Fotis Kapetopoulos, the Director Kape Communications said, “Media is power and radio is the most powerful, regardless of digital and social media. It has been for over 100yrs.”
Radio was a powerful tool of communication, and can be used both for control and propaganda, as in the case of Rwanda in 1993 and equally as a voice of oppressed people, as it was in the form of Radio Free Europe, for more than 70 years.
Radio Free Europe, which began as a collective association still communicates to people living under authoritarian regimes as a counterbalance state or regime sponsored radio.
Fotis touched on the capacity of community broadcasters creating a collective marketing voice. He and discussed how ethnic media was utilised by governments effectively to get elected.
Micro and direct marketing through community broadcasters can target specific audience. He presented case studies on how political parties, mining associations and cultural festivals use ethnic media to target specific psychographic market segments effectively. He emphasised the use of good design and image.
You can extend your reach and influence mainstream media with the right micro marketing and social media strategies. Radio benefits from social and digital media, as they provide an additional platform for distribution and audiences.
Fotis stated to be aware of the power you have rather than working from a “deficiency model, where
Jo Pratt, Station Manager, 4EB FM spoke about sponsorship. You are allowed 5 minutes of sponsorship per hour and the station is currently only using around 30% allowing for exponentially increased growth.
Jo suggested that one way to increase the amount of sponsorship was to improve or grow in office generated and group sponsorship through micro marketing. Sponsorship can grow through giving the groups the tools and resources and tapping into the programs listener-ships and contacts.
Fiv Antoniou, OperationsOfficer, NEMBC chatted about branding in radio and how this can adding value, using peoples fear of missing out
Fiv spoke about becoming an NEMBC media representative.Expressions of interest are being taken on the NEMBC website for 6-8 people from other states and 6-8 people from melbourne to take part in a 3 day workshop in Melbourne.
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