Earshot Creative Review: Brand integration on Radio

A few weeks ago, Steve Martin, a radio veteran from the BBC, who also drives the Earshot Creative blog and podcast, invited me to join fellow radio-heads, Simon Rushton (Kenya-based radio advertising consultant) and Tim Johns (BBC Radio Lincolnshire producer), in a podcast for the Earshot Creative Review. Aided by wi-fi connectivity and the saving grace of post-production amid the last lap of summer in London, Steve got us talking about radio creatives in our respective radio markets, radio work that inspired us and the balancing act between clever advertising and effective creatives.

One of the creatives showcased here was an award-winning campaign I'd done in 2008 for Unilever's Close Up, which involved integrating the brand into the station's programming run. This was done in the form of blinks, show pre-sells and top of the hour sweeps, by weaving a brief hook of the Close Up jingle and the campaign premise of 'come closer' into slickly produced IDs peppered across targeted day-parts.

Brand integration on radio is always a tricky turf to play on. The client wanted to go beyond the realm of commercial airplay, while I had to ensure not diluting the listener experience and corrupting it with a brand force-feed. The result was a well-played out radio campaign which won the agency a nod for the most effective use of radio by a brand.

Branded Content: Explore, don't exploit.

'Branded' and 'Content', two distinct terms that can be interpreted as just about anything when brought together. Especially when there's a propensity for clients to insist upon, and content creators to get carried away with branded content solutions that push beyond the boundary of consumer appeal, relevance and acceptance.

Just read a very interesting perspective on the Huffington Post by Joe Frydl of Indigenous, calling for a re-think on branded content, where he simply states "Instead of thinking about how to integrate brands into content, marketers need to be more disciplined about how to integrate the right kind of content into the brand's marketing mix to accomplish a specific objective."

How do we address the concept of branded content on radio? Without pushing the borders of permitted brand activity on radio, brands and radio stations can seek to explore certain avenues. Avenues which seek to weave a brand campaign into station on-air and/or online content, so long as it's done subtly and seamlessly.

Spark Plug: Heinz Tomato soup currently has a radio ad campaign which plays upon the premise of Heinz being accounted for 'one of your five a day'. Nice simple sell which plays upon a daily necessity. What if we were to take this forward in the form of a daily deals feature?

Create a daily deals/events advertorial which could run across relevant dayparts. The segment will feature a set of five current events and gigs, or deals and discounts currently available. One of these five will always be the brand plug for Heinz Tomato Soup as 'one of your five a day'. The feature accomplishes three differnet benefits.
1) It offers a brand extension to Heinz Tomato Soup, integrating the brand into station programming, without a commercial force-fit. It takes the brand beyond the plain commercial route.
2) It offers pertinent content of interest to the listener, without shoving the brand into your listening experience and builds brand recall for the Heinz campaign premise.
3) It creates an advertorial platform for the station to extend to other brands to highlight their offerings, be it any new products, or deals and discounts on the go. The four slots can be balanced out between commercial offerings and 'things you must do today'.

As always with branded content, don't exploit the license to spill over into the sacred space of  listener experience. But don't deter from exploring the possibilities of smart integration between brand and content. You never know where you might hit home.

Resounding Radio??

Resounding Radio is the space between the medium of radio and the creative and content radio activity by brands today. It’s an attempt to dissect, debate and potentially spark off new creative direction for brands and radio stations alike.

Resounding Radio dwells on campaigns, branding possibilities, cross-platform approaches and radio that’s, well, resounding across the UK, US and other global markets. It fronts the radio consultancy launched by Jardin Lobo, a content and creative specialist with nine years in radio across programming and creative sales roles.

Be it building radio station brands or brand experiences on stations, I've worked as a creative head, content manager, script writer, radio presenter and producer, with a few radio awards to boot. With over a decade of multi-platform experience across radio, digital, mobile, marketing and television, I offer the following creative services...

• Writing and producing radio commercials
• Branded content solutions
• Cross-platform approaches
• Brand integrations
• Digital campaigns

Leave a comment to spark off ideas on your radio campaigns.
Or give some of my work a sound-check.