Summit participants discuss future of radio
Radio executives from across the country gathered at The Martin Agency in Richmond last week for a radio summit to discuss the future of the medium and to find ways to drive business for clients.
Mike Hughes, president and creative director at the firm, organized the summit at the agency's Shockoe Slip headquarters.
"I wanted to gather industry people together, break into groups and see what we can do that's new and different for radio," he said.
The summit's focus was on leveraging the medium.
Radio, according to executives who attended the summit, is expanding across several platforms, including the Web, mobile devices and high-definition stations.
To reach audiences across the platforms, programmers, advertising agencies and executives have to find creative ways to connect.
"There is an increased flexibility in our industry," said Bob McCurdy, president of Katz Marketing Solutions, a division of Clear Channel.
More than 60 people attended. The executives broke into teams along with creative talents from Martin. They discussed ideas and then presented them as a group.
Students from the Brandcenter, Virginia Commonwealth University's graduate advertising program, also attended.
Hughes said he decided to put the summit together after judging an industry contest this year.
"I was wondering how radio could be more of a vibrant part of the life of an ad agency," he said. "Right now, whenever someone thinks let's do something new and different for this client, the first place they go is digital."
The teams were tasked with finding new ways to drive business.
"We set ground rules. We said we're not talking about coming up with 60-second commercials or 30-second commercials. We're not talking about coming up with traditional work. What we're developing [are] things that use the media in unexpected ways, whether that's within the programming or approaching how the signal goes out," Hughes said. "What can we do that would be effective."
Networks and advertisers will use some of the ideas, so Hughes was not at liberty to discuss specific concepts.
But one example of what a radio station or network could do is to create radio reality shows that could bring steadier audiences.
Hughes said programs also could be created to target specific demographics. For example, a program aimed at homemakers that offers tips and ideas for that audience could be a vehicle that is sponsored by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a Martin client.
"It was good for both of us," said Jeff Haley, president and CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau, a radio-industry advocacy group.
Haley believes radio can attract more listeners because it could be accessible over several platforms -- such as cell phones and iPods -- without having to significantly alter the programming.
Summits for other media platforms could follow.
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or
.
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Reader Reactions
LOL bholl, you said it. This town does have the worst radio I’ve encountered also. WNRN in C’Ville is the only station, (no ads, public radio) I’ll listen to however, radio is almost dead anyways. Like someone else said, listening to someone else’s playlist stinks. Especially when that playlist is the same cookie cutter garbage but with different band names. There’s so many internet sites that let you customize your own playlist, why would anyone want to listen to Creed, Nickelback, etc….over and over on Y101 and XL102?
Amazing. The home of the worst radio programming for a market its size hosts a Radio Summit? Huh?
The only thing that sells in Richmond radio is middle age white men pretending to be angry.
I travel around the country and I have not found a worse selection of radio programming anywhere that has a population in which people outnumber cows.
Maybe they should go with Cavemen Radio, Eyeball Money Radio, and other stupid Martin Agency crap mixed with a little bit of Angry White Guy?
Once my Smooth Jazz station was taken off the air and turned into yet another country music station, I quit listening to the radio in my home except in the mornings when getting ready for work so that I could get the weather and traffic reports. After I got laid off several months ago, I pretty much stopped listening to the radio altogether. I prefer to listen to nonstop music through cable - without those stupid, annoying commercials!! I am, however, forced to listen to radio while driving around town. When the commercials come on, I flip to another station. On long trips, I listen to the CD player.
Of the commercials I find particularly annoying while driving are ones where car horns are blowing and such. Sometimes you think you’ve done something wrong only to realize that it’s one of those stupid, annoying commercials…which can be dangerous.
Another industry about to become a casualty of technology. Some of us have been listening to free streaming internet radio on our PDAs for years. When portable internet inevitably becomes dominant, the obsolete am/fm (and satellite) transmitter antennas will “crank back into the ground” (R.I.P. WGOE) for good.
Perhaps these folks should instead concentrate on ways to get sponsor paid
wireless internet to consumers.
In the era of the iPod and other music players, this is a futile exercise. Why would anyone want to listen to someone else’s music selections? Unless talk radio suddenly explodes in popularity, many stations will go silent.
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