Video didn't kill the radio star

COMMERCIAL RADIO MALAYSIA    DATO' BORHANUDDIN OSMAN    RADIO    

• Radio still a favourite among advertisers
• Affordable with a sense of immediacy

Malaysia - Radio is far from dying out. It still plays a major role in advertising as proven by the recent Radio Audience Measurement Malaysia survey by Nielsen with an increase in radio listenership by 5% and adspend growth at 14.5%.

"This is because people still want two way communications, they still want their news and traffic reports and they still want to tune in to their favourite announcers," said Dato' Borhanuddin Osman (pic), president of Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM).

He added that it is also the job of CRM to make sure that good ads are produced, where it should not only raise awareness but also captivate the audience.

It is a synergy between media that brings the memory of an ad to audiences. But the one thing that stands out with radio, is the repetitive sounds and voices that triggers that memory, like a song or a jingle.

An affordable media compared to print, radio also has the advantage of having a sense of immediacy.

When diseases such as SARS and H1N1 hit, causing a global economic crisis, radio was the most affordable media to spread the word on these illnesses.

"Radio is easy. If there was a last minute one day promotion at a restaurant, you can just get the DJ to announce it. You may not have time to come up with a full fledged script last minute, but a simple one would suffice to get the message out by getting the DJ to announce it," said Dato' Borhan.

Ratings on a radio are heavily influenced by the contents of a programme and with many competitors within the radio industry, this translates to more choice for the consumers.

Each radio station on airplay in Malaysia caters to different audiences. Advertisers too, get a healthy choice of picking a station that best reaches out to their target audience.

For example, those targeting the Malay market may go for stations such as EraFM, those targeting the corporate personnel can advertise on BFM.

CRM has also taken initiatives to promote networking and business opportunities between media houses and the radio industry by organising events such as the boot comp held 24-26 September that involved media specialists and people from creative agencies.

Next up for CRM would be Planet Radio on 13 November, which is targeted at school leavers and college leavers, offering them an insight on a career in radio.

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