5 things you missed: Radiodays Europe 2017

Staff Writer

With Radiodays Europe coming to a close for another year, Radio Today is catching you up on the most important things that happened in Amsterdam over the past few days:

Triple M’s not-so-masculine side

Australian males are evolving, and so is Triple M, said SCA’s Mike Fitzpatrick. His presentation offered the Aussie station as a case study to answer the hows-and-whys of better understanding your audience.

Triple M has moved away from its traditional offering of “manly” and “blokey” radio to incorporate content to target the new male identity. According to Fitzpatrick, “Triple M is a brand that’s always worn its heart on its sleeve, they’ve just had to change the way they do that.”


The Smooth way to success

With 1.7 million listeners each week, Nova Entertainment’s marketing director Tony Thomas recalled Smoothfm’s journey from a budding startup to Melbourne’s #1 and Sydney’s #2 FM station in the space of only five years.

Listing off a number of key areas, Thomas looked into the station’s highly efficient and low-costing format, as well as exploring elements of Smooth’s branding and marketing strategies, even their studies into neuroscience to improve advertising effectiveness. 


Digital radio is starting its takeover

As reported by Radio Today earlier this week, DAB+ is already a big thing in Australia. In fact, according to Jacqueline Bierhorst from Digital Radio Netherlands, 70% of all radio listening globally will be digital by 2023.

Norway has already begun steps to “protect the future of radio” by making the transition from FM to DAB, said radio experts Kenneth Andresen and Marius Lillelien. The real issue lies with cars as older models require new equipment to fit the technology. However, the prospects are looking good: research has found that 60% of car owners say that they will install DAB when FM is switched off.


Fostering on-air talent with Craig Bruce

Talent coach and consultant Craig Bruce delivered sage advice on how to get the most from on-air talent. Built for Breakfast shows, Bruce used “4 P’s personal branding model” to offer the most to listeners through talent when developing new shows – People, Position, Product Design and Promotion.

“Radio gamechangers think deeply about the product they are designing,” he said, while asserting the fact that radio rules are important, but “you also need to know what rules you can break to help you find your voice.”


Where were all the women at?

While the conference was a success overall, there’s one stain that particularly stands out. No matter what lengths the industry takes to equalise gender representation, it doesn’t seem to be getting through.

As pointed out by this radio punter, 91 men spoke at the conference, compared to a meagre 22 women – a huge imbalance for an industry that has done so much through International Women’s Day to address the issue.

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