ASIA

Content from BPRIn 1914, Gerald Lambert was working for his father’s failing small business and slowly going broke. His company, Lambert Pharmaceuticals, sold an acrid liquid antiseptic to surgeons and dentists to kill germs, but nobody was buying it anymore, leaving the company on the brink of bankruptcy. As Gerald took over, he was struck by inspiration: what if his brand, Listerine, could answer something the public really wanted and recover all those lost sales as a consumer product instead of a surgical agent?Coining the medical-sounding term “halitosis” for bad breath, he launched a mint-flavoured version of his father’s surgical germ-killer and a star was born. The idea that Listerine kills the germs that cause bad breath is one of the most successful brand promises of all time. It told customers that they had a problem and Listerine was the solution they needed.

Radio stations make brand promises all the time. It’s part of the DNA; it tells (or at least should tell) the listener what to expect when they tune in to your station.The brand promise is your commitment to the listener on what you will deliver on air.“Chicago’s Classic Rock”, “Today’s Best Music”, “Best Music Variety”, “Good Times and Great Classic Hits”, “Atlanta’s News Leader”, “Real Texas. Real Talk”, “Real. Raw. Radio”.But just saying it a few times an hour counts for nothing if you’re not delivering on that promise.Remember, listener loyalty begins with trust. If your station is not keeping its most important promise, the brand promise, you will have trust issues.Everything on your station must support the brand promise; if not, it should not be on air.Think of each element on your station as a pillar that supports the overarching brand promise and strengthens it.On a Music station those pillars would be Music, Talent, Promotions, Marketing. On a Talk station they would include Talent, News & Information, Promotions, Marketing.However, if a pillar doesn’t support the brand promise, then it weakens it.A brand promise must be stated clearly to the audience and provide them with a benefit they actually want (not something you think they want).  Fresh breath = Listerine.Your station must live up to the audiences’ expectations that you will actually do what you promise to do. Otherwise, you lose credibility, trust, and eventually listeners & market share.Take for example the major market radio station whose brand promise was “playing the hits you love from the 90s to now”. Trouble is, they were playing three 80s songs per hour and the 90s to now imaging immediately preceded an 80s track!!! That was 18 months ago….. there have been two new brand promises since then…..and the station is still the ratings cellar-dweller.Provide a benefit the audience wants, explain in clear terms why your station can provide what they want and deliver on that promise 24/7…with no exceptions.By David Kidd, BPRMain Pic: Sutterstock […]

Selling Radio Direct with Pat BrysonIn our last newsletter, we spoke about creating good customer service for our listeners and our advertisers. Today I want to continue with the next level in our relationships with our clients: an extraordinary customer experience.We start with the premise that no one remembers “average” or “ordinary”. With the competition we all face today, we must stand out from the crowd….in a good way! In today’s business world, the customer is at the center of business strategy. Service, marketing, sales, all revolve around what the customer needs and wants. Online has gotten very good at not only fulfilling our needs, but anticipating our needs and sending us suggestions for things we didn’t know existed but we can no longer live without. For our bricks and mortar clients to compete, for us to compete, we need to create “Wow” experiences for our clients.

A customer experience is defined by each touch we have with our clients. It begins before the sale and extends long after the sale. It is the entire customer journey from start to finish. It is a series of events that leave an impression, one way or the other. Customer service is reactive: a customer has a problem, we fix it. The customer experience is proactive. We anticipate their needs before they do.If you think about 5 businesses that you frequent again and again, why do you go to them? Chances are, you can narrow down the reason to one of these: they are cheap, fast, user friendly, they have great customer service, or they represent luxury. Whichever this business is known for, they must be consistent.As we begin to think about how we can provide a great customer experience, we need to think about the touchpoints we have with our clients. Here’s a starter list. Feel free to add your own:First callNeeds analysis meetingPresentationThank youFollow up by the AECreating copyRecording adsInvoicingCustomer calls the stationCustomer emails us.I suggest you look at each of these steps and decide how to make that interaction special. In working with my clients, I’ve heard some interesting stories on how they improve the customer experience. The above list is the minimum. Much of the special experience happens after the sale. The account executive is in touch with the client on a predetermined schedule set with that client. How does THAT client define “exceptional service”?Some AE’s take top clients to lunch on a regular basis. They send “thank you” gifts periodically. When a new client comes on the air, the AE writes a thank you note. So does the manager. A “new client” form is circulated to the on air and internal people with contact information on it. That way, if a listener calls in with a question about an ad, anyone in the station can direct them to the client.One of my clients has a designation for “elite” clients. These are clients spending a certain amount monthly with them. The station arranges outings and parties for these clients. They enjoy perks that other clients do not.Another of my AE’s sends a thank you gift once a month to one of her clients. She refers business to them. And they reciprocate by referring business to her monthly.I read a story about a gentleman who sent a text to Morton’s Steak House: “Hey Morton’s, can you meet me in two hours with a porterhouse when I land at Newark airport?” Obviously this was meant as a joke, but guess what? When he landed, a guy in a tuxedo was standing there with his steak and all the trimmings. Morton’s travelled 23 miles to reward a regular customer and to create a legendary customer experience story.And then there’s the story of Nordstroms who took back a set of tires that were returned by a customer. Nordstroms doesn’t sell tires, but they lived up to their image of “customer first”. The back story on this is that the Nordstroms had been built in the same place formerly occupied by a tire store. This gentleman was convinced this was where he had bought the tires. We have another legendary service story that has circulated for years.What about your station? Do you have legendary service stories? Can you create some? My challenge to you is to assemble your cumulative brain power and brainstorm ways to upgrade your customer experience. Become the station that people talk about and tell legendary stories. It’s the way to legendary revenue also!Happy Selling! […]

In the Wave 2 of GfK Radio Hearing Measurement survey 2023, Malaysia’s Suria FM maintained highest weekly time spent listening (TSL) among four commercial Malay-language radio stations.The station achieved a weekly TSL of 6 hours and 37 minutes and 3.2 million weekly listeners.It had previously emerged on top among four commercial Malay-language stations in the first survey, Wave 1 2023, in April.

The Suria Cinta segment (Sunday to Friday, 8pm to 1am), hosted by DJ Lin, retains the highest weekly TSL across all Malay-language commercial stations, with 3 hours and 5 minutes.Weekday segments like Cik Piah’s Gaya Suria (10am to 1pm) and Muzik Top Suria (1pm to 3pm), as well as Sharifah Shahirah and Tyzo’s Suria Petang (3pm to 7pm) also recorded the highest TSL among four Malay-language radio stations.Meanwhile, the Morning Morning Suria segment (weekdays, 6am to 10am), hosted by Ajak, Shuib and Suraya, recorded the second-highest TSL among four Malay-language radio stations, with 2 hours and 22 minutes.“Suria FM just celebrated its 16th anniversary on Nov 24, and the results for Wave 2 2023 serve as a meaningful gift for the whole Suria FM community. Thank you to all the listeners who continue to support and choose Suria as their preferred radio station and for making us relevant in the radio industry until now,” said DJ Lin, who’s also the station’s general manager. […]

The New York Festivals® 2024 Radio Awards competition has announced this year’s distinguished Radio Awards Grand Jury.This year’s world-class Grand Jury comprises distinguished radio industry leaders from 19 countries across 6 continents. This jury panel of 100+ esteemed content creators, industry visionaries, and iconic voices, includes directors, producers, journalists, writers, and sound artists who personify passion and innovation in audio entertainment. The reputation and diverse expertise of the 2024 Grand Jury ensures that every entry receives the meticulous attention it deserves during this peer-judging process.“We are thrilled to welcome these globally recognized super-achievers to the 2024 Grand Jury,” said Rose Anderson, EVP & Executive Director New York Festivals Radio Awards. “Their collective wealth of hands-on knowledge, their commitment to excellence and the proven mastery of their craft in fields as diverse as investigative journalism, audio books, drama, talk, and live events show how robust the world of radio is today.”

Recruited from the ranks of globally renowned companies, these leaders and storytellers are at the forefront of championing innovative storytelling across all genres and platforms, including news, documentary, entertainment, sports, and image.The  lineup of companies our jurors represent encompasses global networks, production companies, radio stations, publishing houses and more including BBC, Radio Mitre S.A., Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, SiriusXM, Geller Media International, Pushkin Industries, HarperCollins Publishers UK, Radio-Canada Ohdio, DMC Studio Argentina, Talkers Magazine, Radio Mirchi, B7 Productions Limited, Accompany Studios, Open To Debate, Zinc Media, Bioneers, iHeart Media, TBI Media, Magnum Opus Broadcasting, NASA/JPL, Radio City, Virgin Radio UK, New York Philharmonic, Crooked Media, Seoul Media Foundation TBS, Radio City, CliffCentral, Virgin Radio UK, and Clare FM.A partial list of prominent jurors includes:
ory Belfi, SiriusXM, Vice President, Talk Programming, USA
Andrew Biggs, Imaging Producer / Director, Eyesound – New Zealand
Benoit Bories, Director/Producer, Faïdos Sonore/Créations sonores – France
Rina Broomberg, Director, CliffCentral – South Africa
Diego Cannizzaro, Owner & Director, DMC Studio – Argentina
Jennie Cataldo, Owner & Producer, Accompany Studios – USA
Chris Colbert, Chief Executive Officer, DCP Entertainment – USA
Clea Connor, CEO Open To Debate – USA
Nick Davis, Executive Director, Engagement & Inclusion, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – Canada
Zayd Ayers Dohrn, Playwright/Screenwriter/Executive Producer – USA
Padraic Flaherty, Head of Operations & Group Program Director, Clare FM – Ireland
Rebecca Fortuin, Senior Audio Editor for HQ, M&B and Farshore, HarperCollins Publishers – UK
Lauren Hansen, iHeart Media, Producer – USA
Emily Harris, Bioneers, Media Producer – USA
Dylan Haskins, Commissioning Executive for Podcasts, BBC Sounds & BBC Radio 5 Live – UK
Havoc Franklin, CBC Radio, CBC Content Development – Canada
Geoff Jein, Independent Producer – UK
Steve Levine, Owner & Producer, Magnum Opus – United Kingdom
Liliana Manna, Independent, Journalist – Argentina
Leslie Mullen, Producer, NASA/JPL – USA
Götz Naleppa, Drama Director & Sound Artist, Naleppa Audio Productions – Germany
Anurita Patel, Vice President, Zonal Programming & Audacity, Radio City – India
Karen Pearson, CEO, Folded Wing – UK
Jason Phipps, Head of Content & Development, Chalk + Blasé – UK
Helen Quigley, Head of Production, B7 Production Limited – UK
Tim Rohan, Independent Journalist – USA
Des Shaw, Co-Founder, Zinc Media – UK
Helen Shaw, Founder/Director, Athena Media – Ireland
Lou Simon, SiriusXM Radio, Vice President, Music Programming – USA
Alison Toomey, Real Films Ltd, Producer/Director/Co-founder – Ireland
Mark Travis, Director Media Production, New York Philharmonic – USA
Elisabeth Weilenmann, Director, ORF – Austria
Karena Wynn-Moylan, Presenter/Producer, Bay FM radio 99.9 – Australia
View this year’s distinguished 2024 Grand Jury: HERE.The NYF Radio Awards Grand Jury meticulously reviews all entries during online judging panels, evaluating each submission based on industry-specific criteria to determine scores. The judging panels award Gold, Silver, and Bronze Trophies, with the highest-scoring entries earning the prestigious Grand Trophy. Additionally, the awards include Special Industry Awards recognizing the Broadcaster of the Year and Production Company of the Year.The annual National Press Club Award will go to the highest scoring entry in the following news program categories: Coverage Of Breaking News Story, Coverage Of Ongoing News Story, Nonfiction Series and News Podcast.NYF’s Radio Awards receives entries from radio stations, networks, and independent producers from over 30 countries around the globe. The mission of the competition is to honor the achievements of the men and women who make up the global audio storytelling community.All Entries in NYF’s 2024 Radio Awards will be judged by the NYF Grand Jury of 100+ producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professionals from around the globe. Entries are judged on production values, creativity, content presentation, direction, writing, achievement of purpose, and audience suitability.Award-winning entries for 2024 will be showcased in the Radio Awards winners gallery. To view the 2023 Radio Awards winner’s gallery, visit HERE.  All award winners will be celebrated at the 2024 Storytellers Gala on April 16th.To enter the 2024 Radio Awards please visit: HERE, for additional information visit: Rules and Regulations and 2024 Radio Awards categories. The entry deadline for the 2024 Radio Awards competition is January 31, 2024. […]

Futuri, the leader in AI-powered software solutions for the media industry, has announced the formation of a new partnership with RCS, the world’s largest broadcast software company. Now, in addition to RCS automation Zetta fully integrating with Futuri AudioAI™ (formerly known as RadioGPT), the company will now resell that product and SpotOn, Futuri’s end-to-end solution for creating spec spots, commercials, and promos, in markets outside the US.
The partnership comes as Futuri continues its global expansion. Since the February 2023 launch of Futuri AudioAI™, the company has entered into several new agreements with partners like Audiotainment Südwest in Germany and Maison FG in France. The addition of RCS to Futuri’s network of international resellers provides additional support to help drive the company’s rapid growth.
“Futuri has driven the conversation about the adoption of AI in the broadcast industry, and the response we’ve had from companies worldwide that want strategic AI solutions has been vast,” said Futuri Founder and CEO Daniel Anstandig. “We’re proud to partner with Philippe Generali and the fantastic team at RCS to help bring our solutions to the global markets that need them.” 

Generali, President and CEO of RCS, states: “Expanding upon our collaboration with Futuri, we leverage our respective strengths to propel new technology on a global scale. This partnership represents a noteworthy milestone in the evolution of audio creation and consumption. We are excited to reshape the media landscape, a tradition we have upheld for decades.” […]

BBC Studios has launched BBC Podcasts Premium, its exclusive Apple subscription podcast service for listeners in 166 new countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean (full list here). The service offers early access and ad-free listening for a range of the BBC’s most popular titles.  The international rollout of BBC Podcasts Premium coincides with this week’s launch of The Global Story, a brand-new daily news podcast from BBC Studios and BBC World Service. Hosted by Katya Adler, it drills deep into a single story everyday offering unrivalled context and deeper insight, drawing upon the BBC’s best global journalists and expertise from all over the world. “Audio is core to the BBC’s heritage. We’ve been doing it for over a century and it forms part of our fabric as a global newscaster and storyteller,” said Louise la Grange, SVP – Audio Distribution, BBC Studios. “With a wide, inventive slate of audio content that includes everything from daily news to sports analysis to pop culture to fiction and more, we’re incredibly excited to continue to expand our relationship with Apple to reach more listeners globally. Through BBC Podcasts Premium, we’re inviting new audiences around the world into this seamless, premium listening experience to hear the very best of our audio journalism and storytelling.” 

The global expansion of BBC Podcasts Premium follows earlier launches in Australia in May and New Zealand in March of this year and in the U.S. and Canada in 2021. Since its initial 2021 launch, BBC Podcasts Premium has been a regular fixture in Apple’s Top 10 subscriber channels and its podcast Dua Lipa: At Your Service was named one of Apple Podcasts ‘Shows We Love’ for 2023. BBC Podcasts Premium’s international rollout marks the latest step forward for BBC Studios’ expanding audio unit. Earlier this year, the BBC announced the move of audio production in selected genres including factual, entertainment and drama from the BBC’s in-house production team to BBC Studios. BBC Studios’ new audio production unit will be headed up by Richard Knight, while international audio distribution and monetization is led by Louise la Grange. With BBC Podcasts Premium, subscribers unlock ad-free, early access to the BBC’s best shows including Good Bad Billionaire, Infinite Monkey Cage, and Intrigue and ad-free versions of popular shows across news, true crime, pop culture, history, science, and fiction including BBC Global News Podcast, The Global Story, World Business Report, and Dua Lipa: At Your Service. Content highlights include:Americast – The authoritative weekly US news and politics podcast from BBC News, Americast investigates the social and cultural issues that define America today.  BBC Global News Podcast – The day’s top stories from BBC News. Delivered twice a day on weekdays, daily editions on the weekend. BBC Global Story – Hosted by Katya Adler, each episode focuses on one story and draws upon the BBC’s best global journalists with a fresh sound and a smart take on the biggest stories of our time. From Beijing to Boston, Baghdad to Bangalore, our unrivalled reach will take you beyond the headlines on a journey of understanding and exploration. Business Daily – The daily drama of money and work from the BBC. Dua Lipa: At Your Service – Pop powerhouse Dua Lipa has candid, uplifting and insightful conversations with the people who inspire her most about topics like reinvention, sex and relationships, psychedelics, and more. Football Daily – Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates, Steve Crossman, Darren Fletcher and the Football Daily team bring you the latest news, insight, analysis and big name guests from the Premier League, WSL and the Football League, plus Scottish, International and European football. Good, Bad, Billionaire – Simon Jack and Zing Tsjeng find out how the richest people on the planet made their billions, and then they judge them. Are they good, bad, or just another billionaire? Infinite Monkey Cage – Professor Brian Cox and Robert Ince host a witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists’ eyes. Intrigue: Million Dollar Lover – Million Dollar Lover tells the unlikely, true love story between Carolyn, 80, a wealthy Cayucos resident, and Dave, 57, a homeless ex-convict. While Carolyn’s daughters and onlookers debate the merits of Carolyn and Dave’s romance, BBC investigative journalist Sue Mitchell uncovers the sordid secrets and horrors hidden in Dave’s past  Just One Thing with Michael Mosley – If time is tight, what’s the one thing that you should be doing to improve your health and wellbeing? Michael Mosley reveals surprisingly simple top tips that are scientifically proven to change your life. Lady Killers With Lucy Worsley – Lucy and a crack team of female detectives investigate the crimes of women from the 19th and 20th Century from a contemporary, feminist perspective. People Who Knew Me – Emily Morris uses 9/11 to fake her own death and run away to start a new life in California as Connie Prynne. Fourteen years later, now with a teenage daughter by her side, Connie is diagnosed with breast cancer.  She must decide how to explain her lies, her secrets, her selfish decisions – and ultimately her ‘widowed’ husband. Starring Rosamund Pike and Hugh Laurie, based on the novel by Kim Hooper. Vishal – Vishal is a true crime podcast into the unsolved murder of an 8-year-old London school boy who disappeared on the day of the Royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, over 40 years ago. Hosted by BBC investigative journalist Colin Campbell, the 9-part podcast series unravels the workings of an extensive pedophile network operating in London and the English countryside. World of Secrets: The Abercrombie Guys – The stories they don’t want told. Global BBC investigations and gripping storytelling – holding the powerful to account. Delve into a World of Secrets.  […]