Page 22 - AdNews May-June 2020

Agenda
cast just because they’re a client and that’s how we work. So we’ve opened up that facility to all clients to encourage changing mes- saging, encouraging that flexibility.
“We’ve created an initiative called Creative Without Borders where our creative teams have built a bank of adapted audio to showcase how brands can turn change and make a connection with their brand messaging.”
And Nova is working at all lev- els. Advertisers are adapting to a more considered purchase, now that everyone is spending more time at home. CREATE, Nova’s branded content team within its sales force, has been made availa- ble to any agency or client.
Live reads, or shout outs called What’s Happening, are being tuned into what local businesses are offering.
“We are trying to work with clients in different ways to help them be reactive to the situation,” says Charlton.
He says it feels like listeners are moving to that only live experience that’s available to them, radio.
“It’s a trusted escape, personal and entertaining and it is creating a sort of soundtrack for our homes, which has meant that our audience is pretty robust,” he says.
“The advertising confidence in the medium is pretty strong. It’s still just a tricky time for lots of businesses, but the market’s work- ing really well together.”
A younger audience
Radio is finding a lot of new ears. At Nine Radio call volumes were up some 300% and email volumes from listeners 250%. Digital website traffic nearly doubled in March across Nine Radio talk stations - 2GB, 3AW, 6PR, 4BC - with page
views up 87% month-on-month. “Certainly younger listeners are taking part in talk-back, because they’re at home and there is a thirst to learn, and this [coronavirus cri- sis] is changing day-by-day, hour- by-hour,” says Greg Byrnes, head of
content for Nine Radio.
“People are engaged because
it’s directly affecting them because they’re locked at home and their life has changed.
“I think all news organisa- tions have reported a boost in eyes and ears but in this medium, being talk and radio, we feel we have a particular role to play by giving reliable, trusted informa- tion out, and opinion, when it’s needed most.”
It’s about local
“We’re really focusing on local, and that’s not in relation to this story, that’s just radio in general -- local voices and local issues,” says Barnes.
His introduction to that was country radio. When he arrived at 2XL in Cooma, the big deal was the new roundabout that was being built at the end of the main street.
“Within a couple of days I real- ised that this was a really big deal to a local community,” he says.
Byrnes talks of the immediate power of radio where listeners can call in, state a problem and see a quick response.
“You can ring up and you’re immediately engaged with policy- makers and decision makers and community leaders and neigh- bours,” he says.
The questions: “Is anyone else angry about this?” or “How can I solve this?” or “What’s the way around that?”
3AW has a segment, Radio Solutions, with people throwing random questions.
“And what we’re finding at the moment is there is so much unknown in relation to policy [dur- ing the coronavirus],” he says.
People want to know: Can they go and sit on that seat? Can they drive to their elderly parents and deliver food parcels?
“The beauty of talk-back, and the beauty of having announcers that understand that they have a tool that can make a difference, is we can answer those questions,” says Byrnes.
“Ben Fordham and Neil Mitchell touched on the issue of having a minimum of 10 people at a funeral. Some families might have more than 10 kids. Who stays at home? Who misses out? We can force review at the high- est of levels, and we can move pretty quickly. And that is the power of the medium.”
A form of dial-in democracy where views are heard, problems solved, policies changed. And dur- ing coronavirus, where policy and rules are done on the run, people get confused and scared.
“Calls into the stations have tri- pled over recent weeks,” says Byrnes. “People are picking up the phone and ringing 6PR and 3AW and 2GB and trying to get prob- lems answered, problems solved. “Very few of them, because of the numbers involved, are actually getting to air, but producers and phone operators are taking notes and trying to solve problems, because a lot of people are frus- trated. They’re at home, they have
their radio on across the day.” They connect with the announcers. “They come to us to air that frustration, but also to get results, and we’re able to deliver that. It’s a wonderful posi-
tion to be in.
“People want trusted voices,
and all, right across the country, the response from listeners through the open-line and emails and digital shows that we’re play- ing a very important role.
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