Radio 24 wants even more posters
Cross-media The experience of a combined trial between Radio 24 and Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft Zürich was so good that the private broadcaster is considering a nationwide expansion.
Cross-media The experience of a combined trial between Radio 24 and Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft Zürich was so good that the private broadcaster is considering a nationwide expansion.
What has long been the order of the day in the USA - commercial cooperation between local radio stations and billposters - was tested this summer by Radio 24 and the Zurich branch of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG). In a first-time trial for the city and region of Zurich, they offered an advertising combination consisting of radio and poster. The offer for radio-listening commuters was attractive, at least in terms of price (see box). The trial is over. Was it worth it? Both Radio 24 and APG Zurich are pretty tight-lipped when asked. "We are very satisfied, it has become clear that the offer meets a need. The demand is certainly there," explains Belcom Sales Manager Richard Gasser. He does not want to disclose any exact figures, neither on bookings nor on customers. He is also keeping quiet about their industry affiliation. "We are still evaluating the situation, but there was a lot of interest and a good response," adds Beat Holenstein, branch manager of APG Zurich.
One thing is certain, however: the two media providers will soon sit down together and work out whether and in what form they will continue the combined offer. Radio 24 appears to be more interested in the collaboration than APG. It was Gasser who submitted a cooperation offer to the Affichage subsidiary at the time. Gasser openly admits that this was primarily for economic reasons. "We have to come to terms with the current circumstances. They inspire us," he says. He is therefore confident that a new combined offer will soon be available for 2004, valid from January 1 and for the whole year.
New honeypot for private radio stations
But Gasser is already thinking ahead: "We are currently considering extending the offer - beyond Radio 24 and Radio Zürisee to the entire city pool." In other words: Radio 24 seems to have discovered a honey pot in the collaboration with APG, which the pool partners Basilisk, ExtraBern, Pilatus and perhaps Aktuell/Toxic should also feed off.
APG has not yet grasped this pace - at least notionally. Holenstein wants to examine "this interesting proposal". The APG branches in Berne, Basel and Lucerne know nothing yet. Affichage General Director Christian Kauter is also not yet aware of this proposal from Werdstrasse. Moreover, even he does not yet have the figures for the Zurich trial. Nevertheless, he is not averse to Gasser's idea: "If a combination of APG and City-Pool is commercially interesting and there is demand for it, we are open to it," he says.
Such a combination is perhaps attractive because you can
the connection of "Out of Home Medias" could appeal to commuters in particular. However, he was skeptical as to whether what works in Zurich would also work elsewhere. He also made it clear that even if the new combos were successful, APG would not suddenly want to acquire stakes in radio marketers - as its competitor Clear Channel Plakanda had tried to do. "We are sticking to our core business. The current cooperation with Radio 24 does not mean a departure from this strategy," says Kauter.
Zurich local radio station 24 would like to continue benefiting from the good combi experience with APG, but the poster company is still hesitating.
Poster-radio comboFor a period of seven days each from June to September
One APG poster network and 40 15-second radio spots were placed in parallel. There were two options: Combi 1 covered the city of Zurich with Radio 24 and 106 billboards, while Combi 2 covered the Zurich agglomeration with the Züri Pool (Radios 24 and Zürisee) and 293 APG billboards. Customers only had to pay the price for the selected APG network (CHF 32880 and CHF 67050 respectively) and received the radio services free of charge. According to APG, this gave them a reach of over 80 percent and 20 to 30 opportunities to see (OTS) or 5 opportunities to hear (OTH). Posting and placement took place from Monday to Sunday. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
What has long been the order of the day in the USA - commercial cooperation between local radio stations and billposters - was tested this summer by Radio 24 and the Zurich branch of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG). In a first-time trial for the city and region of Zurich, they offered an advertising combination consisting of radio and poster. The offer for radio-listening commuters was attractive, at least in terms of price (see box). The trial is over. Was it worth it? Both Radio 24 and APG Zurich are pretty tight-lipped when asked. "We are very satisfied, it has become clear that the offer meets a need. The demand is certainly there," explains Belcom Sales Manager Richard Gasser. He does not want to disclose any exact figures, neither on bookings nor on customers. He is also keeping quiet about their industry affiliation. "We are still evaluating the situation, but there was a lot of interest and a good response," adds Beat Holenstein, branch manager of APG Zurich.
One thing is certain, however: the two media providers will soon sit down together and work out whether and in what form they will continue the combined offer. Radio 24 appears to be more interested in the collaboration than APG. It was Gasser who submitted a cooperation offer to the Affichage subsidiary at the time. Gasser openly admits that this was primarily for economic reasons. "We have to come to terms with the current circumstances. They inspire us," he says. He is therefore confident that a new combined offer will soon be available for 2004, valid from January 1 and for the whole year.
New honeypot for private radio stations
But Gasser is already thinking ahead: "We are currently considering extending the offer - beyond Radio 24 and Radio Zürisee to the entire city pool." In other words: Radio 24 seems to have discovered a honey pot in the collaboration with APG, which the pool partners Basilisk, ExtraBern, Pilatus and perhaps Aktuell/Toxic should also feed off.
APG has not yet grasped this pace - at least notionally. Holenstein wants to examine "this interesting proposal". The APG branches in Berne, Basel and Lucerne know nothing yet. Affichage General Director Christian Kauter is also not yet aware of this proposal from Werdstrasse. Moreover, even he does not yet have the figures for the Zurich trial. Nevertheless, he is not averse to Gasser's idea: "If a combination of APG and City-Pool is commercially interesting and there is demand for it, we are open to it," he says.
Such a combination is perhaps attractive because you can
the connection of "Out of Home Medias" could appeal to commuters in particular. However, he was skeptical as to whether what works in Zurich would also work elsewhere. He also made it clear that even if the new combos were successful, APG would not suddenly want to acquire stakes in radio marketers - as its competitor Clear Channel Plakanda had tried to do. "We are sticking to our core business. The current cooperation with Radio 24 does not mean a departure from this strategy," says Kauter.
Zurich local radio station 24 would like to continue benefiting from the good combi experience with APG, but the poster company is still hesitating.
Poster-radio comboFor a period of seven days each from June to September
One APG poster network and 40 15-second radio spots were placed in parallel. There were two options: Combi 1 covered the city of Zurich with Radio 24 and 106 billboards, while Combi 2 covered the Zurich agglomeration with the Züri Pool (Radios 24 and Zürisee) and 293 APG billboards. Customers only had to pay the price for the selected APG network (CHF 32880 and CHF 67050 respectively) and received the radio services free of charge. According to APG, this gave them a reach of over 80 percent and 20 to 30 opportunities to see (OTS) or 5 opportunities to hear (OTH). Posting and placement took place from Monday to Sunday. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli
