30 Under 30: Meet your Marketing winners

It’s time to meet more of the class of 2020!

This time around, it’s the Marketing winners from Radio Today’s 30 Under 30 competition.

Congratulations to Hannah Astra from Australian Radio Network, and Macey Gibbs and Vanessa Butcher from NOVA Entertainment.

Here, each winner spells out exactly what they think the greatest challenge facing the industry is, as they battle with how to promote it in a pandemic – and why they believe, despite the challenges, radio will continue to thrive.

Radio Today’s 30 Under 30 Awards were made possible by support from ARN, Nine, SCA, NOVA, ACE Radio and Sony Music.

Hannah Astra, Australian Radio Network

What are the biggest challenges facing the industry?

“In this digital age, it’s never been more important for radio to maintain relevance within the media landscape. As an industry we must continue to adapt how we connect with consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, who don’t have the same ingrained radio habits.

“The way in which people consume media has changed – we’re no longer just competing for a share of audio, but against all media consumption, established and emerging, including TV, SVOD, streaming (music and podcast), social and more.

“With the continued growth of independent content curators, the appetite for content from mainstream players is no longer as it once was. Independents can now provide niche content offerings, on-demand and ad-free, having more access than ever to influencers and celebrities to develop exclusive content to a highly engaged audience.

“So, how do we, as an industry, compete?

“With access to some of Australia’s, and the world’s, best talent, established audiences, technologies and budgets, there’s an opportunity to further evolve the role of radio for younger generations. We need to enable these generations to experience radio like never before, and as a marketer in the industry, there is an opportunity to reframe radio as it once was, increasing awareness and engagement of our content offerings, maintaining relevance to a younger audience whilst continuing to innovate.

“In addition, young leaders must continue to influence change within the industry. There has never been a better time to empower and trust young leaders within the industry to have more influence in decision-making and strategy for radio to evolve.”

Macey Gibbs, NOVA Entertainment

What are the biggest challenges facing the industry?

“I feel very lucky to work in radio and think the industry is in a good place, but we are certainly facing some challenges.

“Music streaming is getting bigger and bigger and this could definitely be seen to be a threat to radio listening. We are up against the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal etc., who are showing strong increases in numbers.

“Another challenge is the changing consumption habits and how people are listening to the radio. While this has been evolving over time, COVID-19 triggered a huge switch with more and more people in their homes (and working from home) as opposed to commuting. We know over half of daily radio listens take place in car, so when you reduce the amount of traveling to and from work / school it’s something we need to be mindful of.

“However, if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s: ‘Ok how do we fix this problem and make it work?’

“When looking to combat companies like Spotify, I think content and our on-air tactics are key – we know it’s why a lot of people come to radio, so it’s all about making sure our content and tactics shine and that we’re marketing these as much as possible. These are things that music streaming services don’t provide.

“As for changing habits, we’re working hard as a business on looking at how these habits are evolving and ensuring that we’re catering for the way in which people are listening. Throughout COVID we actually ran a comp specifically optimised for smart speakers where people could use their speaker to enter the competition.

“We are aware of the challenges, but believe we are in a strong place to combat them.”

Vanessa Butcher, NOVA Entertainment

What are the biggest challenges facing the industry?

“Gender equality in the radio industry and more broadly speaking, the media industry, is constantly improving and the gap is being bridged day by day. I can proudly say I work in a company with a female CEO and many women in senior positions throughout the business who I admire.

“Unfortunately though, there are still barriers women need to overcome before equality can be achieved. A problem I am noticing more often is the lack of opportunity for mothers returning to the workforce. It’s no secret that the industry we work in is very demanding and is certainly not a ‘nine-to-five Monday to Friday’ job. I think we all accept that and secretly (or not so secretly) love the intensity of it and the thrill of never sitting still.

“This intensity is what makes it hard for mothers to come back to work though and not feel guilty about needing to change their priorities.

“There is a lot that needs to be done around how we welcome them back and accommodate their new needs. With the current pandemic, there has been no option other than to be flexible and not stick to the ‘rules’.

“Now is our chance to look at how else we can keep valuable women who are returning to the industry.”

Stay tuned for the next two weeks as Radio Today uncovers more of the award-winning answers from our 30 Under 30 class of 2020. 

You can listen to the special edition Radio Today Tonight podcast about the 30 Under 30 winners below.