Summary

In this chapter we will consider how a radio station may market and promote itself. This includes both on-air marketing via station identity, jingles and call signs, and off- air marketing including research, SWOT analysis and press coverage. We end with a consideration of how publicity may be managed to promote media coverage for different types of radio stations.

Marketing Radio

In many ways making managerial decisions about marketing a radio service should be simpler than in other undertakings. It is in the nature of radio broadcasting in today's segmented listening market that successful programme managers must already know their target audience and the brand values which should attract and hold their attention. They are not marketing an inanimate and prosaic piece of household hardware but rather a product that comes complete with its image and style already defined.

Marketing and promotion may be conducted on-air using the station's own airtime or off-air through its website or using other media and real-world opportunities, the balance between these depending on the objective. While a relatively successful station can increase its total listening hours simply by talking on-air to existing listeners, enticing them to listen longer, it could take a very long time to increase the weekly reach of a station without using other opportunities to address non-listeners. In radio the most common demand made of marketing can be summarised as increased 'visibility', not in response to the obvious visual deficiencies of the medium but rather a recognition of the way people use radio in their everyday life. Radio can be promoted to a driver while they are driving, office workers during their working day and web surfers while they are using the internet. And in each case they may be able to respond to the invitation immediately.

The key objectives of off-air branding for the radio station are: to introduce new listeners to the brand (telling them how to find it); to encourage further use by previous listeners; and to reinforce the choice made by current listeners. On-air branding has just two main objectives: to encourage the existing listener to stay longer and return sooner; and to encourage them to talk about the station to non- listeners.

The three ages of station identification

Since the 1920s there have been no statutory rules governing the naming of UK broadcast services unlike many countries where formal call signs must be used at least hourly. There is simply a requirement that the station name be agreed with the regulator, Ofcom, and that the signal be regularly identified using that name.

Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, there was a simple convention for naming most new stations. A single defining word, often denoting the location of the station, was prefaced by the word radio: Radio Luxembourg; Radio Moscow; Radio Caroline; Radio Three or Radio Newcastle. In a few cases, simply because it sounded better, the word radio was appended to the one-word station definition, hence Isle of Wight Radio or Three Counties Radio. It was the US influenced ship-based pirate stations of the 1960s which started to add some marketing gloss to station identification, bringing us 'Wonderful' Radio London and 'Swinging' Radio England.

In the late 1980s it became evident that more listening occurred on FM than AM thus providing an opportunity for the first time to split transmitters to provide distinct services on AM and FM. Told 'use it or lose' it by the IBA commercial broadcasters were encouraged to find alternative uses for their AM frequencies or to see them licensed to new operators under the 1990 Broadcasting Act. Assuming that older listeners were more likely to be wedded to their old medium wave receivers most stations opted to start a new oldies or speech-based service on AM while marketing the FM service to a younger audience profile. Freeing up so many frequencies in this way not only virtually doubled the number of local commercial services but also enabled the establishment of three national AM networks which became Virgin Radio, talkSport and BBC Radio Five Live.

The inclusion of a wavelength or frequency in station names had been widespread for many years: 199 Radio Caroline; Radio 390 and Laser 558 for example and while in the USA a frequency was commonly attached to station call letters, this option was not readily available to UK stations broadcasting on two wavebands. Now, benefiting from a more clearly defined position on the dial and driven by a substantial increase in competition, many stations were able for the first time to incorporate their effective radio 'address' as part of their basic station name. For a while the commercial radio naming convention was to replace the word radio with the letters FM for a station on that band and the frequency in kilohertz for an AM service (frequencies having replaced wavelengths on most medium wave radio dials). Hence in the Leeds area the old Radio Aire became Aire FM and Magic 828. This convention was so widely understood that many cable, satellite or closed user group stations with no VHF transmission capability, for example in-store or hospital radio services, chose to identify themselves in the form Whatever FM.

In this third age of radio managers must reassess this conventional pattern of station identification. Recognising that the letters FM may become a liability for a service whose future lies in digital delivery, some stations have reverted to their earlier style of name, Aire FM again becoming Radio Aire. Others feel best served by finding a simple brand or identity that sums up in one or two words the station proposition, leaving out any technical parameters as obvious in context.

Where the unique selling proposition (USP) of a local service is its relationship with a particular city or its area then identifying with the area using a local place name or landmark must surely be unbeatable. Defining a local identity using the name of a river was particularly popular in the early days of independent local radio, Clyde, Forth, Tees, Trent and Orwell are a few examples, while other local references included Capital in London, Piccadilly in Manchester and Spire in Salisbury. The same principle applies to a service where the USP is its format or brand values. Classic FM or talkSport are precise descriptions of the services to be expected, in a 'it does what it says on the can' sense, but well chosen single word names such as Kerrang!, Heart or Smooth can similarly convey a great deal of relevant information to the potential listener.

Whatever name is chosen it is essential that the station branding be consistent and forceful. For as long as audience measurement relies on listeners remembering which stations they heard at different times of day, apparent success is dependent upon reliable recall of the station name. Some stations require presenters to use the station name in every single link while others rely more on station branding using pre- recorded station identification, a readily recognisable 'jingle' or musical motif to provide the audio equivalent of a product logo. A similar function can be performed by the 'continuity announcer' appearing between programmes. Even on BBC Radio Four audio elements such as the chimes of Big Ben, the Greenwich time signal pips, the dated strains of 'Sailing By' before the shipping forecast and familiar programme signature tunes perform the same function of station imaging.

Jingles

While the primary purpose of a recorded station identification ('ident') is to aid listeners recall the station name, so that it is correctly credited in a research diary, the carefully produced ident can convey more than the name of the station. With skilful use of music and sound effects - what Michael Keith (1987: 30) calls 'image orchestration' - it can communicate an image, slogan, feeling or emotion about the station and make the whole concept more memorable.

For Wilby and Conroy (1994: 56) musical station idents: 'reinforce the station identity through repetition of a common aural theme: the sound of the voice, the catch melody line, the name of the station itself. While the familiarity of their sound contributes to the station's brand image, a selection of different versions is available for presenters to use.'

The use of a variety of jingles from the same package create a total sound or atmosphere for the station. Wilby and Conroy (1994: 56) continue: 'Jingles work both as signposts and as aural punctuation for output; they mark particular points in a programme by acting as bridges between items and enabling a presenter to round off one item before changing the direction or mood of the programme to set up the next one.' They also provide: 'a pedestal upon which the personality of the presenter is placed. A professional-sounding jingle that proclaims "Chris Shendo on CWFM" contributes to the presenter's authority and 'personality' status.'

Defending BBC Radio One's use of American-style jingles in 1978, then Radio One Controller Johnny Beerling (1978) supplied a useful description of their history:

I have to admit they are very American, because the whole thing came from America in the first place. Over there they had a very similar situation to us in that they had a very overcrowded medium wave band, they had a number of stations broadcasting in any particular town, and there was a need in an attractive way for station identification.

He also explains the process of jingle production at Radio One in the '70s and '80s:

There's a fairly incredible degree of sophistication and technique involved in making these jingles and it's a very specialised thing actually. John (Wolfert, founder of JAM, the US jingle company) comes over each year and obviously he's making a variety of jingles for numerous American stations and he brings along the demonstration packages and we all sit down, perhaps with one or two of the other producers, and we work out how to re-write them, perhaps using their existing music tracks. On other occasions we have what are called custom tracks where the music is specially written for us.

(Beerling interview op.cit.)

Today jingles are available from a variety of sources. Advanced studio technology is far more widely accessible and popular musical styles have fragmented. Stations generally commission a package of perhaps 12 to 20 different 'cuts' or versions from a recording session, each available in different mixes, using a combination of music, effects and voice-overs. Additional matching production 'beds' can be used as a basis for local production, meeting the need for higher production values when promoting changing features and events. Using a professional voice-over artist to identify individual presenters and programme features is also a cheaper option when the schedule may be subject to unexpected changes.

It is now becoming increasingly common for a group programme director to stipulate that all the stations within a group, with a similar format or the same brand, should use identical jingles with only the station name and any frequencies changed. Partly an economic measure, production costs will drop dramatically for such a bulk purchase from the jingle company, this also gives more control over the sound and image of perhaps dozens of stations scattered across a wide area.

Jingles are generally licensed for use in a specific geographic territory for a fixed period, commonly two years, after which they may be re-licensed for a reduced fee. The licence guarantees that no other station in the same transmission area will be permitted to use the same package.

Of course, not all radio channels use jingles - BBC Radio 4 for instance identifies itself through continuity and presenters in live programmes reminding listeners once in a while that 'You're listening to xyz on Radio 4'.

Off-air marketing

The challenges of marketing a radio station have changed considerably over the past 40 years. When the first local radio stations were launched each tended to use an almost standard marketing kit: some mugs, baseball caps and tee-shirts to sell or give away, car stickers to distribute, programme listings in the local press and, for commercial stations, a nicely printed rate card to show to clients. With a free newspaper-style handout distributed door-to-door before launch and a few road show appearances at the main summer events the manager could claim to have made the area aware of the new service, and that was all that was required or expected.

It was generally accepted that the role of radio station marketing was simply to raise awareness of the brand and where it could be found on the radio dial. It was assumed that awareness would lead to trial listening and it was up to the programmers to convert that into a long-term relationship with the service.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, in most parts of the United Kingdom the choice of radio listening was very limited. There were four BBC national networks, perhaps one BBC local station, distinguished by a high proportion of public-service motivated speech, and in the larger population centres a commercial station dominated by pop music. For the potential advertiser the choice was limited to one monopoly service in each major town or city. Only London had two commercial services, LBC and Capital, from the outset in 1973.

The steady increase in the number of stations competing for attention has been mirrored in the growth in marketing expenditure and effort in the radio sector. In most areas there are more than a dozen analogue (AM and FM) radio services targeting listeners and a greater number of digital services available via DAB, Freeview, Sky satellite receivers or the internet. In any section of the economy such an expansion in choice can be expected to lead to an increase in specialisation of each brand and the establishment of niches. Now every station has, to a greater or lesser degree, a target audience in mind. Radio station marketing is now as much about differentiation as awareness.

The marketing of a radio station often must also satisfy different groups. The BBC must be acutely aware that its promotion of, say, Radio One, is seen and heard not only by its target audience of young adults but also by the politicians who ultimately hold the future of the corporation in their hands. A community radio station's publicity must similarly seem appropriate to those who support the aims of the project with cash, in-kind contributions or voluntary effort.

Commercial radio, as observed earlier, is an unusual business where you make one thing and sell something completely different. The service must be promoted to the listening audience while at the same time made attractive to the advertisers who are expected to buy access to that audience. As broadcast radio is a mass-market product advertisers will be aware of the messages and brand values communicated to listeners and these must not conflict with the sales message given.

Designing a radio marketing strategy

1. Identify the geographic territory to be covered. In the case of an Ofcom licence advertisement this may already be clearly defined, for a new digital service it may be constrained by the available or affordable carriage on multiplexes or other platforms or, in the case of international broadcasting, by limitations of copyright agreements.

2. Research the market for programming within the territory covered by the proposed new service. Are there any gaps in the market where existing stations are not catering for the needs of their listeners and non-listeners? Are these opportunities large enough, in terms of potential audience, to support a new radio station? In music radio it is common to use market research to conduct a 'format search' designed to find unsatisfied demand for broadcasting of particular genres or ages of music. Such research must clearly identify the types of people who would find the proposed format attractive. The format search may identify a number of different market gaps that can be put forward for consideration in the final stage.

3. Test the market for the new advertising opportunities that could be offered by a service carrying the new format. The study must include both existing radio advertisers and companies exclusively using other media or not currently advertising at all in the territory. Advertisers in other media will always tell you why they are not satisfied with their existing options. The identity of these companies is easily uncovered as rival media cannot keep client lists secret, a look through their pages or a week's monitoring of their programmes will quickly yield a valuable list of their typical advertisers. Non-advertising companies can be identified from telephone or business directories, a web search and the membership of bodies such as a local Chamber of Commerce.

Many companies found in such searches can be disregarded as advertising prospects as they are essentially suppliers of obscure services or products to a small number of other firms or organisations and do not frequently need to market themselves to the general public. Where a narrow range of format or formats has already been defined the business search might be narrowed to those companies obviously interested in the audiences expected to result. These companies can be interviewed to find out whether they currently advertise their products or services, in which media, and to what effect. They may currently object to price, coverage, demographics, the perceived difficulty in buying or making-up advertisements, or they may believe that certain media simply do not work for their business. The study would try to establish how many of what sort of listeners the new service would need in order to satisfy each prospective advertiser, and how much they might feel able to spend annually. Only if an identified gap in the listening market overlaps with the needs of sufficient potential clients, with enough spending power to fund the service, is the project viable.

Subsequent marketing of the service must focus on the findings of such studies: Who will listen to the service, and why? Who will support the service, and for what reasons? The image projected by the radio brand must reflect these assumptions.

As radio services become more specialised in seeking out niche audiences it becomes ever more the case that those people ultimately controlling their funding may not be numbered among their listeners. To an extent this has been true for many years, the government ministers responsible for deciding on future BBC funding may not be a heavy users of some of the corporation's channels, the account manager at a big London advertising agency, or grant manager at a major charity or funding body may not even live within the service area of a local station. A vital function of marketing is to project an image of success, both in attracting the target audience and in performing some social or commercial function within that community.

Station SWOT Analysis

Before considering what marketing materials or activities are required the manager should clarify exactly what they are intended to achieve. For an established service, or if there is a clear view of a new market niche and how it will be served, it may be instructive to conduct a SWOT analysis (internal Strengths and Weaknesses; external Opportunities and Threats) of the station. For example for an imaginary service in relation to its rivals in a local market:

Strengths:

The biggest most loyal audience.
The best-known breakfast presenter.
The most broadly popular format.
Established reputation with major advertisers.

Weaknesses:

There is no budget for marketing.
Few people listen in the evenings
Clients say the advertising is too expensive.
The signal is weak in the west.

Opportunities:

The licence will be re-advertised next year.
A transmitter power increase may be permitted.
There is an unserved audience for local soccer commentary.
There is an upturn in the local economy.
The station is rarely mentioned in the press.

Threats:

A possible challenge for the licence.
Rajar suggests BBC Radio One is getting popular again.
A new station with a similar format is soon to launch.

The marketing strategy should build on the present strengths, minimising the weaknesses, while addressing specific needs and opportunities for the future and minimising the threats. Taking the example above, the station might launch a campaign aimed at promoting the already successful breakfast show to BBC Radio One listeners in the east of the region.

Whilst tempting to put marketing effort behind the weakest aspects of the schedule rather than the strongest this is generally misguided. Adding 20 per cent to the audience figures of an off-peak programme with only a few thousand listeners can take as much effort and expense as adding the same proportion to a popular show with ten times the audience. The off-peak programming can then be promoted on-air to the larger audience attracted at peak time with much greater benefits to the whole station.

While an obvious additional function of marketing in the community and voluntary sector is to attract voluntary support, some community stations have found it invaluable in boosting the morale of their hard working volunteers. The wider acknowledgement of the service and its benefits to the community gives validity to their efforts, not least in the minds of their partners, families and friends, which cannot be achieved solely on the air.

Reaching your market

Having identified the market and the objectives of the campaign the station management must work out the most cost-effective way to reach that market and position the brand firmly in their minds. A good start would be to look at where the potential listeners gather. Cinema advertising, poster sites in railway stations, shopping precincts or football grounds, or internet viral marketing could be most appropriate for different brands. Advertising on a bus back is optimal if you need to talk to car drivers, bus sides are better for pedestrians. Newspaper advertisements are more useful if they appear alongside editorial likely to be read by the target group.

A major on-air competition for a prize attractive to the target audience may be widely promoted using other media and yet be self-funding when both the prize and the costs of the promotion are met by a client wishing to promote their product as an aspirational object. Competitions are also increasingly funded by premium rate call or text revenue.

If a station needs to dominate listening in a particular clearly defined area, then door- to-door distribution of a promotional handout is often cost-effective. Direct-mail or free newspaper distribution companies can target only certain neighbourhoods or cover a whole town. While it may cost £15 to £20 per thousand homes to have a pre- printed leaflet delivered, direct-mail does lend itself to sponsorship by advertising clients who could include their promotions on the back of the station's material.

Using press, internet and direct-mail marketing the station can use responses to build up a database of current and potential listeners by including a competition-entry coupon, or a priority request form, to be returned to the station. For maximum benefit the form should ask for their age, sex, and email address and telephone number as well as their name and address. In the UK managers must be aware of the conditions of the Data Protection Act, the station may need a licence under the Act and must obey rules on passing information to third parties. In particular listener's details must not be given to other bodies without having gained the listener's general permission to do so and managers are advised to get legal advice on any such project.

Adding to the database the names, addresses, email details and other information on listeners who enter competitions, or send in requests or dedications, the station soon has a valuable resource which can enable it to build a relationship with core listeners. In many businesses 20% of customers generate 80% of the sales, and they frequently advise companies to concentrate their marketing on that 20% - this is the Pareto effect. In radio we have our core customers too and they are the ones who respond most often to our promotions.

Stories abound of more aggressive database marketing in the USA. One station reputedly took a major poster site and invited listeners of rival station WXYZ to ring a toll-free number to win $1000. The station was able to compile a database of WXYZ listeners' names and addresses. Shortly afterwards those listeners received a mail- shot inviting them to listen to the first station to win even more cash.

If using the optimum mechanism to reach the right target audience is important, so too is choosing the right message to communicate. The proposition must reflect the brand values of the radio service and the aspirations, needs and tastes of the target listener and importantly how the service will benefit the listener. Too often we promote what we do, our schedule and personalities, rather than sell the benefits. A station promoting 'news on the hour' would be better advised to say 'nobody keeps you more up to date'. A claim to play 'the best music' might be more effective as 'we play the music you want to hear'. The station should use every opportunity to tell the listener why they should listen, what's in it for them, not what a good time the station is having, they should be able to hear that for themselves when they tune in.

Using local involvement

Many cash-strapped smaller services survive with no marketing budget whatsoever, while maintaining a visible presence within their market remains important all promotional activity must be funded by other partners. For example printing car stickers might be funded by selling the peel-off backing to a sponsor who might use it as a discount voucher, the income also being sufficient to cover the cost of an on-air promotion to encourage people to display the stickers. The stickers can be widely distributed through retail outlets in return for listeners being encouraged to visit their premises to collect them.

Community stations have found it useful to 'piggyback' on partner organisations' publicity drives or have added questions onto questionnaires distributed by other bodies that might help them get information for station marketing. Stations also have used partnerships with educational organisations, for example university business or media departments to carry out audience research or focus group studies.

Public Events

Commercial stations have long achieved greater public visibility by appearing at events or commercial premises with all expenses met by the organiser of the event or owner of the location. Indeed commercial services generally expect to make a profit on such activity by charging for on-air promotion, through sponsorship of the coverage or advertising of the event.

Careful thought should be given to what the radio station wants to bring to a public event. Outside bodies and members of the public will frequently request that the station does an outside broadcast or a 'road-show' but the station manager should look for the best way to use each individual opportunity to promote the correct station image and produce attractive and useful programming. We have never seen evidence that listeners choose their radio station on the basis of a roadshow seen in the corner of a muddy field. However the relevance of a radio brand to its target listeners gathered at a relevant event can only be heightened by the station being seen to be involved in the fun and games, to be supporting the good cause and to be acting as a host for the proceedings. Many managers avoid any booking that involves their station being the main attraction at a particular time and place, fearing loss of face if no crowd gathers and understanding that such an event will only attract the core loyal followers of the station, who may well not represent the station's top marketing priority. On both counts it is better to become thoroughly involved with a public event, hosting the switching-on of the Christmas lights (usually aided by a TV personality), staffing the public address at the start of a fun-run or, if really brave, judging a bonny baby competition.

Often the traditional radio road-show prevents the station from appearing relevant to its target listeners attending the event. In the early 1980s we recall hearing a programme on the then Radio Tees broadcast live from a big air-show at Teesside Airport. The local station had evidently set up a roadshow inside a marquee near the runway: jets roared overhead and the presenter offered cheap prizes to kids in the audience who could answer simple pop questions. The irrelevance of this activity to the event was emphasised when the presenter apologised for the noise of the aircraft which kept drowning him out. Those listening elsewhere would surely have preferred either their normal programme or a short commentary on the exciting air display, the huge crowds attracted to the airport on the sunny summer afternoon were not there to see a young disc-jockey giving away hit singles in a tent. Years later the same station, re-launched as TFM responded to a similar opportunity by arranging for a breakfast presenter to be strapped to the top of a bi-plane to broadcast from a 'wing- walk' during the press event prior to the big day, combining relevant interesting programming with a great deal of pre-publicity to benefit the event and press coverage for the station.

Effective public performances cannot usually be combined with live radio broadcasting. There are few things in life so boring to watch as a radio show being presented properly. Radio at its best is a one-to-one medium, the presenter genuinely concerned to please his listener at home will take time to describe what he or she can see around them, the colour of the sky, the size of the crowd, all the things obvious to the immediate audience. Similarly good stage presentation does not translate very well to the radio, at a public appearance there should be a great deal of physical activity and visual gags which all too easily appear as in-jokes which alienate the listener elsewhere. It is usually preferable to broadcast from a public event without becoming part of the entertainment, a common arrangement being to schedule one presenter to prepare some short succinct programme inserts backstage while a colleague works the crowds from the stage. For a discussion of the technical aspects of outside broadcasting see Section 2.11 .

For a music-led service concert appearances by artists relevant to their music policy offer opportunities for non-monetary marketing deals. Publicity people at local music venues have advance knowledge of planned concerts by core artists and tour promoters will frequently agree to a deal which brings them guaranteed advance publicity in return for including the station name and logo on tickets and posters. At major events the promoters will be especially keen to build bridges with the local authorities and may welcome any help you can offer to broadcast public safety, traffic and parking announcements. The station should ask for a reasonable number of complimentary tickets as competition prizes and for staff or clients who wish to attend, together with the exclusive right to make the first public announcement of the concert and backstage access for interviews. Similarly, community stations who promote live local music can use their airtime to promote gigs at local venues. This may have a knock on effect of bringing new listeners to the station with interests in local music.

Free publicity and marketing

A radio service actively involved in its target community can achieve a high level of visibility for little or no cost if it seizes every relevant opportunity. Many small stations only spend significant sums on promotion was during their pre-launch and launch period, before they establish any currency of their own in air-time to barter. Such initial marketing expenditure is usually built into the capital costs of setting up the station and is not available as an on-going budget.

Chances for free marketing can appear from unexpected directions and the station manager must encourage all staff to keep look out for unusal opportunities. Staff at WGGY-FM who, upon realising the US version of the comedy show The Office would be set in their home town of Scranton, sent a goodie bag of props to the production team. Their "Froggy 101" bumper sticker can be seen decorating the office walls in the US hit series.

Free Press coverage

The principle of looking out for the free marketing opportunity is nowhere more significant than in any station's handing of press coverage. Managers must keep a constant watch for any unexpected opportunity for news stories on the station and its people while also taking the time to artificially generate original stories.

Barnard Castle based community radio station Radio Teesdale enjoys a good relationship with the weekly local paper covering the same area. The Teesdale Mercury included occasional stories about the service and encouraged volunteer recruitment while the launch of the project and major milestones were reflected in the regional press, but the wider press and media showed no interest in the establishment and successful operation of the station.

A breakfast show presenter had very competently hosted the programme for almost a year when one morning he inexplicably forgot to press a vital button when first entering the studio. He spent the first hour of his show talking to himself while the station's automated overnight computer system continued to play a sequence of music and station identification. Once the station manager had managed to get his attention on the studio phone the DJ finally went on-air and explained his absence to the listeners. A reporter for the regional daily newspaper heard the item and contacted the station who were happy to maximise the opportunity for a bit of local publicity. The resulting small item in the following day's Northern Echo however led to international press and media attention, with pieces appearing in the UK tabloids and in press and radio reports around the world. The station, almost entirely run by volunteers, subsequently reported a significant increase in interest in the station, not only in international and national recognition but most importantly among local people wishing to become involved in the project.

Creating publicity

Radio services often find it frustratingly difficult to get publicity in the press and other media when they have a success story to tell. This is particularly true of commercial radio, where the press will often see the station as a competitor for limited advertising revenue but the effect can also be felt by public service and community broadcasters. Those working in the traditional print media have good reason to be concerned about the drift towards electronic media and the radio station manager should be aware of such editorial prejudices.

Nevertheless, although some local newspapers appear particularly threatened by local radio, they are always looking for ways to expand their readership and may be receptive to proposals for co-promotion. For example a competition, publicised in their pages and on-air, designed to encourage listeners to become readers and vice versa. More simply, if a paper or magazine is planning a supplement on something of interest to target listeners, managers may be able to agree a legitimate deal where the supplement prominently carries the station's logo, positioning statement and frequency and is the material is described as being published jointly with the station in return for free promotions for the publication on the air.

On the news pages it is easy to complain that press releases from radio stations are usually ignored, but is a story which boils down to 'Newsreader reads bulletin' or 'DJ plays song' really news? As illustrated by the Radio Teesdale coverage, an unexpected happening or bad news tends to gather a far greater number of column centimetres. To be sure of coverage, many broadcasters find that they must go outside the comfort of their normal routine, or even their station, and create a happening that the public, and therefore the other media, cannot ignore.

All news is good news - the deliberate use of controversy?

Much of what is broadcast is, quite appropriately, a reflection or coverage of things going on the outside world and such programme material is hard to manage or bend to the needs of the publicity machine. Competitions however can be entirely developed by promotions or programming staff to meet the publicity needs of the station, maximising the word-of-mouth profile of the station. Few stations have played this card so effectively as Birmingham's heritage commercial radio brand. BRMB's 'Two Strangers and a Wedding' competition was one of the most infamous publicity stunts in UK commercial radio history, causing moral outrage among those who believe marriage vows are sacred. Listeners competed for a wedding supplied by the station, including a free honeymoon in the Bahamas, with a wedding night in the £750 per night Chamberlain Suite at the Hyatt Hotel, and on their return to Birmingham the free use of a Ford Puma sports car and an apartment in the city's exclusive Symphony Court development. The prizes, including dresses, cars and the reception, were worth an estimated £50,000.

The promotion, first held on two stations in Australia, involved matching complete strangers by asking them questions on race, religion, prejudices and sexual attitudes. The winners, Carla Germaine, a 23 year old former model, and 28 year old sales manager Greg Cordell, did not meet prior to the ceremony and had to sign a pre-nuptial agreement preventing them from making any claims on the other's property if the marriage were to fail.

At the Radio Academy Festival in Birmingham five years later, PR expert Mark Borkowski (2004) described the promotion, heavily criticised by churches and MPs, as among the best ever radio publicity stunts: 'It was something that everybody was talking about. It was a precursor to Big Brother and other reality TV shows.'

Substantial media coverage was guaranteed when church leaders wrote publicly to the station (BBC News 1999) urging it to reconsider the promotion. In the letter the three joint presidents of Birmingham Churched Together, the Bishop of Birmingham, the city's Catholic Archbishop and Free Churches representative wrote: 'Both marriage and the human beings involved are too important to be manipulated in this way.'

Borkowski told delegates the promotion involved a lot of risk, 'But they increased their audience reach from 27 per cent to 40 per cent. It had humour, risk and a bit of rock'n'roll' (op cit). BRMB repeated the same promotion in 2006 and again received national attention, largely due to the carefully orchestrated controversy.

The risks involved in such high-profile controversial publicity stunts became all too apparent when, in August 2001, BRMB held another major competition. Called 'The Coolest Seats in Town' contestants wishing to win tickets and VIP passes to Birmingham's Party in the Park music festival were required to sit on dry ice - solid carbon dioxide - which has a temperature of minus 78 degrees Celsius.

Following the event, held outside BRMB's Broad Street studios, four members of the public were rushed to hospital suffering from severe frostbite, three underwent extensive skin grafts and remained in hospital for several weeks. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) subsequently brought a prosecution under Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974, which requires employers to ensure people not in their employment but who may be affected by their activities are not exposed to risks. The station, then part of the giant Capital Radio Group, admitted breaching the law at a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates Court in January 2003 and was fined £15,000 (BBC News, 2003).

The sometimes tricky relationship between commercial radio and the music business was highlighted, again at BRMB, when a presenter appeared to walk out of the studio in mid show (Guardian 2001). Listeners to the breakfast show on Friday 13 April heard Graham Mack say: 'I'm supposed to play Stan by Eminem. He's a bigot, he's a criminal, and he's on probation.' Mack went on to say that he did not get on with BRMB programme controller Adam Bridge, and then put a call from Bridge on-the-air: 'Maybe I'm stupid, but I selected Eminem. I don't pay for your opinion – just play the bloody song.' Mack told him the call was going out live before saying: 'I'm out of here - if you want it played, you bloody play it.'

Graham Mack may have held strong views about the US rapper but many in broadcasting found it surprising that an internal phone call could find its way onto the air, fortunate that another presenter was ready to take over the remaining half hour of the programme, and convenient that this was Mack's last day sitting in for the show's regular host, Les Ross, who was on leave. Stunt or not, the events certainly generated national headlines (Radio Magazine 2001), the Daily Mirror for example running with 'Eminem row DJ walks out'.

A similar event provoked much speculation in the radio industry in June 2004. Following an edition of the Classic Gold Digital breakfast show in which veteran DJ Tony Blackburn played Cliff Richard's 1963 hit Summer Holiday the presenter received an e- mail from head of programmes Paul Baker stating that the station should not be playing the singer. Next day Blackburn responded by tearing up the warning live on air and defiantly played two Cliff hits back to back: 'We Don't Talk Any More' and 'Living Doll'. He was immediately suspended from the station for breaking the Classic Gold music policy, prompting national news coverage.

'We shouldn't be playing Cliff Richard,' Paul Baker was quoted as writing to Blackburn (Independent, 2004): 'We might carry out research on him, but for now we have a policy decision that he doesn't match our brand values. He's not on the playlist, and you must stop playing him.'

After a few days in the headlines, with the media gathering quotes from Sir Cliff Richard, usefully available at Wimbledon, and even from Peter Hain MP, it was announced that the DJ would be returning to the Classic Gold breakfast show and that Cliff's songs would join the station's playlist (BBC News, 2004). 'I enjoy working with Classic Gold and doing my breakfast show immensely,' Blackburn was quoted as saying. 'I'm also pleased that we're going to be playing Cliff Richard records. It's the listeners who have come out on top.'

'Game, set and match!' responded Jimmy Young in the Sunday Express (Radio Magazine 2004). Regardless of the truth behind the headlines the result was an amount of publicity for Classic Gold network that money could not buy, and all focused on the station's format and brand values.

Marketing Community Radio

Many of the ideas and techniques outlined here are relevant to public service and community radio. Phil Korbell, director of Radio Regen is passionate about community radio's unique role in the 'marketing mix':

It is easy for community radio to under sell itself - we're the small fry, we might be new to radio and selling, we're not glossy and don't have RAJAR figures. But what we're selling is different and unique - a meaningful, trusted and dynamic relationship with a targeted audience. And which other media outlet can, hand on heart, say that they can do that at such a local level, day in, day out? So it is vital to get away from the idea that we're just small local radio stations - we are way different to that and much more effective for it.

(Korbel, 2006)

The community radio sector in the UK can learn some marketing lessons from countries where this sector has been established for longer (see for instance the Marketing Community Radio guide produced in Australia which is available on the Community Radio Toolkit website). In the UK radiothons have been set up to raise money for charitable causes (for instance the digital channel Gaydar raising funds for AIDS charities and UK Radio Aid uniting commercial stations across the UK to raise money for tsunami charities. The 'radiothon' is also used as a marketing and fundraising tool by US and Australian community radios to keep their stations on the air. Once or twice a year the station's usual schedule is suspended and every hour is spent fundraising for and promoting the station. The radiothon is reinforced by emails to listeners and website appeals. The station staff will have planned for this well in advance and will offer prizes and subscriber inducements. The general idea is that if you value the service then you don't want to lose it!



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