Radio Direct Response: Direct Response Radio Advertising Agency | Blog Zone

Radio has evolved in many directions over the past 90 years, enabled by technology, innovation and creativity. A major change came the day radio went mobile, leaving living room consoles for the open road and a permanent place in the car dashboard.

This gave radio an enormous competitive advantage over other advertising media. Radio could now deliver a marketing message – and promote special offers – as consumers were driving to the very shopping destinations where those products could be purchased.

Today, a 17-year old radio innovation has evolved to bring listeners even closer to that moment of purchase decision. It’s called POP (Point of Purchase) Radio.

As a consumer, you’ve heard POP Radio for years; in major supermarkets and drug store chains. But since 2003, POP Radio has exploded its reach from 4,000 stores to its current count of more than 18,000 retail locations.

Digital music and message programming is delivered by satellite or broadband, so there are no tapes to misplace or store manager intervention with programming. The signal sent is the signal aired. Its digital delivery allows for extreme flexibility, customization and short lead times.

Supermarket chains such as Food Lion (1,152 locations) and Pathmark (145 stores) play POP throughout business hours, enabling once-hourly placement of your advertising message. (The average shopper spends just under 45 minutes shopping inside a supermarket.)

Drug store chains like CVS (7,050 locations) and Rite Aid (4,827 stores) also air POP radio from open-to-close. But since a typical shopper spends just under 20 minutes shopping in a drug store, advertisers get twice-an-hour airplay throughout the day to boost reach and market exposure.

There’s simply no better way to use mass media to deliver your brand message just as consumers are reaching for products on retail store shelves. POP Radio ad placements can run nationwide, or locally by market.

Curious to learn more? You should be. Contact us at RDR for the full story, rates and a customized plan that makes sense for your brands and your objectives.

Askin Emir, Vice President, Media

I was one of the fortunate people to attend the Marconi Awards last Thursday night at the Philadelphia Convention Center. I was there with RDR’s Promotions Director Theresa Russell and our friends Matt Cutair, Katie Beltz and John Murphy from Dial Global.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but ended up having a great time.

Before I go into the details, let me explain what the Marconis are.

Established in 1989 and named after inventor and Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi, the NAB Marconi Radio Awards are given to radio stations and outstanding on-air personalities to recognize excellence in radio. Marconi finalists were selected by a task force of broadcasters and the winners were voted on by the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Selection Academy. The votes were then tabulated by an independent firm.^[1]

It was nice to be in a room with all of these talented people from the radio industry. Everyone was excited whether they were up for an award or not.  It may have been even more fun for us to sit back and just watch people winning and receiving their awards.

At dinner, we shared a table with some people we didn’t know. At one point, one of the gentlemen at our table went to the stage and accepted an award. I was surprised because I didn’t even realize he/his station was nominated for an award. When he came back to our table, he was holding his award and had this proud smile on his face. The award was for the Religious Station of the Year and his station KLTY FM in Dallas, TX was deemed the best in that format. Though he was there alone, he let us all be part of the experience by passing the award around.  We each waited for our turn to hold it and tried to imagine how it might be to win one.

TR’s Laura Ingraham was the host of the evening and she did a great job. No wonder she is ranked eighth among the most listened radio programs and has an average 5.5 million weekly listeners.^[2] She was so energetic and was one of the few people who weren’t wearing black!

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and radio personality Brian McKnight made a special appearance and acted as the entertainment portion of the evening. I buy air time during Brian McKnight’s show for our clients and it was interesting to see him and listen to him in this setting. Not only is he a great singer but he is also a very funny person.

My favorite winner of the night was Alberto Alegre, who won the Spanish Format Personality of the Year for KSAH- AM in San Antonio, TX. He gave the most interesting and funny speech of the night and was so happy and honored to win.

It was a great night and I am so glad I was part of it.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Here are the winners of 2009:
Legendary Station: KKOB-AM, Albuquerque, NM
AC Station of the Year: WBEB-FM, Philadelphia, PA
Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year: Dave Ramsey, The Lampo Group
CHR Station of the Year: WVAQ-FM, Morgantown, WV
Major Market Station of the Year: WBEB-FM, Philadelphia, PA
Country Station of the Year: KYGO-FM, Denver, CO
Large Market Station of the Year: WIBC-FM, Indianapolis, IN
News/Talk Station of the Year: WGN-AM, Chicago, IL
Medium Market Station of the Year: WHO-AM, Des Moines, IA
Oldies Station of the Year: WMXJ-FM, Miami, FL
Small Market Station of the Year: WJBC-AM, Bloomington, IL
Religious Station of the Year: KLTY-FM, Dallas, TX
Major Market Personality of the Year: Matt Siegel, WXKS-FM Boston MA
Rock Station of the Year: KQRS-FM, Minneapolis, MN
Large Market Personality of the Year: Bill Cunningham, WLW-AM Cincinnati, OH
Spanish Station of the Year: KLVE-FM, Los Angeles, CA
Medium Market Personalities of the Year: Van & Bonnie, WHO-AM Des Moines, IA
Sports Station of the Year: WGR-AM, Buffalo, NY
Small Market Personality of the Year: Lacy Neff, WVAQ-FM Morgantown, WV
Urban Station of the Year: WJMZ-FM, Greenville, SC
Spanish Format Personality of the Year: Alberto Alegre, KSAH-AM San Antonio, TX

^[1]More information on the Marconi Awards.

^[2]“The Top Talk Radio Audiences”. Talkers magazine. November 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-18.

Askin Emir, Media Director

The United States presidential election is scheduled for November 4^th, 2008.

Politicians use all kinds of paid media (Radio, TV, Print, Online, etc.) to influence voters. They also use different kinds of election advertising techniques such as Direct Marketing, Campaign Button, etc.^[1] outside of the traditional media mix. You’ve probably already seen and heard some of these messages, but the volume of advertising will increase as we approach the election date.

Advertising during election season is important not only for the candidates but for special interest groups who seek to impact the election. These special seasonal advertisers will make their strongest case in the swing states where the electoral votes are up for grabs.

This year’s swing states have been identified as Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Will the advertising inventory be affected from the election? If so, on which level? Network or local?

Dan Matter, Senior Vice President/Director of Talk Radio Sales at Premiere Radio Networks, notes that during a Presidential election, audience levels for talk programs spike considerably leading up to and after the actual election. He predicts that since the election falls in November, demand will remain high through the end of the year as the retail holiday season starts shortly thereafter. Does this mean the network inventory is going to be affected from the election?

Chip Gedney, Senior Director at ABC Radio Networks, ESPN Radio and Radio Disney, agrees that more interest will be generated by the news/talk stations. However, he stops short of translating this demand for programming content to an advertising demand for commercial inventory.

Past presidential elections have seen greater demand for political advertising time on local radio, but not much with network radio. And the local markets that will feel the squeeze for airtime fall in the swing states, shown above.

We at RDR don’t foresee a significant change in network inventory unless one of the presidential candidates makes the surprise decision to use network radio. But be forewarned that local market avails will be tight in swing states in late September, October and the first week of November.

Askin Emir, Media Director

^[1]For the full list of the election advertising techniques on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_advertising

America’s demographic profile is becoming more diverse everyday. Hispanic, Asian, and the Black population are the major minorities in the United States.

Hispanic population is the largest minority in the United States. As of 2006, there are 44.3 million Hispanics. That is 14.8% of the total population. Their growth rate (24.3%) was more than three times the growth rate of the total population (6.1%)¹. The US Census Bureau projects that their population will be 47.8 million in 2010 (15.5% of the total population) and 102.6 million in 2050 (24.4% of the entire US population)².

How can you not target them directly? Especially when the current buying power of the Hispanic popular is more than $500 Billion according to MBDA³. Their radio listening habits are very similar to their English-speaking counterparts. There are five Hispanic different generations defined:

1. Los Bebes / Los Ninos (0-9) 18%
2. Generation N (10-19) 17%
3. Latinos-Latinas (20-39) 38%
4. Latin Boomers (40-59) 24%
5. Los Grandes (60+) 9%³

The most popular US radio formats among Hispanic listeners are nine Spanish Language and five General Market Station Formats.

Spanish Language Formats are Mexican Regional, Spanish Contemporary, Tropical, Spanish News/Talk, Variety, Spanish Religious, Tejano, Spanish Oldies and Spanish Adult Hits⁴.

The General Market Stations include Adult Contemporary, Pop CHR, Rhythmic CHR, Country and News/Talk/Information.

Just as English language stations deliver specific demographics by format, the same holds true in Spanish language programming.

The Latinos-Latinas heavily listen to the Mexican Regional, Spanish Contemporary, Spanish Adult Hits, Spanish Tropical, Spanish Variety. Tejano is heavily listened among Latin Boomers. Spanish Oldies and Spanish New Talk are very popular among Los Grandes. 

Radio is one of the best ways in American mass media to reach the Hispanic market. Although general listenership is declining in America, both radio listenership and revenues are rising for Hispanics.

If you’re not actively marketing to this fast-growing segment of Americans, you’re missing out on a great opportunity – one that your competitors won’t likely miss.

[1]Source:www.fns.usda.gov
[2]Source: US Census Bureau www.census.gov
[3]Source: Marketing to American Latinos, The In-Culture Approach, Part 2, PMP, 2002
[4] Source: Arbitron Hispanic Radio Today 2007 Edition

Askin Emir, Media Director
Radio Direct Response

Imagine a world where you place the commercials and forget about them.  Oh, that’s a branding campaign.  Let’s go back to real world where we need to track the results and make sure we do everything in our power to make this campaign work.

Most of the buys we place on the radio are driven to an outsourced call center, but there are some exceptions with an in-house call center.

We always encourage our clients to pick a call center where they focus on radio.

Why?  Because radio is different than TV or Direct Mail. Sales representatives should have experience with radio.  When people hear a commercial on the radio, most of the time they make the call, but they don’t know much about the product.  It’s not as if they saw the product on the TV or even saw a picture in the paper.  They are going to need more information before they can make a buying decision.

It also helps if sales representatives are commissioned.  Let’s be honest, they will work harder.  Plus you want to work with a call center where the sales representatives are trained for hard sales.  Their job is about giving as much information as possible about the service or the product, but their main job is to make sure they sell the product on the phone.

Another important point to consider when it comes to the call center issue is the call center hours.  The best and most desirable call center is the one that is open 24/7.  If you work with a call center that is open 24/7, you don’t limit your buy based on the call center hours.  Nor do you miss potential sales from listeners who hear your ad at noon, but make the call at midnight.

You can’t just place the buy and be done with it.  You need to make sure people who hear your commercial will respond.  Not only that but you also need to make sure that the people who call also purchase the product.  Otherwise, it would be a total waste of your client’s money…and no one wants to do that.

Askin Emir, Media Director
Radio Direct Response

Putting together a DR buy is fun…but not easy.

You need to understand your client’s business, goals, and objectives. You also need to know what the product is about, what its price is, who the customer is and what their buying habits are. Are you going to run a national campaign? Or do you want to be in specific markets? Can you sell this product on radio?

There are many variables in this game. Are you placing the buy on the right station? Is the format right? Are you reaching your target audience by purchasing that station? Are you buying the right dayparts? Are you happy with the creative? Is the message clear? Are you getting the best rates ever? Too many questions, right?

Well not yet…what are you going to test first? The market? The creative? Or the format? You can’t test them all at the same time.

You start playing the game after you come up with a game plan. The fun starts after placing the buy, you can’t just place it and be done with it. You have to follow up with the results.

It is always an ongoing buy.

It doesn’t matter if the buy is driven to a call center or to web as long as you get the results. You are lucky if you are getting the daily results. You can give a call to a station in your buy in the middle of the week and let them know that they have received two calls since Monday, and if they want to be on this buy for more than two weeks, for example, they need to do something in order to deliver better results. 99% of the time, you get the help and end up with much better results.

It is not end of the world if you are not getting the daily results for the campaign. You can always take a look at the overall results after the campaign is over and negotiate lower rates for the next round if the results are not good or you can ask for bonus weight.

The key is that you want to work with stations/reps who “get” DR, who understand that we are not just placing a three week buy and want to buy certain GRPs. You want to work with reps who understand that your buys could be 52-week buys if they work with you on getting results.

And remember radio is a frequency medium…you have to be patient until you see some good results.

Askin Emir, Media Director
Radio Direct Response