Smart radio stations are promoting the UK Radioplayer this Christmas

There’s a new advertising campaign breaking on Boxing Day for the UK’s world-leading Radioplayer.

The message is “discover your perfect radio” and that can mean both content and device. The timing coincides with the launch of a Windows 8 version of the app.

Radioplayer is world-leading because it’s the first app designed to bring together content from just about the whole spectrum of UK radio providers behind one common interface  – in the familiar way a normal radio does. But it does much more – the interface makes clever use of metadata and listening trends to surface favourite and interesting new content as you’ll see in this demo:

To make the most of this cross-industry achievement, the same spirit of collaboration must extend to its promotion. That’s why the new campaign can run on any commercial or community radio station in the UK.

Here are some of the spots, voiced by Alan Davis and produced by Fresh Air Production:

[audio:http://earshotcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Radioplayer-Christmas-Copy.mp3|titles=”Radioplayer Christmas”]
[audio:http://earshotcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Radioplayer-Discover-Music.mp3|titles=”Radioplayer Discover music”][audio:http://earshotcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Radioplayer-Discover-Content.mp3|titles=”Radioplayer Discover content”][audio:http://earshotcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Radioplayer-Well-Done-You.mp3|titles=”Radioplayer Well Done You”]

Other variants are produced for different stations and some promote listening on the desktop too.

Global stations, the Absolute Network, Real and Smooth are already signed-up to run the new campaign but it could be heard across all stations if everybody gets on board.

Why wouldn’t you? Well I’ve heard some broadcasters say they’re nervous about promoting a gateway to an array of competing services. To them I say man-up! You’re stronger than that! It’s a mark of confidence in your brand and a tribute to your relationship with your audience that you are trusted to make such recommendations.

The data, explained by Matt here, shows that listeners who have access to digital radio on any device will increase the number of stations they enjoy across the week and the total time they spend listening to them. It’s going to happen anyway so you might as well get the credit, as a trusted friend of the listener, for guiding them to extra content they’ll like on a platform that makes it a pleasure to consume.

Secondly, you’ll be informing people who have received a tablet or a smartphone this Christmas that they’ve also received a pretty cool radio. Given the sales projections for iPads, Nexus 7s , Galaxies, Kindles, Hudls and Surfaces this Christmas there could be a lot of new radios in people’s hands. It’s in your interests for your listeners to know they have one.

So, if you truly want to give people more value from radio and you believe that listening to UK radio is a richer, more rewarding experience than that derived from streaming a bunch of songs from a music portal then you’ll be promoting the UK Radioplayer on your station and your website from Boxing Day.

Merry Christmas.