Does Ham Radio Need to Rebrand?

Prosciutto Radio or maybe Capicola Radio.

 

Bon appétit!

 

More relevant piece of news I found is
https://www.icqpodcast.com/news/2021/5/9/brazils-radio-hams-campaign-for-tax-exemption
Come on! get real! those Rener and Labre members are a complete fraud, claiming for a tax exemption for their own imported purchases, for them only, while us, the remaining 40k licensed radio-amateurs in Brazil would still have to pay a total of 80% taxes for improving or settling up our stations.
Dear congressmen, if you cared, limiting taxes to 40% for every and each radio-amateur in Brazil would boost our hobby 400% the very next day.
No more greedy sellers also, gone all to the umbral.
Many radio-amateurs gonna become more efficient, thousands of them ready to help, to learn, go-boxes galore... when less then a hundred is truly needed!

Them, those Rener and Labre OF, they've got to save a thousand lives each week, burning much fat in the process, to be granted such a coveted privilege.

But, I guess we, as altruist citizens, we should give them a helping hand paying 90% or even 100% taxes. Then our wonderful tax collector is likely to grant that tax exemption highly deserved for deserving our ham community.

Only in Brazil, definitely, such a way of thinking. Got to agree @PR7GA

Oliver

 

How bout VR? It fits! Vanity Radio, Virtually Redundant, Vocal Rednecks, Vacuous Recluses, Very Ridiculous..... Oh here's a good one for qrz.com these days...Veritas Reductio.

 

Reply to WN1MB ......Good one.

How I’ve come to despise that word. Along with ‘communities.’

 

Don't call it "ham radio". Call it "playing pool with the ionosphere".

(Admittedly there's more to the hobby than that...but that's the part I most enjoy.)

 

So a choral hop propagation would be a multi-bank shot. I like it!

 

Mmmmmmmm That looks Good !
G3SEA/KH6

 

rebrand, you cant rebrand a hobby that has no brand...ham radio was never marketed the right way, if it was promoted in main stream america it would be more popular.

ham radio problem is that its not marketed the right way

 

I would agree that we have a marketing problem, but I'm not sure how feasible it is to fix it. Awareness of ham radio in the general community is extremely low - and that will inevitably translate to falling numbers of active licences as we oldies drop off the perch. Trouble in that marketing is extremely expensive and I see no evidence that any person or organisation is willing and able to meet the cost. A couple of years ago, we were launching a new product for which there was zero market awareness. We spoke to a variety of media outlets - both traditional and new media - and the cost is quite terrifying. A thirty second advert once a day for a month on a national radio station with a moderate audience was going to cost a couple of hundred thousand pounds. We had no confidence that traditional media would deliver anything, so we chose to go with new media - Google, Facebook etc. That can be cheaper because you only pay per view, but the conversion rate is very poor.

I simply can't see the ARRL or RSGB being willing to spend anywhere near enough money to mount a neaningful marketing campaign...

Martin (G8FXC)

 

Critical Radio Theory

 

exposure,exposure......if you want to market something well. people need to see it out there more.....main stream america still thinks its your grandfather's hobby.

we got more than 50k of new licenses last year but even tho the was the most ever in history...how many will remain in this hobby and continue what has been layed down.

longevity is a good thing if you make it so so want to stay in it.

here is something my son said to me, "dad why would i want to be in your hobby when its filled with old creepy men and i said they are good people out there, he say's why would a young person want or have in common with a older man". his comments hit home big time.

he is right tho ...the number of young hams is very low and when a young ham gets on air......i must say this......its kinda of creepy how many men are just scrambling to talk to this person and nevertheless want to "help them"......im not saying anymore

 

If cost is the problem for a group like the ARRL and RSGB then maybe they can pair up with a radio manufacturer or (are you sitting down? prepare yourself for the shock) a Part 95 organization.

I bring up Part 95 because the ARRL already has partnered with REACT, a long lived CB radio emergency communications group. Looking at a repeater directory website a while ago I noticed that GMRS repeaters would often appear to be run by groups that also operated a Part 97 repeater. Skywarn uses members of REACT affiliated clubs or some other Part 95 clubs as well as members of ARRL/ARES affiliated clubs.

One thing that needs to be done as part of any rebranding effort is answer a common question I hear about Amateur radio, why would I need it? As a newly minted Technician studying engineering at university, many winters ago, I'd see people in the club experiment with FSTV on 70 cm, retuned 2-way pagers on 33 cm, and flashing the firmware on 2.4 GHz networking gear to turn up the power and tune beyond the WiFi band. Today there's off the shelf gear that can do more for less effort, and don't require a license.

One place that I see that might get people's attention is the emergency communications aspect. For some people they might not react well to needing a license, and with ARRL, REACT, Skywarn, and other groups not much caring if people operate under Part 97 or Part 95 the advertising of either as an option to people that can be attractive.

Another thing that can attract people is the technical and experimentation aspect of radio. Part 95 doesn't allow as much freedom in experimentation but there's room under Part 15 and in listening or detecting radio signals.

Maybe some kind of gaming aspect of radio can be part of the rebranding. Can Amateur radio groups like ARRL and RSGB find a way to work gaming into the rebranding? And spread out the advertising cost by pairing up with a manufacturer, non-Amateur club, or some such? The whole Pokemon craze a while back got people looking for virtual hidden monsters and with things like foxhunting to make a game of operating a radio these clubs can perhaps copy some of that success in getting people interested. Also, there's no requirement to get licensed to participate but getting a license will open up options.

I'm seeing options for spreading the cost with other similarly minded organizations. By pairing up with groups that focus on activities where a radio is needed, like storm spotting, emergency communications, and "radio sports" (radio sports are a thing, aren't they?) this also answers the question on why one would want to get licensed. Without answering the question on why a license is useful efforts to get people licensed will not be effective.

 

Hit the nail on the head.

However, there are some points of light on the horizon, but thanks to technology, not marketing.

The popularity of the FT8 protocol has provided an easily accessible and low-cost on-ramp to a new generation of younger hams. An effective low-power FT8 set up in a dorm room window or apartment balcony provides new hams the ability to make international contacts. Backpack-sized gear for Satellite and HF, combined with programs such as SOTA, and POTA are other areas where young hams flourish and can interact with others of the same generation.

 

ft8 is not actually talking to someone while it might be convenient, its not actually talking to someone.

people new to the hobby want to talk to actual people not computers!!

the popularity of a mode that maybe low cost is not the same as actually picking up a microphone and talking to someone