September 16th, 2010
Well the big news is that Global are continuing in their industry leading charge to roll a smaller number of bigger radio brands out across the UK.
Hot on the heels of their Heart roll out (Heart went from 3 to more than 30 stations in the blink of an eye), they are now rolling the Capital brand out to 8 additional stations. In the future we won’t just be listening to Capital in London but also in Scotland, North East, Yorkshire, Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands, South Wales and the South Coast.
Sadly, it’s the Galaxy brand which will bear the brunt of the changes as it disappears and becomes Capital, other notable changes will see Capital become the on air brand for Red Dragon, Trent FM, Ram FM and Leicester Sound.
Just like the Heart roll out, the changes will be met with a degree of despair in some quarters and it remains to be seen whether the brand roll out will simply aid Global to cut costs or whether it will actually build audience after the initial honeymoon period.
The UK radio market is travelling faster and faster towards a smaller number of brands, each of which have less middle of the road averageness and more national scale with niche targeting. From a media planning point of view this means that we’re losing the niche geography to some extent but we’re gaining the niche demographics on the other hand. And although we’re losing some geographical identity, we’re not really losing the ability to pick and choose where we want to place our radio advertising and where we don’t.
As radio media planners and radio creative experts, we welcome stronger more niche targeting. Knowing what audience a station gives you makes it easier and easier to deliver great focussed results to the right brands on the right stations. We watch with continued interest.
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: Capital FM, Capital Roll Out, Galaxy Capitalisation, Galaxy Radio, Heart FM, Heart roll out, Radio Advertising, radio brands, radio creative, Radio Experts
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September 7th, 2010
As a London based company, we’re all affected by some of the marvellous delays on the tube, none so much as today, with the walkout of over 800 tube staff in a dispute over safety or coffee or something.
So, we all spent the early hours of the morning falling asleep on somebody’s shoulder on the ‘sardine tin’ bus getting to the office or donning the trouser clips and hopping on the London hire bikes .
But now we’re all here…..at our desks…..in various stages of dishevelment (is that a word?), who do we turn to in order to get us home?
The answer, of course, is that we listen to the radio. Our cuddly friend in the corner is pumping out up to the minute updates on the changing situation as radio becomes our critical ally in the battle against the dark forces of the tube strikers.
Wouldn’t this be a great time to advertise on radio your bike brand / hotel chain / train company / stiff drink????
At Radio Experts, we’re always on top of what’s up, what’s down and what’s not even left the tube station in the UK radio advertising marketplace. And because we’re such a committed bunch, you can rely on us to get to our desks, come rain, wind, sleet, snow or London Transport meltdown (conditions apply).
Now….how am I going to get home?
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: London Bike Hire, Radio Advertising, Radio Advertising Campaign, Radio Campaign, Radio Experts, Tube Strike
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August 12th, 2010
Once again the media industry turns to Radio Experts for expert comment on all things radio. Click here to listen to our Managing Partner, Tim Cowland speaking to Peter Allen, Aasmah Mir and Radio 5’s near 7 million weekly listeners.
The subject was an anti terrorism radio campaign and it appeared on the afternoon drivetime show (5 Live Drive). As you can hear, Tim didn’t pull any punches as he fought the corner for the commercial radio industry.
Well done Tim!
Posted by Tam McGregor, Marketing Co-ordinator at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. office@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: BBC, Radio, Radio Ad, Radio Advertising, Radio Experts
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August 10th, 2010
You know the situation. You get a selection of scripts from Radio Experts. Which one, if any, do you choose? Which one is right for the brief you gave and the objectives you have?
Believe me it’s not easy and I’ve been writing commercials for radio for a very long time.
So you read them through. Do any of them make you sit up? Do any of them make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end – no, seriously?
Or are they derivative, dull, or trying desperately to be either witty or clever?
The first point is: never run with an ad you are not happy with and you are not prepared to justify to others in your company.
The second point is: is the script you feel most comfortable with as good as it could be? Could it be tweaked or worked on some more. The probable answer is yes.
The third point is: if you have doubts and someone says it’s ‘all in the production‘, press them because although there may be some truth in that claim, good radio adverts start with a good script.
The fourth points is: forge a relationship with the creative people writing for your company or brand. Get them to understand you and your brand better, get them involved in your marketing so they can better see what it is you’re trying to achieve as a whole.
Now read the scripts through again. Do any of the scripts still stand out? Not sure. Then maybe sleep on it. Or ask questions. Work with the creatives to squeeze every last drop out of the idea and achieve true radio excellence. Because excellence is what you deserve every time.
And it’s what Radio Experts aim to deliver. Every time.
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: Radio Ad, radio advertising agency, Radio Adverts, Radio Experts
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July 29th, 2010
We’d all like to have our own radio station. So technologies like Spotify , Last FM, We7 Radio and others all allow you to access this world of Radio On Demand.
And just as we would all like to have our own unique radio station, so it is that every client would like to have radio commercials that are unique to his company and his brand.
Commercials he can call his own.
Which brings us back to Radio Experts, whose experience and expertise has helped clients across a wide range of disciplines: estate agents; tourism and travel; house developers ; private health insurance.
Clients who benefit from innovative planning, precision air time buying and stimulating creative.
Clients who demand to use a specialist and therefore expect the best.
Radio Experts has the client list and the testimonials to back up its specialist credentials.
Ask to see them. Even better give Radio Experts a brief.
Once you’re tuned to Radio Experts, you’re locked onto the best show in town!
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: Last FM, Radio Ad, radio advertising agency, Radio Commercials, Radio Experts, radio experts brief, Radio On Demand, Spotify, We7
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July 22nd, 2010
Before TV, radio was an all – powerful medium. Sir Winston Churchill used it to bolster Britain’s morale to help win the Second World War.
His eloquence has never been equalled in 70 years. Why?
Well a 30 second radio commercial leaves little time for eloquence. But that’s no excuse for not trying. I don’t mean using flowery and high falutin’ language as favoured by Churchill.
I mean putting the case for your product forcefully, each word carefully chosen. Choosing words that will get the desired response from your target audience, both emotional and practical.
It is said that Churchill re-wrote and re-phrased his famous wartime speeches many times and that before delivering them he rehearsed in front of a mirror!
Ask your creative agency to work and re-work a script, to re-write and re-phrase until you feel comfortable that what you’re signing off is saying exactly what you want to say to get exactly the response you want from your audience.
I had a client once who, if he thought I was getting a little complacent or a little slap dash , would take my proffered scripts and scrawl across them : CALL YOURSELF CREATIVE?
There’s no greater put down for a writer than that.
Try it sometime. Hopefully you’ll never need to do it with Radio Experts !
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: radio advertising agency, Radio Commercials, Radio Experts, Sir Winston Churchill
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July 13th, 2010
This is a shameless plug for Radio Experts. Nevertheless, it contains an essential truth.
Great radio needs specialist care and attention.
From the planning through the creative process to the finished production you need people who are thoroughly immersed in the medium. Why should that be?
The proliferation of stations has made the selection of the correct station to match your audience profile a highly technical and scientific exercise.
The lack of interest from some creative agencies – they still view it as secondary to television -belies a fundamental fact: many creative’s are scared of writing for radio because it leaves them very exposed. After all, there’s just words, music, sound effects and silence -no Hollywood movies to borrow from, no Youtube videos to plunder, no directors to hide behind.
Which brings us to Radio Experts. With collective experience of over 60 years, we are aptly named. We live and breathe radio. We think about nothing else. (Not nearly as sad as it sounds).
And we have the testimonials and case histories to back up what we say.
However, rather than rest on our laurels, we spend a great deal of time thinking about the future of radio – how to plan for it and how to meet the creative challenges it will bring.
You think you’ve heard all this before? With respect, we don’t think you have.
Call us and find out what specialist treatment can do for you and your radio budget.
Do call us. Unlike some specialists, we guarantee an immediate appointment.
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: Radio Ad, Radio Advertising, Radio Adverts, Radio Experts, You Tube
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July 8th, 2010
One of the more difficult commercials to write for radio is the product ‘demonstration.’ It has long been the stock in trade for TV advertising:
“My product is superior and let me show you why.”
Yet radio should not be shy over this – what is required is the extra 20% of thought and craft to be as convincing as any visual demonstration.
After all, radio has the power to paint pictures in the mind, and from there it’s a short step to ‘showing’ the listener why Product A is superior to Product B. It has been called “selling the sizzle without showing the sausage.”
If you have a product that is demonstrably better, we will show you how radio advertising can demonstrate this to its listeners. Done well, it will prove very cost effective indeed. If of course anyone throws up their hands and says you can only do this on TV and by spending a small fortune in the process, give them our number. Just like your product, we’re demonstrably better!
We’re here to show you how it’s done.
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: Radio, Radio Advert, Radio Advertising, Radio Adverts, Radio Experts
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June 16th, 2010
When a radio advertising brief arrives, every writer looks for clues, nuggets of information, little handles on which to hang his scripts.
It might be a detail, such as a superior service or a product feature, that sets your company apart from the opposition. It might be a genuine USP which takes the writer into new territory.
Sometimes, however, the message seems to be identical to its competitors, so radio has to do what other media have traditionally done as a matter of course: create a brand personality. One that reflects the attributes of the brand, creating an affinity between the company or product and its consumer. A brand personality that resonates with your target audience to the extent that they prefer your product to any other in the market.
Creating a brand personality sounds entirely problematic for radio until you turn the equation on its head with one simple question. What is my brand’s tone of voice?
And all of a sudden its very very easy to see how radio can deliver a brand personality.
So throw down the gauntlet. Radio Experts, for one, will be more than happy to pick it up.
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio advertising agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: radio advertising agency, Radio Agency, Radio Experts
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March 10th, 2010
A client asked me to write some radio advertising scripts yesterday and his simple instruction was “just make them annoying”‘. Wow! I can do annoying radio scripts of course – but is that the right way to go with radio advertising?
Is there a point where a brand suffers because its cut through is so sharp, it begins to annoy people?
Speaking to somebody on the train this morning (always research your market but that’s another blog!) he said he would never visit the Go Compare website because he found the ad too annoying. So it was top of the listener’s mind but bottom of the listener’s intentions.
The reality is that there is just no reason why requests like ‘just make it annoying’ should be made with radio advertising scripts. In my experience, you can make ads that cut through and deliver distinctiveness without having to make them annoying.
Clever use of attention grabbing sound effects, headlines, phrases, characters or stories are all tools that can be used for likeability as well as standoutability.
We recently created a campaign for an Estate Agency which fused distinctiveness with charm, likeability with fun. We achieved BIG STAND OUT but I bet nobody is ‘annoyed’ by it (apart from the competition perhaps).
Because We Know Radio, we know how to make radio work. If you’d like to hear some more campaigns that deliver the ’stand out’ without the ‘leave it out’, get in touch with us at Radio Experts, we love to talk about radio advertising!
Tim Cowland is a Founder Partner at Radio Experts, a London based specialist radio agency. tim.cowland@radioexperts.co.uk
Tags: Radio Advert Script, Radio Advertising, Radio Experts, radio scripts, sound effects, We Know Radio
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