QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

HotFM Research Report

Entertainment Marketing

Tobias Weston – n8324352

10/18/2015

Tutor – Cameron Mackay

Word Count - 970

P a g e | 1 - Tobias Weston – n8324352 – AMB207 Entertainment Marketing

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.

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Contents

Executive Summary. ...................................................................................................................................... 1

1.0 Research Plan .......................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Client issues and brief Situation Analysis ............................................................................................ 3

1.2 Research Question and Objectives ..................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Target Audience .................................................................................................................................. 3

1.4 Research Method ................................................................................................................................ 3

2.0 Research Findings ................................................................................................................................... 4

2.1 Attitudes towards different Breakfast Show content ......................................................................... 5

2.2 Qualitative Data .................................................................................................................................. 8

2.3 Important information ........................................................................................................................ 9

3.0 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 9

3.1 Music amount and type adjustment ................................................................................................... 9

3.2 Advertising during breakfast show ..................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Breakfast Content and the online Environment ................................................................................. 9

4.0 Reference List ........................................................................................................................................ 11

5.0 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 12

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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.

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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.

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2.1 Attitudes towards different Breakfast Show content

Traffic.

News.

Weather.

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On air contests.

Breakfast show host anecdotes.

Audience calling in.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

http://musicmachinery.com/2014/02/13/age-specific-listening/

Media watch: Breakfast radio. (1997, Feb 27). Marketing, , 11. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/215009024?accountid=13380

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5.0 Appendices

Appendix 1.

Survey Accessed at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hYupR9GvkvB3CMpbREtsLsnhF2Tu4adBxPA1aGojiFE/viewform