion’s name and any trademarks.

8. EXTENSION.
Having gone to all the effort and commitment involved in setting up and running a major promotion, consider what opportunities exist to keep the awareness momentum going in the form of a spin-off promotion, position claim or new feature.

Italy’s first all rock national radio network consulted by BP&R has attracted more than 1.6 Million listeners per day in the first official survey for the radio station.

Read full Virgin Radio success story here

In radio research terminology the term “P1’s” has come to mean core listeners – those who respond with the name of your station when asked “what radio station did you listen to most over the past week”. “P2’s” are those who name your station as another station they also tuned over the past week, naming a competitor as their favourite. Radio listeners are loosely defined as being either core listeners (P1’s) or secondary users (P2’s).
The reality is much more complicated. There is, infact, a whole range of listener groups not fitting the convenient core or user theory. We might describe them as:
“Exclusives” – those listeners who are, indeed, “locked” on a particular station with no station consciously in the listening mix.
“P1’s” fitting the accepted model spend most of their time with one station and a typical 20% with others (great for cume, not so good for listening hours). Typically a station will have around 50% of their cume as P1 listeners, CHR stations (and news talk stations) typically less.
The “Uncertains”, those listeners who are not sure what station they listen to most. They switch regularly between two or three stations depending on mood or specific need (and often can’t recall which one). This group is actually quite large as you will discover in callback studies or in music callout. This individual regularly changes their core station.
The “unconscious cume” – radio listeners who listen to your station but don’t actively recall that station in surveys (your own research and the official ratings).
“Occasional” radio listeners who really don’t make radio an active part of their day. They listen, unsure of the station, “now and again” but in no fixed pattern.
The strategy doesn’t change too much being aware of these differing groups of listening types. Essentially a radio station wants to retain their core (P1’s) and convert their cume (other listeners).
Unfortunately meaningful conversion of cume often requires a significant change of format – your station is included in their listening as somewhere they go “for a change”, a specific show (“late Night Talk”), at work (the group vote) or for a mood change. So, without a complete makeover, how might we view the dynamic of the P2’s as it will affect ratings?
A closer examination of your tracking will reveal one of the most effective answers. If you look at those times of day when you retain your P1’s you will likely see a pattern best at breakfast and declining across the day. Breakfast listening is the great definer of P1 listening (win breakfast and you win the day is still one of the great radio truisms).
Cont:
The issue is what percentage of the core you retain during the work day, recycling in afternoon drive and bedside radio as the audience leaves television and heads for bed. Weekends are also a time when we might lose our P1’s. Generally speaking, you should be concerned if you don’t retain at least 70% of your P1’s at work and ideally 80%. If it drops below that figure the station is probably losing listeners at work, typically not meeting the music needs of the younger members of the work group (or, in many instances, the person who controls the radio).
The most significant group is your P2’s. You need to look at two things in the tracking:
1. What day parts do most of your P2’s come in to the station?
2. Over time do you notice periods when the level of P2 listening is higher, typically during the workday?
You are likely to see some significant variations! Previously these were believed to be sampling variation but closer examination usually reveals peaks associated with contest or promotional activity.
Accepting that you see a similar pattern (lows of 5% P2 listening at work and highs of 30% are not uncommon)
it all boils down to “the sizzle”. When the station has compelling content P2 listening is higher and you’re almost certainly going to have them as P1’s for the period. This should mean an associated impact on listening hours in diary based surveys.
We believe it is unlikely “the sizzle” will change lifestyle related listening patterns other than in very high profile activity. Listeners will listen when they usually listen – the trick is to have them on your station and for them to be aware of it. Tip the workplace vote in your favour, recycle the breakfast activity into the workday, recycle the audience as much as possible with forward momentum (reasons to listen beyond the format).
Radio stations are positioned on their product, usually the music product. This, of itself, is the reason to come to the station (the definer for P1 listeners) but it will not add the premium listening hours of a great stunt (talk of the town) or the impact of a force-listen contest. Better still, have compelling people on the air so that the “sizzle” is always there. This can be very difficult to achieve but it should be the goal of every PD.
Keep a time line of activity against rises and falls in P2 listening levels. And for goodness sake, if there’s no sizzle on-air then do something about it!..Oh, and don’t forget to mention the call letters.

BP&R’s Peter Don recently circulated a link to a thought provoking youtube clip on the magnitude of change in the world - social, economic and of most specific relevence to us - the immense projected increase in available information and speed of supply.  Before going further you need to spend 6 minutes watching the video.

Watching this had my mind racing as to the consequences for us mere mortals.  What is going to be the effect on the human condition when you divide the 168 hours a week humans have to deal with life by the amount of information and sources we will be exposed to?  Supply and choice may speed up but consumption won’t…a record will still take 3:30 to listen to and a book or video screen about 175 words a minute to read. This means there is going to be a huge amount of content we will either not have time to consume or we will screen out so we can simply enjoy the stuff we are most interested in or like and absorb the information of most relevence to our lives. Are people going to be continually driven to absord and understand it all or will humans start to increasingly discriminate in their consumption choices?…wow…how many directions could you take this thread?….let me pick one relative me.

Some years back as the GM of a radio station I started contemplating my personal time management and I realised I was spending a massive amount of time simply absorbing other peoples ideas rather than developing my own.  I was in a vortex of reports, magazine subscriptions, clipping services, management books, newsletters and seminars with gurus.  I started to feel frustrated by the avalanche of other peoples ideas I never seemed  to have time to implement and the myriad little ideas circulating in my head I didn’t have time crystalize. I come to the conclusion to focus on my own ideas and I killed off 80% of my “packaged information consumption” allowing me time to listen to and watch the world (my listeners, staff and customers) through my eyes and form my own ideas and see them through to implementation…thats when I actually started to be really successful in what I did.  Sure, I kept myself informed but I simply became more discriminating in my information consumption and ensured that for every minute spent consuming ideas I spent 10 minutes thinking and implementing.  In more recent years working with BP&R I have found myself looking forward to those precious 24 hours in a plane without mobile telephone and email on the long Australia - Europe commute.  Alone without interruption (well all most) I usually fill many foolscap pages with ideas and thoughts or solve problems that have been frustrating me.  I call the ideas I come up with or develop with my colleages “original thought”.

I am not entirely sure where this line of thought is leading me and I hope someone else can pick up the thread, but I am fascinated by what will be the consequences of our 168 hours of weekly time hitting a wall of information and media supply and choice unprecedented by anything we can imagine.  Further segment fragmentation?….bet your life on it! but what about attitude and motivation towards this supply and choice?  What will be the hot buttons? Will there be winners or will everything be sliced so finely the concept of “mass media” is completely redundant. “Mass” will probably be defined by the relative appeal of the content…not the means of its delivery.

Absolutely intriguing!  Thoughts?

Wayne Clouten

Hi,

I guess using a blog to share thoughts and information is all about getting in the habit of checking this BP&R Blog.  They key thing is that its all about developing a spirit of community amongst our clients and friends who share a passion for this wonderful industry called radio. As I travel around Europe working in different countries and markets I am constantly fascinated by what is the same and what is different. Having respect for the fact there is always something to learn is critical if we are not to grow old and stale…trapped by our paradigms and pride.  It is amazing what you can achieve if you open yourself up to the opportunities and possibilities of different ideas and practices.  The day my journey of discovery comes to an end is the day I will know am too old and stupid to continue in this business.  One of the most important things I was ever told was “learn to listen like a listener”.  No matter how many years I may be in this business and how much success I can litter my resume me, I hope and pray I will always be able to hear radio like a listener.  May the evils of arrogance, pride and paradigms be free from this blog site.  Enjoy the ride!

 Wayne Clouten