AI can’t Laugh
Why Radio isn't Dead yet
I spoke last Friday at a RadioCentre Ireland Sales Conference, put together by CEO, Ciaran Cunningham.
It was an interesting event with some very different perspectives on radio, sales and advertising. I got to see part of a presentation from an AI production company, who are making ads, both script and voice using AI.
They played some examples, and while some of it was impressive, there were other parts that clearly jarred, including an attempt at an Irish accent that had a transition year musical, production quality to it.
I think it’s safe to say that AI is not quite ready to take over the world yet.
But it’s a tool that’s widely available and already in use in lots of settings we don’t necessarily think about, for example, it’s quite likely that call centres days are numbered as AI can replace the banks of phone operators and handle simple enquiries pretty efficiently.
Using AI in Podcasts
I wrote last week about The Smart 7 podcast and the fact that we’re now using AI voice technology for the weekday episodes. It’s proving to be a pretty effective way to make content quickly, but I don’t see it as a replacement for human presenters.
It’s the subtle nuances of humanity, humour, warmth, compassion, anger, that are not replicable by AI and I think the magic that happens when you put two presenters in a studio, is something that we don’t really want or need AI to replace.
Radio and it’s Toolkit
The topic I was speaking about was radio’s connection to the audience and a focus on some of the different tools in radio’s toolkit.
I’ve been thinking and talking quite a bit about the different ways that audiences consume audio, I’d also written about radio as Spaghetti and Podcast as Noodles, in that they look similar but are consumed totally differently and treated in very different ways.
Radio is a long form channel, it’s not in competition with what comedian and podcaster Jarlath Regan called the “Sushi Train” of Instagram, where delicious morsels of content are intended to draw you into a deeper connection with the creator. It’s not the same as podcasts either, where you can dive into a niche and enjoy an in depth exploration of your favourite topic or hobby.
Radio is still a broadcast, mass appeal medium, with a sense of community and belonging that is quite different to anything social media or Big Tech can offer.
In fact, Big Tech has spent quite a long time trying to create that sense of community that radio enjoys, at a scale that would allow it to monetise it effectively.
Monetising Radio
On the subject of monetisation, it’s worth looking at the things that radio does to generate revenue and reassess how well we’re using some of those tools.
Radio Ads are the core proposition, they tend to be 30 seconds long, they depend on repetition and frequency to connect the audience to the client’s message. In a world where there’s less and less time to do anything as we seem to continually have to do more things, you could argue that radio ads are probably less creative than they used to be.
Because radio is built on a long term relationship with the listener, we should also use that longer canvas to develop and paint a bigger picture for our advertisers. Planning and creating ad campaigns that have more depth and more creative involvement feels like an investment that would pay off.
I spoke to a friend of mine who does approximately 14 jobs in their radio station and one of their great regrets is that they simply don’t have the time to sit with a pen, some paper and a cup of coffee to create an ad that does more.
Sponsorship and Branding
It’s worth considering some of radio’s other propositions in that context too, particularly when it comes to sponsorship of features and shows on stations. Sponsorship should be a clean and simple branding exercise for me, something that gently taps the name of your product or service into the brain of the listener. Then, we reinforce that brand message with detail in a 30 second ad, or through a promotion or outside broadcast.
All too often though, the sponsorship stings on a show, or feature are terribly overcrowded with detail, that dilutes the brand message and makes a station sound cluttered. Ask yourself which of these is better?
It’s time for Fun Radio’s Big Morning Quiz, with Jonny’s Electrical, find out more at Jonnys Electrical dot ie
Or
It’s time for Fun Radio’s Big Morning Quiz, with Jonny’s Electrical, your No. 1 local shop for air fryers and toasters this Christmas and remember on Tuesday’s we’ve got a double discount, so ask for Jonny next time you need a last minute electrical gift for your wife!
Now, I know Jonny’s Electrical is a fine store, with many things to offer, but do we honestly think that the second tag makes sense? I know it’s exaggerated but, I’ve definitely heard tags with that level of detail.
It’s worth fighting for less words to generate greater clarity for your client in the long term.
FMCG Brands connecting Locally
The other piece of work I spoke about at the RadioCentre Sales event was the importance of being able to connect National Brands to local audiences. I think it’s a potentially valuable revenue line for local stations, that’s probably underexplored.
So, for the purposes of the exercise, we took a national FMCG brand, Barry’s Tea and created a concept for a local radio campaign. The intention was to demonstrate that if you can find the right connection points with a local audience, you can very effectively introduce a larger brand and make it more relevant for that audience.
Barry’s Tea is famous in Ireland for a long running Christmas radio ad, it’s called “Train Set” and it only runs at Christmas. It’s a 90 second ad, that’s become a Christmas tradition every year. However, Barry’s Tea don’t really do radio ads at any other time of the year and mainly focus on TV and digital advertising.
So, we created a campaign concept, by connecting Barry’s Tea with the GAA, Ireland’s national sport. GAA is more than a sport really, it’s a passion, almost a religion and it’s driven by hugely passionate local players, teams and supporters. Each county in Ireland supports its GAA teams as they take part in national tournaments and it dominates sport in Ireland across the summer.
Barry’s Tea - Making the Moments
So, we created an ad which ties Barry’s Tea and the GAA together, this would be part of an integrated campaign that would see local sampling at matches, competitions to win tickets to finals and kit sponsorship for local teams.
The ad is here – have a listen and let me know what you think.
In conclusion
The message is really that radio is good health, that it’s a long form conversation with a loyal audience and that they respond to creativity and clarity. Important strengths that we may sometimes forget in the madness of the modern media world.
This has been the 21st official edition of the RAudio Newsletter
Just to recap, each week I’ll be taking a look at big stories in radio, podcasting and audio.
Any feedback, questions or potential topics are welcome – you can get me on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamthompsonconsulting/ or on Twitter @Maxliam