1-20-2012
Right around this time each year, as the technorati of the world trek to Las Vegas to take in the latest gadgetry, I am struck by this thought: Although I work in a world that bridges new media and traditional media, I admit that sometimes it?s a lot of work to make a medium that dates back to the 1920s sound innovative.
With this in mind, I read Antony Young?s AdAge piece, ?How To Package Traditional Media to New-Age Marketers,? earlier this month with great interest. In the article, Young talks about how ?traditional? media have been too traditional in how they pitch themselves??making it too easy for advertisers and others to peg them to the past.?
And he?s right. We spend more time than we should defending our relevance. Even the use of the accepted term ?traditional media? ?the bucket our medium gets thrown in, along with the even more aged print media, and the comparatively young television?seems dowdy and unimaginative. In the piece, Young suggests adding some ?Sizzle from Silicon Valley? to our pitch, talking about radio as ?a medium with the potential to rival Facebook as a new-media darling.?
Wow. It?s a bold claim. Given the topic of my column, his take on radio?s relevance as an inherently mobile channel deserves some attention:
?The medium is available on just about every mobile device, including those running Android and iPhone operating systems. It is accessible in 100 percent of today?s cars. This medium is a powerful channel to engage very desirable, hard-to-reach and mobile millennials. Its distribution also extends to out-of-home venues including retail outlets, fast-food restaurants, car dealerships and sports venues, making it a powerful medium at point-of-purchase.?
I?ve used this column to tout the potential for a new medium?that is, mobile, and more specifically, mobile marketing?to extend the value of our traditional medium. I have talked about how mobile can help extend the power of radio beyond the on-off switch:
? How SMS loyalty clubs, mobile websites, branded apps and special mobile content can help strengthen listener engagement.
? How in a world of increasingly national programming, mobile can help stations remain tied into their local communities.
? How mobile can provide your sponsors with a highly valuable tool for remarketing purposes: opted-in listeners who want to connect with their favorite brands on their local devices.
? How mobile can put radio squarely on the ?SoLoMo? map, a glue that binds radio with social media and local presence.
? And how mobile can be the glue that further binds listener
And while this is all true, I think it?s important to remember that, at its core, our medium already has tremendous power?and that message needs to come through loud and clear when we talk to advertisers.
In closing, Young calls radio a ?unique mobile, hyper-local, multi-platform channel that delivers scalable brand marketing campaigns for retailers.? Take a second to read that again. He?s not talking about the latest social media platform or music sharing service. He?s talking about ?traditional? radio.
This reaffirms what we already know. Never underestimate the power of radio.
Ivan Braiker is the president of Hipcricket+Augme Technologies, Inc. Drop him a note at ibraiker@hipcricket.com
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