There was a great deal of interest in Barry Keohane’s survey-eve story about how he found himself the recipient of an actual GfK diary.

In particular, it attracted the attention of GfK’s  General Manager, Media, Dr Morten Boyer (below left) who kindly offered to clarify a couple of points. We’ve included 

So here’s the article again but this time with Dr Boyer’s notes:

“Good morning sir.  My name is N*** and I’m from GfK.  We look after Sydney’s radio ratings and would like to place a listening diary at this address.”

That’s what greeted me when I answered the front door one day last week.  I was mildly amused that of all the houses on my street, they chose mine.  After declaring that I worked in radio as a consultant but had no affiliation to any Sydney station, I was given the OK and handed my very own listening diary. Yep, for the next week I’ve become one of the people that, for the last 20 years, I’ve been working hard to attact.  

If you’ve never seen a radio listening diary, or unsure how it works, here’s a quick summary.

• For the next week, I record every station I listen to (for more than 8 minutes), in quarter hour blocks.  

• I also record where I listen to said station (car, home, work etc), and on what device (AM/FM radio, digital radio, internet etc)

• There is also a lifetsyle questionnaire which asks questions like “in the next 12 months, am I thinking of buying a car?”.  Great information for your sales team

• The diary is then collected at the end of the week by GfK.

Survey diaries are the preferred method of collecting data on radio listening in Australia and most Asian countries.  Having a great survey relies on getting as many ticks (or now in the case of GfK diaries, “x” marks the spot!) as possible.  It’s what can make or break a station, a breakfast show, or revenue targets.  

Dr Boyer says: “Although other measurement instruments have been trialled, the diary system remains the preferred research methodology in most markets globally, including Europe, US, and APAC.“

On the eve of Survey 6 results, I want to take a look at how diary keepers complete their diaries, debunk a few myths,  and look at what content directors need to know to ensure they get as much listening recorded as possible.  (This is based on years of research, discussion with other content directors, and work with research companies.)

Facts

1.  Most people complete their diary at the end of the day, with some completing it every 1 to 2 days or even at the end of the week.

2.  They will record based on memory recall and routine.  Eg.  They may listen to a certain station on their commute to and from work, and will record this in the diary (even if some mornings they listened to another station, or no radio at all).  

3.  They don’t carry the diary with them!  

4.  On average, people regularly listen to about 2-3 stations per week.  When GfK place the diary, they demonstrate how to use it by placing 2 stickers from your favourite stations (from a sheet of all stations) in the diary.  

What you need to know

1.  You need to be in the first 2 stickers that GfK place as a demonstration.  These are the 2 stations that will get most of the listening.  If you’re not, you’ve got an uphill battle.  

Dr Boyer says: “It’s important to note that it is the respondent, not GfK, who chooses the first two stations listened to. GfK interviewers ask for the respondent to choose two stations to enable them to demonstrate various listening scenarios, including change in listening. Furthermore, listeners may add more stations after the demonstration, which many choose to do (we see a range between 1 and 8+ stations entered)”

2.  You need to be top of mind with your audience.   One of the reasons I named my company “Top of Mind” is I know it’s important for stations to be top of mind with listeners.  Your music, shows, tactics need to be talked about and easily remembered.  Your diary keepers are using memory to fill in the diary, so they need to be able to recall your station easily.

3.  Use “at work” positioning.  Diary keepers use memory and routine to recall what station they were listening to when completing their diary.  Use “at work” branding in your promos and sweepers during the day to help them tie the two together.  “I was at work, so I must have been listening to MyFM.”

4.  Brand everything!  Everything you do must be aligned to your station.  Brand everything you do.  Eg “MyFM’s Morning Show”, “My FM’s No Repeat Workday”, or “My FM’s $100,000 Secret Sound.”  Again, it helps your listeners put your tactic and station together and give you credit in the diary.

5.  Get your marketing right.  Make sure your logo is on everything, and it’s big!  If you’re promoting your breakfast show, don’t let your show be bigger than your logo.  Remember, you need to align your show brand to your station brand.  The station is the one listed in the diary, not your breakfast show.

6.  Replay breakfast and drive content as much as possible.  Great breakfast shows and drive shows help build the station brand, and more importantly audience share.  If you replay key content during afternoon and weekends (when diary keepers may be completing their diary), it may help you score a few extra listening periods.

7.  Great content will always win.  At the end of the day, stations with great, memorable and unique content will always win.  Keep all the above points in mind but make sure you are driving your teams to deliver great content 24/7.  That’s how you will win!

Survey 6 results available tomorrow, 9:30am EST on radioinfo.

(Barry Keohane is an award winning content director, international radio consultant and talent coach throughout Asia-Pacific.  He is also a regular contributor to radioinfo)