“As a relevant, receptive and ubiquitous medium, radio had stayed competitive and stood the test of time, combining well with various media's technological advances, and as a result it has enhanced business and come out strongly in this digital age in its mission to inform and educate millions of people anywhere and at anytime,” RadMark sales director Wayne Bischoff said.
According to a research conducted by Arbitron, Media Monitors and Coleman (US), radio holds on average more than 92% of its lead-in audience even during commercial breaks, suppressing the belief that radio audience continues to decline throughout the span of commercial breaks.
The study also found that most listeners felt that commercial breaks were a ‘fair price' to pay for free radio programming.
This just serves to demonstrate that the power of radio in imparting knowledge and information about entertainment, news and other issues affecting society, is incomparable, Bischoff emphasised.
Ricky Singh, Jacaranda 94.2 Radio operations manager, told delegates: “Radio has a remarkable way of influencing people's lives. It makes them do things that ordinary people wouldn't do, like donate money to charity and run races to win prizes and so on.”
Singh cited three kinds of radio and duly defined each one's role in shaping up human existence.
“Community radio stations empower a lot of people and help them to reach amazing levels no one thought they would reach and public commercial stations tackle issues of national concern such as Aids, traffic and crime, with immeasurable impacts on society,” he said, adding that public broadcasters exist only to return profits to shareholders because radio is a serious business.
“People who listen to radio define themselves and all listeners are a commodity and consumer brands are a currency,” Singh said.
The RadMark Annual Radio Workshop, now in its third year, is being attended by 70 delegates mostly made up of media planners and strategists.
Norman Gibson, RadMark marketing manager, told Bizcommunity.com that this workshop is a valuable learning experience, especially for those who are new in the industry, to understand deeply the power and value of radio as a powerful tool of advertising and transformation of society.
For more information, visit www.radmark.co.za.
