2-12-2013
The fancy radio group head catch phrase in 2012 was that radio "needed to tell a better story," in order to prove to advertisers radio was still a viable medium in an age of fancy new devices producing super-targeted ads. The argument needed to be emphasized that radio is still strong, and, despite not having an easy way to describe R.O.I. to advertisers, radio can bring you customers and increase your business. Clear Channel's Research and Analytics division, Insights, has released data it conducted that the entire industry can now use to help sales reps make a stronger pitch for radio when they hit the streets. No doubt, this is part of what Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman says radio needs to do more of, tell the radio story. The data highlights how much more effective radio can be for advertisers while pulling ad money from Television.
And, sales reps who take the data to the street can make the pitch without actually bashing TV. The study, conducted
by Insights EVP by Radha Subramanyam (pictured right), and the Media Behavior Institute, showed that even a small reallocation of advertising dollars from television to radio significantly increased brands? reach, receptivity and frequency. The study across several sectors, including automotive, quick-service restaurant, home improvement, and financial services, showed that when advertisers reallocated up to 15% of their ad spend from TV to radio, they increased their brand?s total reach up to 28%, with no negative impact on TV reach. The study also showed that these advertisers reached a more receptive audience, since radio use corresponds more directly to key times in consumers? lives when they may be open and responsive to marketing ideas or suggestions.
One example Clear Channel cites in the study comes from the restaurant category. "When a quick-service restaurant brand shifted 15% of its TV dollars to radio, audience reach increased 12% and receptivity to its ad messages jumped 84%. Additional information can be found in the three charts below. 
(2/12/2013 4:43:31 PM)
Can you see the TV guys pitching, "Hey, take 10% of your Radio buy and use it to buy TV and we'll..."
Didn't think so.
Is this what the largest radio company in the world believes we're reduced to, begging for scraps?
Not in my market. Not with my advertisers.
(2/12/2013 3:21:35 PM)To all blind TV advocates: Conventional wisdom is a tired tactic in suggesting that Radio, which has thrived despite the surge and then fragmentation of TV, has reached its limitations. Technology has propelled Radio to be able to do more, particularly with the extension of radio brands and personalities in social media, as well as provide options for listeners to create their own digital radio stations. By contrast, technology has gotten in the way of TV, with DVRs creating such a stir that networks have had to fight the argument that their audiences have disappeared.
Deflecting the point that Radio REACH can be good for a client by pointing to old arguments against Radio AT ALL suggests archaic methods of selling TV are in place. It's hard to accept that's the case.
It's interesting that the point of the article--illustrating the concept of a client's ability to extend REACH to a larger audience by varying their media spend--can only be argued with faint points that don't argue Radio's ability to provide great reach.
EVERY medium has its benefits, challenges, supporters, and detractors. Most of the time, a medium's detractors tend to have a background in another medium and--as evidenced--a problem with "yet another" position that suggests that their medium isn't the salvation it used to be. Or should be. Or believe one day, somehow, will be.
I have clients who find great ROI when combining various media. Sometimes Radio and/or TV are part of this successful recipe, sometimes not. In any case, ignoring any competitive medium's strengths is underestimating a competitor's ability to build a client's business in a dynamic way. And that's not the way to win. Ever.
In fairness, we all have stories about how radio has had explosives results. Further, most of us have an intuition that radio can be a devastatingly effective medium.
However, we have gone out of our ways to gut the very factors that provide the messaging necessary to accomplish those goals - the on-air and writing talent.
Today, we are left with not much more than... potential.
(2/12/2013 2:58:42 PM)
We could also get together, hold hands and belt out a rousing chorus of "Home On The Range". ("....where never is heard a discouraging....")
But, it won't address our self-inflicted issues - the ones that keep the advertisers away.
(2/12/2013 1:46:27 PM)
Does the reaction to the story seem a little counterintuitive to the concept behind the exercise... to improve radio's self-image a bit so that others will see the glimmer in our eye and feel good about doing business with us again? I myself am feelin' pretty good today. Make your day great!
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