HotFM Research Report

Transcription

1 QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY HotFM Research Report Entertainment Marketing Tobias Weston n /18/2015 Tutor Cameron Mackay Word Count - 970

2 Executive Summary. The purpose of this report was to conduct research into the attitudes audiences have towards different radio breakfast show content and to provide recommendations for improvement. Mr Ross Turner, content director at HotFm stated he felt his station lacked a brand identity. Based on this, and the research findings which suggested audiences enjoy more music and less advertising three recommendations were constructed. It was suggested that Mr Turner consider his overall music style and amount, the affect advertising has on the station brand and the interactivity of online mediums. Ultimately this report aims to assist in building a definitive image and increase brand value for HotFm. P a g e 1 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

3 Contents Executive Summary Research Plan Client issues and brief Situation Analysis Research Question and Objectives Target Audience Research Method Research Findings Attitudes towards different Breakfast Show content Qualitative Data Important information Recommendations Music amount and type adjustment Advertising during breakfast show Breakfast Content and the online Environment Reference List Appendices P a g e 2 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

4 1.0 Research Plan 1.1 Client issues and brief Situation Analysis As Mr Turner has communicated that his station HotFM, only has an 8 percent share in the market audience. He believes his station hasn t been able to build a solid image with which consumers can identify. His main competitors, MixFM and SeaFM, both have larger audience shares and definitive images. He has asked us to conduct research to establish methods for building a stronger brand image and ultimately a bigger audience. 1.2 Research Question and Objectives Based on Mr Turner s request the following research plan was set out: Research Questions: How do listeners feel about different breakfast show segments? How do listeners interact with radio stations other than by tuning in? Research Objectives: To identify the value of individual breakfast show segments that audiences experience. To discover how audiences interact with radio stations. 1.3 Target Audience Mr Turner has requested he would like to target women between the age 24 and 45 as his radio audience. This is based on the image he would like to build around family friendliness and aspirational values. This target audience is also outside his competitor s audience and thus should be easier to access. We used the same target audience for our survey as their opinion will be most valuable for keeping research relevant. 1.4 Research Method We chose to use an online survey to reach audiences as this method is best for gaining a large sample size (Hair et al., 2014). The survey asked participants to rate different content segments from 1 to 5 and also included open questions based on other topics. If a participant answered all questions we would be able understand their attitude towards different aspects of radio and be able to assign them a demographic. The survey used can be found as Appendix 1. P a g e 3 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

5 2.0 Research Findings The data gathered is qualitative and quantitative in nature and thus has been analysed separately. A gender/age response summary has been constructed using google forms (see figures below). Figure 1. Summary of gender and age response rates As it can be seen we received an 84.1% female return rate and approximately a 50% return in the target age group. It should be noted that for best results for HotFM this survey should ve been conducted within the actual radio catchment of the target audience however data is still useful for achieving research objectives. P a g e 4 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

6 2.1 Attitudes towards different Breakfast Show content Traffic. News. Weather. P a g e 5 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

7 On air contests. Breakfast show host anecdotes. Audience calling in. P a g e 6 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

8 Celebrity Gossip. Music. These bar graphs represent the attitude of all respondents, so more in depth analysis is required to determine target market attitudes however they are useful for providing overall insight. As seen above music is clearly more appreciated than celebrity gossip content. P a g e 7 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

9 2.2 Qualitative Data As can be seen below the data was grouped by target audience and short response answers were compared. A thematic analysis was conducted on the qualitative data from only the target audience. Figure 2. Example of how qualitative data was grouped for analysis. Based on responses the following relevant statistics were constructed. What makes you change station? 43% - advertising 27% - too much talking 17% - poor music Where do usually access news? 40% - online 10% - social media 40% - TV (40% - Radio as well as other sources) Where do you usually access celebrity stories? 13% - online 10% - social media 10% - TV 13% - radio Where do you usually access what s on information? 13% - online 30% - social media 10% - radio P a g e 8 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

10 It was found that 95% respondents were listening to radio mostly in their cars and also that 63% had never accessed a radio station social media page. 2.3 Important information The recommendations provided in this report ultimately aim to increase overall brand value however emphasis is placed on the breakfast show as it is in this area most competitive and essential to appeal to listeners. Some of the key impressions taken from the research include the positive attitude towards music, the effect advertising has on listeners and online nature of interactivity and information consumption. My recommendations will be based around utilising these 3 ideas. 3.0 Recommendations 3.1 Music amount and type adjustment Currently the 80 s, 90 s now that you play isn t entirely right for your target market. Recent research has shown that your target age/gender would prefer more modern pop music (Lamere, 2013). This is also supported by stats taken from music streaming services. By playing the right music you will first and foremost attract the listeners you want, and by playing more music you will be minimising the impact of other negatives such as ads. 3.2 Advertising during breakfast show "Advertisers buy into loyalty because people listen at the same time each day. To maximise their spend on radio, advertisers must consider breakfast because it has the most powerful draw. (Media watch, 1997) Although this quote is old it s still relevant now, it s basically saying the value of a radio station lies in its brand value or loyalty. As breakfast shows attract the most listeners this segment is of most value to advertisers. The research we conducted shows us that audiences are repelled by on air advertising. According to Gellar (2011) advertising is incorporated by the listener into brand image. Keeping this in mind the content director should chose ads which support the themes the station is trying to exemplify. 3.3 Breakfast Content and the online Environment Looking at the breakfast content responses, music was received most positively by the target audience hence the reason for recommendation 1. Interestingly news, weather and traffic reports were also received positively despite the fact most listeners primarily accessed this information on the internet. Gazi (2011) suggests radio stations should embrace as much audience interactivity as possible and I P a g e 9 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

11 believe HotFm should consider this. Facebook, Instagram and twitter are all already connected and easily useable as support mediums for your content. They provide direct interactivity from your station to your audience and vice versa. For this reason I suggest building a stronger social media presence which supports your already existing content. Audience call in segments were received averagely and in this case I suggest rather than scrapping the segment and losing interactivity build new content based on comments and communications through the internet. This will motivate your audience to use your social media more as well. P a g e 10 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

12 4.0 Reference List Gazi,, Angeliki, Starkey, G., & Jedrzejewski, S. (2011). Radio content in the digital age: The evolution of a sound medium. Bristol, UK: Intellect. Geller, V., & Ryder, T. (2011). Beyond powerful radio: A communicator's guide to the internet age : News, talk, information & personality for broadcasting, podcasting, internet, radio (2nd ed.). Amsterdam;Boston;: Elsevier/Focal Press. Hair, J. F., Lukas, B., Miller, K. E., Bush, R. P., Ortinau, D. J., Roberts, K... Lee-Lukas, S. (2014). Marketing research (4thition. ed.). North Ryde, NSW: McGraw-Hill Education Lamere. (2013). Exploring age-specific preferences in listening. Music Machinery. Accessed at Media watch: Breakfast radio. (1997, Feb 27). Marketing,, 11. Retrieved from P a g e 11 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

13 5.0 Appendices Appendix 1. Survey Accessed at P a g e 12 - Tobias Weston n AMB207 Entertainment Marketing