ASIA

Selling Radio Direct with Pat Bryson– I’m on a new soapbox. In the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of accompanying salespeople on their sales calls. I’ve seen several “presentations”. I put presentations in quotes because what some people call a presentation, I call presenting a package. Now, I know that every station has SOME packages: sports, sponsorships, events. But many salespeople still grab a one-page package off the wall and take it to every client. Not only is there no customization, but I’ve noticed another alarming trend. This is the subject of my new soapbox and today’s newsletter.As we learn our products, we get pretty good at the “What”. These are the facts that explain what a client will receive by buying this package or campaign. We are so used to knowing what we mean by the “What”, that we often expect our prospects to know as well. For most of them, they have no idea!

15X 6A-7P, Mon-Fri.This is a typical “ask” I see. We understand what we mean, but our prospects don’t. Not wanting to seem uninformed, they don’t want to ask questions. But they are uncomfortable not understanding, so they don’t buy.Note: The frequency shown above is too low to be an OES Schedule. I use this example because it’s what I see way too often! We’ll save the OES discussion for another newsletter.Our next step after the “What” is to explain the “Why?” Why did you choose that particular campaign, schedule or package to present to that business? Linking the “What” to the “Why” requires understanding something about the needs and goals, likes and dislikes of that client. I had one tenured rep say to me, “After I talk to a client, I know instinctively what they need. But then I have to back up and think “Why” I chose that so I can explain it to the client.” Absolutely! But how often do we REALLY do that?There is one more step I rarely see except for the 20% of salespeople who write 80% of the business. They explain “What”, “Why” and then “HOW”. They explain exactly how this campaign will help to fulfill the client’s needs and goals. How will it help to solve the business problems that keep them up at night?Note: You can’t explain the “How” unless you understand the client. When was your last customer needs analysis with your client? If it’s been longer than 4 months, you need to sit with them NOW and take a new look at their challenges and needs. External forces are changing business almost weekly. If we don’t keep pace by updating our information, we can’t keep their marketing campaigns and messages current.What-Why- How. I provide a form for my clients to use before each presentation or “ask”. I ask them to write down the What, Why and How. No generic responses. I want each one specific to that client. If they can’t fill out the form, they need to step back and gather more information. If you explain clearly the “How” I guarantee your closing ratio will go up!Happy Selling! […]

More speakers have been added to this year’s Radiodays Asia, the leading radio and podcasting conference in the Asia-Pacific, to be held 5-6 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Dr Padmakumar, Consultant, IndiaDr Padmakumar K is an experienced Radio Professional and a Radio Programming, Strategic & Marketing Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the top FM Radio stations in India.Richard Palmer, Director of Market Development, Triton Digital, AustraliaRichard is an influential and key figure in the podcasting and radio industry. As Director of Market Development at Triton Digital, Richard provides guidance and advice to publishers and broadcasters on the ever-growing needs of streaming, podcasting, measurement, and advertising technology.

Shirley D’Costa, CBO, Kulfi Collective, IndiaAn enterprising marketing professional, Shirley D’Costa has over 16 years of experience as a strategy planner and business head across advertising agencies, digital agencies and content studios.Lauren Saylor, Executive Producer, smoothfm, AustraliaLauren Saylor lives and breathes radio as the Executive Producer of the “More Music Breakfast Show” on smoothfm in Melbourne, since its launch in 2012, as well as previously teaching at multiple radio schools.Jonathon Aspinwall, Editor, BBC, WorldwideJonathan is an award-winning editor with over twenty years of TV, Radio and Digital experience. He co-created the award winning Ukrainecast and was responsible for the reboot of Americast which recently won an RTS award for its Undercover Voter strand. He has worked on some of the BBC’s biggest brands including Radio 4 and BBC Breakfast and run programmes from around the globe including the US Election Results and live broadcasts from Kashmir.Harry Lock, Editorial Manager, PMA, UKHarry is the editorial manager for the Public Media Alliance, a global association of public service broadcasters, and the presenter of their podcast, Media Uncovered. His background is in broadcast journalism, having been a reporter for Radio New Zealand and a producer for the UK-commercial station, LBC.Radiodays Asia is a collaboration between Radiodays Europe, the world´s largest and leading conference for radio, audio and podcast, and broadcasting and podcast partners in Asia and Australia. The 2023 edition will run over two days in two tracks with 50 sessions. Top international speakers and industry leaders as well as successful producers and market experts will share their insights.Register for Radiodays Asia 2023 here. […]

Jose Rizal Pajares, a reporter with private radio station Radyo Natin, was arrested on August 2 on the island of Camarines Sur in Visayas by the Iriga City police and detained for three days after trying to access police blotters to search for news reports.The police blotter, which is a public document as admitted by the statements of the police, is commonly placed in the front desk and is ready for perusal by members of the public, according to National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Albay.Pajares, who has worked with Radyo Natin for over a decade, said he has accessed the Iriga City Police Station’s records for years.

He was charged by the police with violation of Data Privacy Act.“A complaint for violation of Section 29 of Data Privacy Act of 2012 was filed against him,” said Colonel Maria Luisa Calubaquib, police regional spokesperson.Pajares was temporarily released on August 4, with Radio Natyn paying his bail of PHP 10,000 ($180).The NUJP questioned the basis for Pajares’ arrest and detention. It said: “While we understand the need for confidentiality in ongoing investigations and to ensure data privacy, police blotters are generally public documents that journalists have access to. Our understanding is that, under the Data Privacy Act, accountability for keeping data safe is on the police and that access to journalistic work is an exemption under the law. The arrest is very irregular since media has, in general practice, had access to police blotter reports and similar documents.”The Internartional federarion of Journalists (IFJ) said: “This is a clear overreach of police powers. The IFJ calls on Filipino authorities to drop all charges against the journalist and uphold the right to freedom of information.” […]

KBS World Radio, South Korea’s only multilingual international broadcaster that has been introducing Korea to the world in eleven languages, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.Beginning its maiden transmission as ‘Voice of Free Korea’ in August 1953, KBS WORLD Radio hasgrown and evolved with the development of Korean history – through the Korean War, the democratization of South Korea and the rapid economic growth of the country. It has now transformed itself into a multimedia channel covering various platforms.

KBS World Radio ran special programming in celebration of the 70th anniversary of its foundation day on Tuesday, August 15.A pre-recorded online K-pop concert special titled “Beyond Borders” aired on KBS World TV at 5 p.m., Korea time.A program titled “Thanks to You” comprising congratulatory messages from KBS World Radio listeners from around the world and their stories aired in eleven languages.Earlier, on Monday, KBS World Radio’s primetime news show, Korea24, featured an extended panel discussion on the future of public broadcasting with media experts. […]

Content from BPRI wrote some time ago about the dangers of reacting to social media feedback and commentary as it is very often not representative of opinion residing in the broader community. I was reminded of this recently when assessing the relative merits of using an airline I had not flown with before.I linked out to one of the notable customer review websites and discovered to my horror a litany of disparaging reviews about the airline in question with the overview result that the airline scored an average rating of 1.6 of 5.  I found my interest in using the airline rapidly evaporating until I decided to compare the airline’s rating to other airlines I use and know to be very good.  This is when it became abundantly clear that a rating of 1.6 was actually a little better than average with some of the best airline’s I know rating less.

It brought home to me again just how perilous it is to form opinions of things based on what people might post.  Too often the people who make the most noise are those with an axe to grind while those people who are either happy or ambivalent don’t feel any need to stop their life and note that everything is fine and within expectation.In the media field I have seen songs, subjects, authors, artists, and personalities vilified by people on social media for various reasons while at the same time representative market research reveals a completely different picture.  To make matters worse, people with an open mind and a balanced approach to life are retreating from making comments on social media for fear of being trolled and made to feel bad or worse still; sucked into some form of malignant exchange with someone.  What this means is that proportionally, social media share of voice looks to be skewing towards an idiocrasy.So what to make of social media commentary? Generally speaking; favourable commentary is likely to be reflective of the broader market while negative commentary is likely to be not.  Mine ideas, thoughts and issues from your social media but never make quantitative assumptions of market sentiment based on social media, particularly if the context is negative.  A chasm is developing between the view of the world fermented by social media and what the majority of people really think, so mind the gap! […]

With so many podcasts out there Courtney Carthy decided he would celebrate one of the non audio parts that make up a podcast whole.Carthy, who was Creative and Content Director for Podcasts with the Mushroom Group, now is Director of Nearly Media, a podcast and digital media company.He saw how much goes into podcasts that are not audio prior to and post launch and has created a Podcast Cover Art Instagram page to celebrate podcast art world wide.

He’d love your contributions too, whether simply your favourite podcast art, or your own podcast. […]