From today, youth are the big targets in the $20m advertising campaign, aimed at highlighting radio’s effectiveness for advertisers and marketers.
Commercial Radio Australia CEO, Joan Warner, says: “Radio is such a good way of reaching young people, and this ad is about highlighting that fact to people wanting to communicate directly with this market.
“Commercial radio continues to gain in popularity among younger listeners, who are spending more time listening – a trend which has been evident over the past five years.”
The 45 second ad tells the story of two teenage girls, Madison and Alecia, talking about the importance of radio in their lives. It airs nationally from today on all commercial radio stations.
Recent Nielsen trends’ research indicates people, aged 10-17 and 18-24, spent significantly more time listening to commercial radio in 2003, compared to 1999. For 18-24 year olds, listening time increased by an hour and three minutes to 18 hours and 31 minutes a week in 2003. For 10-17 year olds, it rose by an hour and 24 minutes to 11 hours and 54 minutes a week.
The research also suggests commercial radio reached 81.5% of 18-24 year olds in 2003, compared with 78% in 1999. Reach for 10-17 year olds increased to 84.3% (up from 82%).
Joan Warner says: “Today’s young people love radio because it complements a faster paced lifestyle and it is also the most interactive and portable medium.
“Younger audiences, particularly under 25s, have access to new technology and mobile phones, and have taken very quickly to interacting with their favourite radio stations and DJs via email and SMS to request songs, have their say or enter competitions.
“The youth market provides a great opportunity to increase radio’s share of advertisers’ spending and bring new advertisers into radio.”
The youth ad is part of a national brand campaign for radio, which began almost a year ago and was devised by Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum. It delivers the message that radio advertising is twice as effective at reaching audiences throughout the day as TV.
An evaluation of the overall brand campaign, by research firm, TNS, indicates 80% of advertisers feel radio is an effective way to target young people.