FAQ, Guest posts

Questioning radio - by David Lloyd

June 25th, 2008

Posted By admin

When I get up and wave my arms around enthusing people about radio, I usually end up defaulting to my familiar theme of ‘if radio were invented today…’.   It works though.

All the familiar attributes of this great 100 year old medium would impress all the more if we had not begun to take them for granted.  Radio’s not a time-thief, it’s portable, hugely interactive and, most importantly, it delivers an incomparable relationship.  Like most programme directors, when I’ve changed round programme schedules, I’ve had letters from listeners so angry, it is as if I have broken into their houses and stolen something.  They ask me what we have done to ‘their’ radio station.

This is a world where people seek a deeper relationship with brands in all sectors – and that relationship is able to be expressed so much more directly and quickly than ever.  Accordingly, maybe radio’s qualities have more resonance today than ever.   People expect a dialogue – and radio has always delivered that.

As trust in just about every establishment diminishes, radio still scores highly.  People trust the person on the radio.  At a time when the sway of some traditional media has sometimes been offset by the mood of a few words on a blog, isn’t radio probably the next best thing to having a friend tell you about something?

What makes the medium even more exciting is that all its century-old failings are now addressed, thanks to the convenience of digital listening facilities –  an on-line complementary presence – and improved response mechanisms.

It’s pretty exciting being caught up in the creation of a brand which will launch afresh into where radio now is in people’s heads rather than where it once was – and can truly capitalise on the unique relationship it delivers.  That’s the opportunity for us all going forward: to put our own radio experiences in a new context and challenge ourselves with questions we’ve never troubled to ask before.

David

Post a comment