Following the success of the “Today Radio” and “Now” brands in Canada focusing on personal interaction between hosts and listeners, Alan Burns and Associates has announced its intent to market their variation of the concept domestically.
Burns is launching what they call “Social Radio” and has trademarked that name along with “The Social FM“, “The Story“, “You FM“, and “Join The Conversation” for use with the product. In its marketing page, the company states the approach can work with different music mixes and strategies, while emphasizing the personalities and listener stories to differentiate itself from streaming and other “jukebox with commercials” station presentations.
One of radio’s biggest problems is that it has done a poor job of focusing on listeners, says Alan Burns, President of Alan Burns and Associates. “Consumers want products and services that focus on the consumer’s needs and desires” he says, “but what do music radio stations talk about most? Themselves. And who do our highest-profile personalities talk to most? Each other. We can and need to do better at putting the audience first.”
To meet that need Burns and Associates is introducing Social RadioTM, a music-and-talk model which has proven to be successful in Canada. According to Burns, the first two stations adopting this approach have achieved years of consistent #1 Adults 25-54 shares – almost ten years of non-stop #1 books in the case of the first-in station.
“Social Radio is compelling because of the power of personal stories” says Burns. “Humans are hard- wired to tell and listen to stories, and Social Radio is driven by listeners contributing “what happened to me when” stories by phone and text. This is radio’s version of the user-generated content model that made companies like Facebook and You Tube so successful.”
“Both listeners and advertisers love this approach” adds Burns VP Jeff Johnson, “listeners love it for the entertaining stories and music, and advertisers because it’s a very highly-engaged audience.”
This concept is going to have a huge impact on American radio” says Burns, “and our company is leading the charge.”
Early stations in the model have been branded as “Today” or “Now” which Burns says are “fine names, and we have trademarked additional language including ‘The Social FM,’ ‘The Story,’ ‘You-FM,’ and ‘Join the conversation’ to insure they are available for our clients’ use.
Interested broadcasters can hear a sample of Social Radio at http://www.burnsradio.com/social-radio.
For more information, contact Alan Burns, President of Alan Burns and Associates, at (251)243-1592 or via alan@burnsradio.com
