THE METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
7.3 Funding Mechanism Evaluation 46
7.3.1 Advertising and Sponsorship
Advertising and sponsorship space is sold in packages of various permutations based on the broadcast month, time slots and frequency of adverts. A thirty-second advert varies in price range, from R100, 00 for a low time slot to R400 for a super prime-time slot. As a result of Radio Al-Ansaar's relatively reasonable advertising rates, many small
Refer to Appendix Six for examples of the marketing material
The writer was given supervised access to the financial records of Radio Al-Ansaar but was not permitted to replicate them for inclusion as appendices to this thesis.
businesses, especially home industries that are otherwise precluded from advertising in the mainstream media due to the exorbitant advertising rates, have the opportunity to advertise their wares or services. Sponsorship falls into three categories which vary in price range:
• Special programme sponsorships such as the sponsorship of lectures broadcast from various mosques on Friday (an auspicious day in the Muslim week) cost R1000, for two mentions per hour
• Outdoor broadcast sponsorships from various Islamic centers cost R1500
• Special events sponsorships such as the morning congregational prayer on the day of the Muslim festival of Eid cost R3000, 00
(Al-Ansaar advertisement rate card, 200547) Not all advertisers are happy with the sponsorship prices. An advertiser described it as unethical. "How can a special broadcast cost R3000, 00? (Interview with F Kajee, 26 October 2005). He said that he understood that Al-Ansaar Foundation's "need to access more resources" but as a result "the station is a business tool" (Interview: 26 October 2005).
Since inception, the station's income from advertising and sponsorship is said to have increased consistently from one broadcast year to the next. That is until the 2004 Ramadan broadcast. Since then Ramadan has fallen between October and November and this period has proven to be inexplicably less popular with advertisers than when Ramadan fell in December. "We are down 30% on revenue this [2005] Ramadan broadcast" (Interview with S Karwa, October 2005). The revenue is nevertheless highest during the Ramadan broadcast with the revenue during the hajj and sirah broadcasts being markedly lower. During the sirah broadcast advert prices were capped at R250, 00 for a prime time slot and the outdoor broadcast sponsorship price was drastically reduced to R750, 00. "Ramadan to us [in terms of business] is what Christmas is to the business
Refer to Appendix Six (A) and (B)
people. The revenue drops in the hajj broadcast'" (informal discussion with R Jamal, July 2004).
Total Income (in Rands)
• Ramadan
•Hajj
• Sirah 79000
2001 2002 2003 Years
2004 2005
Fig. 6: Bar Graph depicting the revenue generated from advertising and sponsorship at Radio Al-Ansaar between 1998 and 2004
It is noted that advertisers and sponsors invest as a matter of self-interest; but they may find it in their own interest to keep a radio station going despite a lack off expected return: they may have ideological motives (Wedell, 1991). This is reflected in the following comment made by one of the Al-Ansaar advertising department personnel:
In Ramadan we have a very high listenership. People retain a budget for Ramadan and then [for] the hajj broadcast they would utilise a very small budget. They were just supporting Al-Ansaar. And we don't make any revenue in the hajj broadcast because people are just advertising to support us [...] you can't compare it [the revenue]. The sirah broadcast was the first broadcast and people just tried it out [...] we get a much more higher revenue in Ramadan (Interview with F Kader, 13 September 2005).
7.3.1.1 Advertiser, Sponsor and Product Profile
Al-Ansaar is the platform for publicity for a range of businesses and products.
Advertisers include small, medium and micro enterprises such as home industries to big
business and NGO's. Advertised products range from financial services to food products to clothing to a call for monetary donations towards various projects. The station has over the years built up a considerable advertising and sponsorship base. An advertising department personnel said that advertisers and sponsors started off supporting Radio Al- Ansaar because it was a non-profit organisation but over the years they have yielded positive results and have realised the value of advertising on the radio. "Certain companies said that because they advertised on Radio Al-Ansaar they have done phenomenally well; they were very successful" (Interview: F Kader, 13 September 2005).
Most advertisers and sponsors are locally based Muslim business owners, that is, from KwaZulu-Natal. However, Al-Ansaar's effectiveness as an advertising medium is telling, as a few businesses that operate nationally or are based only in the Gauteng province or in Cape Town, advertise on the station. A few non-Muslim businesses also advertise. Al- Ansaar also has a 'trade exchange' with a few businesses, such as an IT company, which provide a service to Al-Ansaar during the period of broadcast in exchange for advert spots. Al-Ansaar has learnt that these forms of trade exchange have to be handled carefully or else they could go awry as in the case of a business owner who wishes to remain anonymous:
I'm not involved with Al-Ansaar anymore because they went against the agreement and did not give me the number of spots promised. The ads didn't really benefit me cos their listeners are mainly housewives and my customers are mainly businesses but I was doing it for the community because it is an Islamic station (Informal discussion, August 2004).
Al-Ansaar is also cautious that its programme contents do not offend advertisers after such an experience with one of its biggest advertisers, a leading cooking oil manufacturer. A presenter of a health programme had callers querying the use of cooking oil and she spoke against its 'harmful effects'. "I don't know how it was dealt with the directors but the advertiser still came back to us" (Interview with F Kader, 13 September 2005).
Products and businesses have to be shari \3A-c0mpliant: Alcohol and pork based products, interest-based financial institutions (unless they promote a shari "a/z-compliant product, example, shari "a/z-compliant vehicle finance and other banking services that the major banks recently have started offering) and eateries and food sales outlets owned by non- Muslims are not permitted to advertise as the consumption of alcohol and pork, haraam meat and the collection of interest are prohibited in Islam.
7.3.1.2 Advert Production and Format
A signature of Al-Ansaar is that most adverts include a 'fun' element, which usually takes the form of satire and caricature: The Durban Indian accent is mimicked and exaggerated in many of the adverts and the 2005 Ramadan broadcast aired adverts that mimicked the Black and Coloured accents. Gender and age stereotypes are caricatured in some of the adverts. Adverts are in the form of speech, rap or song, usually in the acapella genre and include local slang. The adverts are mainly in English but bits of speech in ethnic languages such as Urdu or Gujerati are included and in the 2005 Ramadan broadcast, two of the adverts were scripted partially in Zulu. Music in the adverts is limited to jingles as Al-Ansaar's policy is to abide by the point of view held by traditional Islamic scholars, which forbids music. "We are not allowed any music, no musical instruments are allowed, just maybe a jingle here and there, but no music is allowed" (Interview with F Kader, 13 September 2005).
7.3.1.3. Broadcast Method
Adverts are played between and during programmes. The number of adverts played on a programme is determined by the perceived extent of popularity of the programme. The morning programme, suhoor, the taskiyya programme; nightline and the make up your mind are said to be the most popular:
With the suhoor, people switch on to the radio station as soon as they get up for sehri [the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan] and those people who can't hear the azaan [Muslim call to prayer] will listen to the closing for sehri, and because of the presenter and the way he
prepares for his show and the way he recites his duas [supplications to the Almighty]
(Interview: F Kader, 13 September 2005).
On average, programmes have four advert spots but a programme like Niteline, Al- Ansaar 's flagship talk show programme, for instance, would have at least six sponsorship
spots and thirty adverts spot in three hours due to its perceived popularity.
Presenters, when trained, are given pointers on the advert and sponsorship policy and how to accommodate these when on air, example, to allow for a break at least every fifteen minutes and that guests are not allowed to promote their businesses . Sponsorships49 are read out by presenters thrice during their respective programmes:
Shortly after the programme begins, in the middle of the programme and lastly, towards the end of the programme.
Besides the adverts that are paid for, Public Service Announcements (PSA) are made free of charge. These announcements either are interspersed sporadically between programmes or are included in the news or the community round up slot. Examples of announcements include funeral messages (which include the name of the person who passed away, the time of funeral prayer, the mosque where it would be held and the cemetery where the burial would take place) and the relay of a pre-recorded supplication for the deceased. Other types of information announced are short courses held by NGOs, public talks, the points of free distribution of Haleem50 or listeners are requested to pray for a person who has a serious illness. Listeners are invited to phone, fax or email information on events and happenings in their areas.
The implementation of this policy is debatable, because majority of listeners who phone-in to the talk show programmes request the phone number of the guest. Callers are transferred back to the technician who releases the guest's contact number off air.
49 Refer to Appendix Seven for an example of a sponsorship mention.
Haleem is a nutritional broth which is a staple component of the Indian Muslim diet during Ramadan and is consumed when the fast ends at sunset.