Radio With Pictures

This is truer than ever in 2014, with fresh innovations like Edge TV, ZM TV and iHeart Radio continuing to create new touch points between brands and those we used to refer to as ‘listeners’. Radio is connecting with audiences on entirely new platforms and, in doing so, offers advertisers uniquely effective ways to integrate messaging. By moving more deeply into the content creation space, radio has unleashed the ability for DJs and stations to create incredible visual content for clients. As listeners grow to expect more and more content on demand, radio has adapted to a ‘listen, watch and share’ model, with the strong brand identities of stations and their DJs allowing truer, more valuable partnerships with advertising brands. The Radio Bureau is helping brands use these strengths to their benefit. Here’s how.

NZTA 

NZTA’s Know When To Go campaign targeted men aged 20-40 with a series of humourous TVCs aimed at getting them to recognise how easily a drink or two can  turn into something more complicated, and when to leave if they´re driving or riding. The Rock personalities Rog and Bryce created a brilliant parody video with their own version of the ad, going as far as filming  in Rarotonga. Coming as it did from DJs considered trusted mates by their loyal listenership, the end result – re-created in true Rock style, of course – was a very influential campaign.  Rog and Bryce were able to discuss the video on-air naturally and seed it through various social channels, enhancing the television campaign with an innovative approach to radio. 

Pedigree

Pet food maker Pedigree took a truly unique approach to reaching its target market with radio. Pedigree knew dogs can get stressed when they’re home alone, which is why experts recommend leaving the radio playing to keep them company. The problem is, it’s radio for humans. So Pedigree launched a radio station designed just for dogs: K9FM. Hours of original content was created to play all day, every day on 87.7FM in Auckland, and nationwide on iHeart Radio. Programming included everything from relaxing classical music to canine chat shows like Talkies and Meditation with a Vet – all designed with Fido in mind. Radio has always been great at fostering person-to-person conversations with listeners, and now Pedigree, was taking it person-to-dog. No wonder the campaign picked up Silver at the most recent Cannes Lions. 

AA Insurance

To celebrate the 2014 sponsorship of the NRL Telstra Premiership referees in New Zealand, AA Insurance gave four kids the ‘ultimate ref experience’ –  an exciting and rare opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes view of what it takes to make the big calls on the field. To bring this competition to life, DJ Dave Fane from Flava created a series of videos alongside the radio campaign. The first video highlighted the prize in order to drive entries to the competition, while the other three followed winners around on match days. This content was promoted across multiple stations and gave consumers an entertaining view into the competition, whilst increasing their awareness of the campaign.  

Telecom Prepaid

Telecom Prepaid wanted to gain a deeper relationship with the under-25s, so it teamed with The Edge to reel them in. The result was The Social Games, a platform to tap into a multitude of targeted content to allow consumers to treat the decision to switch as a social one. Ten fans were placed in an experiment to find New Zealand’s most popular social media personality. For three weeks they were tasked with drumming up likes, follows and interactions for the chance at $20,000. Thanks to The Edge’s network, Telecom was able to access content created not just by DJs, but by celebrities and influencers including MKTO and Jason Derulo. It may have been technically a radio campaign, but the main driver was the multiple social media channels with over 75 million earned media impressions – all helping to drive a  16 percent year-on-year increase in Pre-Paid acquisitions over the course of the promotion. 

Radio TV

By utilising new social media, streaming and video channels, radio can transform a good campaign into an unforgettable one. And the messages don’t come from ‘just anyone’, but from trusted, well-loved radio personalities broadcasting on stations already part of the community.

And now, with the launches of Edge and ZM TV, two of the country’s most successful youth stations have become powerful multi-media brands. These brands have dramatically enhanced their ability to connect with Kiwis, no matter how – or where – they’re consuming their content. Whether it’s via mobile, online, on-TV or turned up loud in the car, radio more than ever offers the ultimate opportunity to reach the people advertisers want to talk to, using people audiences want to hear from.