It’s a typical radio ad for a product launch announcement. A Courvoisier voice introduces…and is abruptly interrupted. It’s not a typical radio ad.
The&Partnership is parodying the marketing hype used by companies such as Apple and Samsung for new technology launches for Radiocentre – to show that radio is the medium that advertisers should look to for the future.
The radio campaign highlights the benefits of the medium in the style of a tech launch, while showing the many advantages commercial radio has over other, newer media technologies. The radio ads will run 30-, 20-, and 10-second spots across the commercial radio network, supported in OOH, in social media and on industry news websites and ends with the call to action, See Radio Differently.
It is the first brand campaign created by The&Partnership since the industry body appointed the agency last year.
In one of the radio spots, Cookies, for example, the narrator appears to be introducing an exciting new piece of tech when he is interrupted by an automated voice saying “accept cookies”. The spot ends with the narrator saying, Welcome to radio, advertising that’s cookie free.
Radio is the quiet achiever these days. Its popularity is stronger than ever in the UK. 90% of the population tune into radio each week and 66% of the UK population listen to more than 13 hours of commercial radio per week. According to research, Radio’s ROI is only second to TV and, in the era of fake news, it is proven to be the most trusted medium for news in the UK. Commercial radio took a record total of £713.3 million in ad revenue in 2018, breaking the previous 2017 record of £679.2 million, according to figures released by the industry body earlier this year. The 5.1% increase year-on-year marks the third consecutive year of record-breaking revenues for the medium.
Lucy Barrett, client director at Radiocentre, stated, “Because it has been around a lot longer than the newer ad tech, people don’t always appreciate what an incredible medium radio is. If radio was invented as a new piece of technology today, we would all be in awe of its reach, engagement, and ad effectiveness. This campaign is designed to help advertisers imagine just that.”
Yan Elliott, executive creative director at The&Partnership, added, “Advertising on radio is a no brainer. It’s impossible to skip the ads and you don’t have to ‘accept cookies’ to carry on listening. Surely, it’s an advertiser’s slam dunk.”
Credits:
Agency: The&Partnership
Executive Creative Director: Yan Elliott
Creatives: Ted Price & Adam Jackson
Account Director: Lucy Almond
Account Manager: Lizzie Healey
Agency Producers: Emma Modler & Hannah Greene
Photographer: Lol Keegan
Retouching: Fristian Retouching
Design: Rich Forder
Sound Studio: GCRS
Sound Design: Steve Lane