Australian Radio Ignores Client Logos

Adding logos and taglines is arguably the first major innovation for the 30 second spot since radio upgraded from mono to stereo.

Radio stations demonstrate daily that they can simulcast image and sound over the Internet and smart phone applications.

And yet more than two years since digital radio launched radio commercials are being broadcast without any logos or taglines.

98% of capital city radio stations and the majority of digital radio stations are streaming on the Internet.   

More than half of these are already displaying album art for the songs they play and more than 80% have smart phone apps already displaying images synchronised with audio.

None are displaying any advertiser logos or taglines synchronised with the spots.

If you look at a radio station website or mobile phone app you'll see plenty of advertising: random banner ads, pop-ups, pull-throughs etc which have no relationship to the audio being broadcast.

Adding insult to injury, many radio spots are being broadcast on smart phone apps and webstreams displaying logos and taglines of different advertisers.  
 
Radio stations have not even made media agencies aware that logos could be synchronised with their client's radio campaigns.  

Indeed some sales reps at radio stations aren't aware that it's possible.

In the famous words of Julius Sumner Muller - "Why is it so?"

The short answer is - "We don't know."

Perhaps the digital and multi-media staff at radio stations who know that it IS possible are so run off their feet and so pushed to focus on the 'big bucks' of one-off customised games and websites, that they can't be bothered mentioning multi-media radio commercials.

Perhaps sales managers are too worried about running a logo from one client over the top of audio from another -  but since they're already doing that, that's irrelevant.

At AudioNET we tend to think it's a case of the forest and the trees.

Radio stations are always chasing the 'big things' - big clients, big promotions, big dollars.

And yet, adding a small premium for logo and tagline to every single radio commercial 30 seconds and longer would add significantly to the bottom line at no extra cost.

Perhaps the real reason is best articulated by Ogilvy UK vice-chairman Rory Sutherland.

This very entertaining and enlightening TED talk from two years ago explains why organisations ignore simple, cost effective solutions, in favour of complicated and expensive strategies that don't work.