Case Studies
Radio connects UKTI with top execs since 1995
In 2004, Radio Marketing Bureau published a case-study focusing on UK Trade & Investment Canada’s successful use of radio advertising. This is a 2009 update of that case study.
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is a British government organization that supports international businesses seeking to set up or expand in the UK, and assists UK-based companies with expansion into other parts of the world. With offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Montreal, UKTI Canada’s Inward Investment Advisors help Canadian businesses to make sound investment decisions, and to quickly and smoothly set up and expand their business into the UK. Services include introductions to sector networks, thorough regional analysis, and consultation on key commercial and government considerations.
UK Trade & Investment Canada is well positioned to capitalize on today's global economy where international expansion is a key strategy for business growth and strengthened market position.
Challenge
UKTI Canada aims to build top-of-mind awareness amongst executive business decision makers at leading Canadian companies across all industry sectors. It targets those who are responsible for, or who might influence, the strategic direction of the company and who therefore would be involved in shaping an international-expansion strategy. As the needs of this target audience change – that is, as the senior decision-makers come to a point in their strategic planning where international expansion is worth considering – it is important for UKTI Canada to have a strong market presence as a valuable provider of support and resources related to international expansion.
The success of UKTI Canada’s marketing is measured by tracking inquiries, leads, and traffic to their website.
Solution
Trade marketing was not driving the desired number of leads and inquiries so in 1995 UKTI Canada moved to radio to achieve a stronger, continuous presence amongst senior business decision makers. Radio delivered high reach potential for this highly mobile target group, catching them "on the move" throughout the business day. Of vital importance was the ability to strategically deliver UKTI Canada’s message through an appropriate listening environment. All-news/news-talk formats were selected for the following key reasons:
- News programming offers "active listening" whereby people tune in to pay particular attention to the messages of the day.
- Program content includes Business Reports and other news and editorial topics relevant to the business community.
From a creative standpoint, radio offered the opportunity to present a "human voice" with which business leaders could identify – one that would naturally elicit confidence in UKTI Canada's expertise, and would stand out as unique from the usual print-based/graphics-driven B2B advertising.
Over the years, UKTI Canada’s retained The Norman Agency to write and produce radio spots using a case-study format. Each spot focuses on one Canadian company, explaining the nature of their business and their reasons for expanding into the UK. Previous messages featured announcers who would recount Canadian companies’ success in the UK and some of the steps taken to produce that success. The current creative features excerpts from actual audio interviews with executives responsible for taking their companies into the UK. There are now 60-second and 30-second versions of each case-study commercial. Campaign consistency is achieved by using the same announcer and the same music in all commercials. In each ad, there is a call-to-action to visit UKTI Canada’s website to listen to the entire interview with the featured executive. Every interview is a radio talk-show-style podcast (also written and produced by The Norman Agency, Toronto) that allows the featured executive to discuss in more detail their UK business experience (steps taken, resources found, successes enjoyed, etc.) .
The commercials run in four flights per year in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. Each flight consists of a minimum of four consecutive weeks and runs in each quarter of the year. This allows UKTI to have a relatively continuous on-air presence. Such a presence is important because UKTI needs to be top-of-mind with their target audience as that audience’s corporate strategies change to include international plans. In addition, UKTI’s broadcast schedule lets UKTI benefit from radio’s carryover effect, which makes it seem to listeners that UKTI is on the air much more than they actually are.
Results
Radio is the foundation of UKTI Canada's marketing communications program because it consistently drives a significant number of high-quality leads. In fact, given radio’s strength, UKTI Canada has dramatically reduced its trade and event marketing and PR.
UKTI Canada utilizes a disciplined approach to determining the source of all leads and to tracking all phone and web activity. There is a clear correlation between radio advertising and the increase in the number of Canadian companies who expressed an interest in expanding into the UK since radio was adopted in 1995.
High-level, strategic decision makers are responding to the radio advertising in numbers that far exceed what any other medium has been able to achieve. In addition, UKTI Canada executives have detected strong awareness of their radio commercials amongst the Canadian executive community. Radio keeps working for UKTI and continues to be its primary communication method in Canada.
"A key component of our success has been our consistent radio presence. Radio has afforded us a medium in which to reach our target audiences with relevant content that we may otherwise not have been able to do via other advertising choices."
"Our radio campaign is a staple of our marketing efforts and has proven valuable time and again. It has unquestionably helped us to share our message and deliver positive results for business growth."
Matthew Hobbs
HM Consul & Head of Investment
Director of Marketing
UK Trade & Investment Canada
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