Radio sells the internet

Some organisations are just brilliant at controlling their brand identity worldwide. Orange is one of them, so you’ll recognise instantly this ad for Orange mobile internet which I spotted last week between Kampala and Jinja in Uganda.

But mobile internet? Why on earth would you want that then?

Well, slap bang in the middle of the features and benefits cloud in big bold type is… radio.

Tags: mobile internet, orange, Uganda

The rise of mobile

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How often have you heard the line “on tv, on radio, online”? We’ll here’s a campaign promoting content on a different mix of platforms.

These promos are for the BBC’s coverage of the Africa Cup of Nations. They’re on air in West Africa and, as you’ll see and hear, they promote coverage on radio, online and mobile with a strong emphasis on the latter.

Thing is, in much of Africa, online means mobile. A recent report picked up by guardian.co.uk highlighted some of the most popular mobile services. Top of the list was Facebook. The BBC was in the top 10 in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Namibia and Zambia. And the mobile web is growing fast in Africa with page impressions are up 374% in a year.

So what does this mean for radio?

Well, the BBC’s own Hausa language radio service, popular in Northern Nigeria, already has more than 5000 members to its new Facebook group. This from a largely rural part of a relatively poor country where fixed broadband access is out of the reach of the vast majority of people.

In the coming weeks I shall be spending some time in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria and will aim to bring back insights from the broadcasters there who are aiming to make the most of mobile.

But for now here are two tiny insights which go some way to suggest how important mobile has become to life in these countries:

In Nigeria, one radio station manager told me recently that “some people would rather go without a meal than go without their mobile”.

Then, while travelling across Ghana on National Farmers’ Day (we should have one of those) I was listening to a radio phone-in celebrating rural life.

The presenter took a call from a woman who said she had lived without fresh water for seven years. But it was the presenter’s back-anno that truly summed things up:

“…and if you’ve lived for seven years or more without water then text us…”

Tags: Africa, africa cup, facebook, football, Hausa, mobile

Radio at the Edge

If you want to make your radio promotions ever-more compelling and effective you really need to think about what’s next in radio and how to exploit it.

I say that with some confidence and a perhaps little smugness, having just helped a team of BBC World Service people secure the P&M award for best cross-platform campaign.

More on that soon, but not before you can get the same forward-thinking insights that helped us, just by turning up at an event in London.

Radio At the Edge on 9 November promises a strong line-up of sessions and guests this year, covering subjects across programming, marketing, web production, business and strategy disciplines. The day has everything from learning from Google’s approach to advertising to understanding the new mobile revolution.

If any of that excites you or worries you, Radio At The Edge is the event to attend.

Disclosure: it’s odd how some deals are structured but, by writing this post, I am promised beer and sausages from James Cridland. Study the photo above and then let me know whether you think I got a good deal.

Tags: London, Radio Academy, Radio At The Edge