Radio Gong, a Munich-based station in Germany, has built a database of local creators that puts its sales team back in the room with digital-first advertisers.
Developed through creative thinking rather than big tech investment, the commercial offer wins new clients, unlocks digital marketing budgets and, in several cases, converts into audio sales.
Advertising budgets continue to shift towards big global platforms. The radio and audio industry can watch that trend, or it can build creative solutions that broaden what stations can offer and keep the conversation going. Radio Gong set out to find a product that would keep its foot in the door with clients who now focus on digital and social media.
Local audience, meaningful reach
In January, Radio Gong began building a curated pool of local Instagram creators. Having assessed its needs and objectives, the station focused on mid-tier creators selected on four criteria:
- Reach: 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Large creators tend to be agency-managed and expensive, while this tier is accessible and still delivers meaningful reach.
- Local audience: the majority of followers should be based in Munich, matching the station’s local advertiser base.
- Content and brand fit: authentic, good-quality content that brands are comfortable being associated with.
- Category: each creator is tagged by vertical, such as fashion, food, family or automotive, so they can be matched quickly to a client brief.
The database is not meant to be a tech platform or a complex management system. It is a practical list of contacts, which makes the model simple to use and easy for any station to replicate.
Collaboration proved successful and straightforward. Creators already knew the Radio Gong brand and were pleasantly surprised to be approached and keen to collaborate.
How the creator sales model works
Radio Gong positions itself as the matchmaker between local advertisers and local creators. The workflow is simple:
- Start from the campaign objective. Sellers ask clients with live campaigns what they want to achieve, then propose matching creator reach from the database.
- Define the deliverables. When a client signs up, Radio Gong briefs the creators precisely. For example, a brief for a store opening includes attending the event, posting a story with a link, producing a reel and sharing a promo code.
- First come, first served. Creators claim jobs at a set fee, with bigger creators paid more than smaller ones. Pricing stays partly flexible.
- Bundle with audio. The creator package is the entry point. Wherever possible, it is sold alongside on-air inventory.
Results: new clients, digital budgets and audio sales
Three recent campaigns show how the approach works in practice.
- Winning new clients. The founder of a new New York Bagel Bar in Munich was unlikely to consider radio advertising, but was interested in creator support for her opening. She booked the creator package and then added audio.
- Access to digital marketing budgets. Furniture retailer Möbel Höffner activated Radio Gong’s creators for a company party and also booked audio. Like many advertisers, it runs separate classic media and digital units, and the digital unit often holds the larger budget. The creator offer gives radio sellers a reason to talk to that team.
- Cross-media activations with visible social uplift. For Oktoberfest, listeners could win a shuttle ride to the festival on air. Creators promoted the activation and rode in the shuttle, provided by a local BYD dealer, which reported gaining new Instagram followers.
How creator reach grows radio revenue
Is the creator database a new revenue stream or a door opener? According to Radio Gong, it is both. It brings new advertisers into the business and answers existing clients who are asking for social media reach.
This approach also plays to a traditional strength of radio sales: tailored solutions. Instead of defending radio against social media, the station sells the two together and uses creator reach to protect and grow its audio revenue.
The Munich Creator Database shows that creative solutions do not always require big tech investment. By packaging local creator reach with on-air inventory, Radio Gong turns the “we only do digital” statement into a sales opportunity and creates more space for radio in the media plan of advertisers who may have stopped considering it.
egta members: watch the full presentation from Radio Gong at the 2026 Marketing & Sales Meeting in Amsterdam here.