At an ARN network function this week, the company showcased all its breakfast teams from around Australia to agencies and media writers, and revealed the latest research findings from a comprehensive study of ARN listeners.
The study was based on a campaign run last year on ARN stations which invited listeners to upload pictures to a website called www.aboutyou.com.au, which was secretly created by ARN. The original campaign proved that just 33 thirty second run of station commercials and two live reads per week on each station would generate a lot of traffic to a website. The schedule firstly had to get people to understand the concept, then find the website, trust the content and go through the process of uploading their photos onto the online exhibition.
More than 5,400 photos were uploaded and 12,000 people engaged with the website in the period of the promotion. ARN staffers, at the time, were not made aware that the campaign was for one of ARN’s own promotions, so that they could not skew the results.
ARN followed up website participants with research surveys that helped the network understand their target audience better. The results of that research were revealed today and are being used by ARN to better inform clients how to reach the 25-54 year old audience that ARN is “obsessed with.”
Five segments of that demographic audience were identified, and two were detailed in the presentation. The bulk of the audience falls into a segment the researchers called ‘Mainstreamers,’ who were in the process of putting down roots, marriage and kids running the household. One of their identified needs is to get some help around the house, a fact that has been behind some key promotional strategies for ARN stations.
Another segment of that audience was labelled ‘Reclaimers’ and is made up of people who are reclaiming their freedom and their aspirations as the kids are growing up. They want to “have fun like they used to.” This segment has also been targeted in station promotions and advertisements.
ARN CEO Bob Longwell told the audience that the company now has “vast amounts of knowledge about its audience from this research. Our goal was to know more about this audience than anyone else.”
He said the company now has the motivation to get out there and visit agencies and has “something significant to say to them” when they need advice about ARN’s target audience.
After the research presentation Group PD Jeremy Millar introduced all the breakfast teams and also announced the news that comedian and ABC TV’s Spicks and Specks co-host Alan Brough has been named as a permanent member of Sammy Power’s breakfast team on MIX 106.5 Sydney.
Lars Peterson, Vic Lorusso and Ron Wilson spoke about the Mix Sydney breakfast show, and crossed to Melbourne where Sammy Power officially asked Brough to join the team. Lars Peterson and Ron Wilson also commended the work of the network’s early-rising news director Glenn Daniel and the hard working news team in Sydney.
Jeremy Millar told the audience that, with more and more teenagers discovering the music of the 60s, 70s and 80s, the Classic Hits format has a lot of life in it for many years.
Melbourne Gold breakfast pair Grubby and Dee Dee highlighted their twenty years on air together, seven of which have been with ARN. Producers described their show as “organised chaos.” 4KQ’s Laurel Edwards and ‘Handy Gary’ spoke about their significance to the target demographic and WS FM’s Jonesy and Amanda joked about their diligent show preparation routine.
Melbourne Mix breakfast pair Tracey Bartram and Tim Smith said they have confidence that the company will stick with them as they gradually build audience in that city. “It’s a marathon not a sprint in radio,” Bartram told the audience. Alluding to her earlier show on Fox, Bartram also said it is “nice to be in the target demographic for a change, not talking down to it.” A new tv ad has been made for Bartram and Smith’s show, click below to view it.
The Mix 102.3 breakfast team were delighted with the station’s recent winning position in that market, and Jeremy Millar commended them on scoring above the station average this survey. Kim, Ali and Dzelde spoke about their commitment to their audience, exemplified by events such as their Port Lincoln fire victims appeal. Brisbane’s 97.3 breakfast team also shared their enthusiasm for the breakfast shift with the audience. All the teams were then flown back to their home cities to get up early the next day and do it all over again.
Australian singer James Reyne, pictured above, also performed at the lunch.