Brand Loyalty Goes Mobile, and Global, for BBC Radio

While traditional or terrestrial radio continues to struggle in the U.S., one the world’s most storied broadcasters, the BBC, continues to move with the times. Available since 2012 in the U.K., and downloaded more than 10 million times there, the BBC iPlayer radio app is now available worldwide and is expanding the reach of all stations under the BBC umbrella.
 
“A lot of the stuff we do is mobile first,” David Walsh, head of marketing for BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, two of the broadcaster’s top stations, told Loyalty360. “The iPlayer radio app is a really great tool to be able to browse throughout the course of the BBC’s various radio stations.”
 
In addition to being able to access all of the BBC radio stations at the spin of a dial, you can also download podcasts and search content by categories such as documentary, drama, news, music, and more.
 
“In terms of the social media stuff that we’re putting out there, we’re experimenting with all the different formats that are mobile first,” Walsh explained, “and from a marketing perspective as well, we’re encouraging things like deep linking within Facebook ads and all the things you do to enhance the experience you get on the mobile platform.”
 
For younger listeners, particularly those that listen to Radio 1 and 1Xtra, the mobile app is the preferred method of tuning into BBC Radio.
 
“The stats we’re seeing at the moment in terms of how the youth audience interacts with the brand are interesting,” Walsh said. “Desktop is pretty much dead for them so everything we do in terms of the marketing approach and the content we’re producing through the stations, we have to be thinking about the kid using it on a mobile phone.”
 
That is also true for World Service, however, which for years has promoted a variety of ways for listeners around the world to be able to access that station. The audience for World Service is, of course, much more diverse and tends to skew higher in terms of age. This shift to other platforms, including mobile, has been particularly important as the use of shortwave radio, once a mainstay of BBC World Service listenership, has declined over the years. Still, that particular station has more than 66 million listeners outside of Britain.
 
Back at Radio 1 and 1Xtar, which is targeted at the 15-29 age demographic, mobile is the preferred platform.
 
“I think the biggest change for us has been how our target group consumes musical content,” Walsh said.
 
In 2014, Radio 1 conducted a survey among its core demographic. The survey revealed that the number of young people who owned a radio was declining sharply. Walsh said that can be traced back to 2007 and the launch of the iPhone.
 
“That changed everything because, before that, a lot of your phones had FM chips in them so you could listen to the radio for free on your phone,” he explained. “Apple and the iPhone changed everything.”
 
Over-the-air listening continues to decline, particularly for Radio 1.
 
“The important thing for us to do is to create opportunities on other platforms so you can still get the Radio One feel, the Radio One vibe, the Radio One attitude, but it puts you on a platform that you use regularly as a young person,” Walsh added.
 
In the U.S., apps like iHeart Radio and TuneIn continue to be the go-to apps for bringing traditional radio to mobile. Whether BBC iPlayer can put a dent in the market share of those competing apps in this country remains to be seen, but the BBC is not sitting still.
 
“There are going to be features within iPlayer that allows each user to have a personalized experience in terms of the content that is suggested and likes,” Walsh said. “Innovation is core to what we’re doing and content has always been at the very heart of what we do, and so our innovations all around are making it easier for people to access the content that we produce and that they love.”

Recent Content

Membership and Pricing

Videos and podcasts

Membership and Pricing