The radio advertiser

The summer was rainy. But instead of low pressure, the Swiss radio scene experienced an all-time high. From May to July, swiss radioworld (srw) achieved an average 16 percent year-on-year increase in sales. In July alone, it was 30.5 percent. "We are confident of working out a golden autumn 2014 for advertising customers and radio stations," Ralf Brachat is therefore optimistic. As of March 1, 2014, the former Co-Managing Director at Warner Music Switzerland assumed responsibility as the new Managing Director of srw. Ralf Brachat succeeded Bruno Oetterli, who remains Delegate of the Board of Directors. swiss radioworld emerged from the Radio Unit of Goldbach Media on July 1, 2013, and now operates as an independent intermediary with headquarters on Seestrasse near the train station in Wollishofen. The organization, with 13 employees, has since operated as a subsidiary of the Goldbach Group. The establishment of srw was intended to bundle the expertise that Goldbach Media had acquired as an intermediary for all private radio stations in Switzerland up to that point and to take account of the growth potential of the radio genre.

Radio can look back on a history of over 100 years - and even in the age of the Internet, it is still the most widely used medium: starting when you get up, then on the way to the office and back - all day long. In order to keep its appeal high in the future, the specialists at srw are working with partner radio stations to demonstrate its impact as well as current and future usage, and to create offers for advertisers based on this. "Radio customers should be able to concentrate on their core business, and we are happy to take the detailed planning of their advertising activities off their hands. We offer individual solutions in standardized processes, which achieve measurable results even in interaction with other advertising media," explains Brachat. With his team, he wants to establish products that go beyond the pure radio spot. "Although we are of course aware that spot campaigns are our main business. We are very active in genre marketing and want to reinforce to our clients that radio is one of the most effective media due to its speed, flexibility and intensity." The media experts at srw search for, analyze and communicate trends in the business ecosystem "radio". They are the experienced partners of private radio stations and accompany them into the digital future with customized solutions. "New technologies offer new opportunities. We see ourselves as trend scouts in the digital market, always on the lookout for new opportunities. We adapt these to the needs of the local market and develop attractive new advertising platforms together with our partner stations ", is how Brachat describes his task. "There's still room to grow," he says on the question of whether the market will stagnate or continue to grow. "Interesting new customers have currently been added to our existing and long-standing partnerships, because we have been able to prove that radio can make a difference for good brands. So we've also managed to get customers back on board who haven't thought about radio for a long time." This certainly has something to do with the fact that Ralf Brachat personally visits the agencies with his sales team. "I'm on an intensive roadshow with my sales team, we present ourselves and our vision," says the Managing Director, explaining an important part of his activities in his new role.

"The image of the medium of radio needs a brush-up, and I want to actively work for this rejuvenation," promises the man born in 1971. This also includes continuing the major genre marketing campaign "Marketing Rppen," which srw launched back in 2012. Stations pay one centime per advertising customer referred and SRW then doubles the sum. The funds raised in this way are then used for generic advertising, market research and portals set up specifically for this purpose, such as the radio spot archive.

The time is ripe, because the medium of radio is experiencing a revival in combination with the Internet. Radio consumption via cell phone or web radio will play an increasingly important role in the future. "This is where the great potential lies. Web radio combines the strengths of radio and the Web and opens up new target groups with little wasted coverage." Another way to access the new radio world is with the "Radiocircus". Here, swiss radioworld has achieved the almost impossible: For the first time for Switzerland, more than 30 radio stations are united on the largest Swiss private radio platform. Content such as news feeds, playlists, event calendars and podcasts are offered. The audio advertising format, including banners, can be booked. The original audio advertising of the individual stations is broadcast unchanged, but can now be supplemented by the placement of a pre-roll ad. "There will be other platforms entering the market. Pandora, for example, has shaken up the radio market in the U.S. - similar offerings will be added in Europe," Brachat sees in his analysis. He is also convinced: "Young radio listeners today no longer want to own their music, but to consume it. For such opportunities, they are also willing to pay something for it." Upheavals in existing markets, Ralf Brachat could observe in the course of his career from the most different waits, because before he joined srw, he got to know the audio industry in changing functions at Warner Music.

"In the music industry, a career usually begins as a promotion manager. That means you bring artists to Switzerland and offer them to the media for interviews," the sales specialist recalls of his career start at Warner Music. He then briefly switched to the financial sector, to Eurocard. "But this detour into the financial world wasn't my thing. Just the fact that everyone was on first name terms was kind of a culture shock for me." At Warner, things were more relaxed in that regard. "The music business is primarily a people business," he says, describing the atmosphere. "But you don't have to master an instrument to be able to promote a band; good contacts with journalists are more helpful. There it depends on the own personality and not on a technical education. "Nevertheless, Ralf Brachat also earned a federal diploma as a sales manager during this phase.

He remembers his time with music stars from all over the world fondly. "Even if some of them were divas." For one rock star, for example, only a very special suite came into question; with another, he had to play chess for two days in every free minute. But if the chess opponent is a member of the Scorpions, one accepts as a "youngster " this "sacrifice" of course gladly. "Experiencing stars that others only know from TV up close and personal and accompanying them through Switzerland, that's what I liked back then," says Ralf Brachat, looking back on his wild years at Warner.

However, even dream jobs are not immune to real-life problems. Along with the digital transformation, a decline in sales also began in the music industry in 2001. For Ralf Brachat, this meant "struggling" at first. For the promotion manager was promoted to Sales Director in 2004, with the task of building up the digital business at Warner. In 2003, iTunes had entered the Swiss market. "With this legal download method, we now had to try to make up somewhat for the sales slump that piracy had brought us."

At that time, up to 36 people worked at Warner Switzerland. When an investor bought the Swiss branch out of the Time Warner Group in 2004, the workforce had to be cut in half from one day to the next. "I'll never forget that Monday in the office," Brachat muses. For him, however, this cut resulted in a positive outcome; he was promoted to co-managing director at Switzerland's third-largest label.

"I enjoyed the job until the last day. A super environment with all the artists and the international managers and labels. In the train of musical and technical development, something new has been added all the time." Those around him would also never have thought that he would want to give up this prestigious "dream job" as CEO of a music label. "But after 15 years and at my age of 43, the point finally came where I had a great desire for a change and wanted to get to know something new," says Ralf Brachat, explaining his "departure at the peak" and the switch to the advertising industry.

Andreas Panzeri