RadioGuruPdx

Rock Stars Love it. You Should Too.

Dear (insert people that don't understand Radio here),

Are you tuned in? Do you hear it? That sound? My guess is you don’t because you’re staring at a computer screen and thrusting your creativity into whitepaper digital groupthink trying to figure out what it will take to drive numbers. I have an idea for you but you’ll brush it off ‘cause conventional wisdom says it’s not “sexy.” I think results are sexy. Don’t you? Curious?

Good. Now, unhook from the cyborg grip and check it out: classic radio.

Radio drives more traffic to websites than any other medium. Are you really tuning in here? Let me say it again: exposure to radio advertising can boost brand browsing by an average of 52%! Radio is one of the most powerful tools digital advertising has EVER seen in its toolbox, but for some reason “Creatives”, like yourself, don’t even consider radio and follow the “trendy” rather than using the most effective behavior driving medium in history. Pathetic isn’t it? In a world where everyone (EVERYONE) has a Radio, TOP Agencies aren’t even coming close to utilizing its power to populate websites and social media pages. What gives?

Really, what gives? If a “sexy” campaign is what you want for your portfolio use radio with digital. Bam! Sound. Sight. Action.

Facts about radio:

• Its’ audience has increased steadily since its’ introduction.
• It is the only medium that calls people to use their imagination.
• It uses oral tradition, song, and sound (Historically, the most effective mode of communication.) to unify many around a common experience.
• It is a sound force that pulls an audience into a world that involves their whole body - Listeners can feel the beat of a drum or the cry of a baby. 
• It uses the most powerful sense we have for activating emotions and driving behavior: the power of the ear. 
• It is the only medium that produces recall in both passive and active mental states.
• It is the number one trusted communication tool people count on for information for emergencies or disasters.
• It bonds Americans with a common national experience and yet provides a vocal niche for small tribes to identify themselves as sub-cultures like “Diddo heads or Alternative Rockers”.
• It reaches 92% of the general population weekly and 71% daily.
• It everywhere and accessible 365 days, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
• It is free.
• It is hyper-local and can have a national/world audience.
• It is on average 4x more cost-effective at stimulating brand browsing online.
• Just 10% of its use in a media mix can increase traffic to a unique URL by 52%.
• It is still the number one place youth use to discover new music.

So what’s your excuse? I’m sick of people telling me all the lame reasons they don’t use local radio. None of which have anything to do with facts or effectiveness. If a radio campaign failed it was not because of the medium. You don’t blame the megaphone when people fail to relate to the guy screaming in the streets.

Great radio advertising comes down to this: EXCELLENT CREATIVE and a schedule that says your committed to the audience.

Excellent radio creative requires a passion for understanding how human beings hear, process, and interact with sound and story. Superior radio creative is art and it is art that produces results.

Radio is the superpower of sound and story…maybe that doesn’t interest you but it is the ultimate megaphone with the power to unite and move people through emotion and a common experience.

I don’t know if any of this will break through to the assimilated many who only believe in the seduction of eye candy (digital or not) but its my hope that just one of you will break-a-way from the barriers of misperceptions and explore how the sweet sound of Radio can make your digital campaign a crowd roaring success. 


Sources: RAB, RAB UK, RADAR 106, Martin Lindstrom, Arbitron 2010, The Nielson Co., Net Ratings.

Surviving Tough Times

"Radio is the Perfect Storm of New AND Old Media"

MarketingProfs tells the tale of a chapter from the Studs Terkel classic about the Great Depression, Hard Times:

One chapter in the book, "The Big Money," includes an interview with William Benton, founder of the ad agency Benton & Bowles (now D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles). Not only did the startup agency not crash when the stock market did, its profits shot up—and stayed there. How did they do it? 

Hasselwander lists some reasons, then translates them into tips for B2B marketers today. 

The agency did audience research. "They worked with George Gallup. They listened to customers. … This was new stuff," Hasselwander reports. Lesson: Marketers who listen to their customers [and clients] in new and powerful ways will win the battle for fewer dollars. 

They invested in media (like radio) that bigger agencies were ignoring. Lesson: Those who master the next wave of media will rise above the fray. 

They invested in other businesses—at rock-bottom prices. Lesson: Keep some powder dry. The really good investment opportunities are starting now. 

They invested in new talent. The agency was able to "add incredible talent at low prices because of the glut of labor supply," he reports. Lesson: Keep hiring channels open, and be pickier than ever. 

The Po!nt: Think outside the tattered box. Great marketers find an opportunity in every challenge—and forge ahead.

  Radio has always been a social media. Radio brands attract and retain very active social groups. Locals L O V E their  radio station. New media just makes it easier to interact with audiences that buy, have opinions and are loyal to those who are loyal to them. Radio the "perfect storm" of new and classic social marketing.

Doesn't this get you excited. I get goose bumps when I think of what's possible!

Melissa - Radiogurupdx

Radio - We Write Ads. We Sell product. :O)

Advertising is good news.

The beginning of a New Year is a good time to consider changing a perspective. One perspective I’d like you to consider is your beliefs around radio commercials. Radio spots are more than just back round noise they are good news and they benefit your life.

The most time committed to radio ads in Portland is 16 minutes per hour and the LEAST is 9 minutes. Meaning on average consumers get to hear 12.5 minutes of information that introduces opportunity, promotes better life quality, and stimulates economic growth.

Paul Harvey, when interview by CNN's Larry King proclaimed sometimes "the best news in the broadcast is the commercial. You can keep your natural teeth all your natural life! There is a glove that doesn't wear out! There is a car battery that keeps its promises! That's good news! “

Radio ads are the harbingers of opportunity like the announcements of concerts, discounts, new products, sales, and new venues for entertainment. In your car your favorite store speaks to you and tells you they are having huge sale on shoes. You take note. Your starving for a new dining experience and a new restaurant calls your attention while your working in your office.

Radio ads inform you of products, services, and experiences that enhance your life. Just think about a time when you wondered what to do with the family and the Oregon Coast Museum gave you a chuckling invitation. Or you we’re thinking you needed better sleep and Mattress World romanced you to take action toward fulfilling that need.

Radio ads nurture local economic growth. It’s the local social media. Radio ads ask the local community to show up and people do whether it is to raise funds for a local cause or to celebrate a grand opening. Radio ads also level the playing field and help small businesses compete against big business.

Radio ads are beacons of thriving capitalism. They are a very important part of the economic engine that makes up our cherished Oregon American lifestyle so I ask that next time you hear a commercial on the radio alter your perspective, listen and think: “Wow, now that’s good news!”

Beware Many Losing Marketing Minds to E-Hype

Perspective my collegues, we all need to get a realistic perspective on the advertsing/marketing landscape.

First, mass media namely TV and Radio are not going anywhere, are powerfully effective and moving assertively into the future.

Second, let's get real about what is happening to people everywhere, in the pie chart of life, people are doing more and devoting less time to all the "more" they have in their lives. The technological age has brought more stimulus and yes, more distractions for the US consumer. What does this mean? Everyone has less time and attention to devote to everything. We are in the age of ADD.

Okay, be that as it may - Radio still commands 93% of the local audience's attention 19 hours a week. Now, the spin doctors of e-media will say "Radio is a dying medium and the Internet is experiencing the increase in revenue and attention." Hmmm, let me get this straight they are saying that 93% and 19 hours a week isn't AMAZING in a time starved world? I will give these e-marketers their due, they are growing, they do some good works and they want shout big numbers to show growth, because they are new but what do those numbers really mean? Nothing - these numbers mean absolutely nothing when it comes to Radio's effectiveness and it's vitality. In a resent e-marketer article they illustrated a bar graph that projected ad revenue Radio vs Internet. The Internet bars were, of course, showing huge numbers. Yeeeeahhh, apples and oranges my friends - on air radio possesses finite spot availability, in other words, slower revenue growth because when it's gone, it is gone! This means, however, on air local radio offers exclusivity to the few, smart advertisers in the local and global ecomony who see value in personally communicating to 93% of Portland Metro's population. Plus, News Flash local radio is on the Internet in a Big Way and has capabilities that Internet companies don't, like promoting their sites to 93% of the population 19 hours a week on air. Google's president knows the advantage and that's why he is getting in the game of Radio.

The Internet is infinite. All you have to do is build another page or another site, moreover, there are billions of websites, banners, and e-some-new-marketing-thingys. This is an educated guess but I'm thinking out of the billions, 80% are not successful marketing or advertising venues. So out of the billions, what would be a powerful personal and easy way to reach locals and connect them to local events and businesses in Portland? I am biased but it seems smart to me to use radio with it's local roots, emotional appeal, targeted ilk and synergize it with the Internet. Media Life Magazine seems to agree. (Even though I think they need to get a little more realistic and a little less dramatic about the loss of listernership propaganda.) Here's their lastest article: Brighter future for radio, despite it all by Heidi Dawley.

Oh yeah, radio is free! It is a free medium that is available to everyone. Think about it. People aren't gonna give up almost 100 years of free entertainment easily.

You Can't See Emotional Impact

 The following statement in it’s many forms is bizarre to me. “People need to see my ( fill in the blank with any product or service) in order for my advertising to be successful.” “What!” This is weird. How is this possible? Does your business solution have zero emotional value? How will a picture of your logo, product or service have any impact without emotional relevancy? Do you think that because people see something that makes your message more powerful? Guess what folks the human brain doesn’t work that way. Really, the human brain doesn’t see a picture and create an emotional response. Your brain, your consumers brain has to hear the sound and recognized the auditory symbolism of the picture in order for there to be an emotional response to the picture. This is a fact.

Let’s go on a small tangent. Before TV; even before radio cultures sold values, cures and cultural cohesiveness through storytelling. 

Storytelling is one of the oldest, if not the oldest method of communicating ideas and images. Storytelling, as it is defined here, is a linguistic activity that is educative because it allows individuals to share their personal understanding with others, thereby creating negotiated transactions (Egan, 1995 & 1999). Without this interactive narrative experience humans could not express their knowledge or thought. As Bruner (1986) points out, storytelling is part of how humans translate their individual private experience of understanding into a public culturally negotiated form. (Robin, 2001)

Storytelling has emotional impact because it allows the listener to engage in "transactional relationships" and personal identification. This is what drives emotional behavior. Emotional impact starts with learned auditory ideas and images that people associate to values like freedom, family, love, health, truth, safety and happiness. What's my point? If a story can’t be told about your product or service that emotionally stirs your targeted consumer then you have a problem. I’m not against pictures, I love them, but you're better off honing the oldest method of communicating first and then adding the pictures later. What we hear goes directly to our gut, we feel it and then we take action.

Radio works if you work radio. Tell a story and see the results. Storytelling as Best Practice