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

Much like Morning Drive, a great deal of PM Drive listening occurs in the work place and during the listener’s commute to/from work. Energy levels, on-air, are up. Information about the day has come into focus, so current events, along with traffic updates, are part of the programming mix.

Personalities play a more foreground role than during Middays, often interacting with news, traffic and weather reporters. PM Drive is radio’s final third of its “prime time dayparts,” so audience levels are large, with the exception of the final 6PM-7PM hour, when commuters arrive home and begin family time or switch to TV as their medium of choice.

PM Drive is an excellent choice for marketers that wish to make an impact as the workday commuter returns to their non-work lifestyle. Is there a food or beverage item they need to pick up at the store? A retail sale that might lure them in for a nighttime purchase? A home project in need of supplies?

Some of America’s top-rated PM Drive radio personalities include:

• Gary Nolan on KOSI-FM, Denver. As Program Director and PM Drive Host of this Adult Contemporary station, Gary scores a 20.1 share of the Denver audience, far ahead of the #2 station in town.
• Mike O’Brien on KCMO, Kansas City. Mike’s a 25-year veteran of the KC market, where his 17.8 audience share keeps him atop the market on this Oldies station.
• Eddie Fingers & Tracy Jones on WLW, Cincinnati. Former major league baseball player Tracy Jones pairs with Queen City talker Eddie Fingers for an 18.4 audience share on this powerhouse AM talk station.
• Marc Sherman on KODA, Houston. Sunny 99.1 FM in Houston is one of America’s heritage Adult Contemporary stations. Marc Sherman has been a fixture on KODA since 1991, where his PM Drive show currently captures a 23.2 market share.

Danny Ocean, Vice President/Director of Operations

A recent on-air phone call from media critic and author Jeff Jarvis morphed into a fascinating discussion on the future of satellite radio on The Howard Stern Show.

Jarvis suggested that once Stern’s five-year contract with Sirius expires at the end of 2010, Stern could take his show – and his audience – direct to the web and launch his own subscription service without the (Sirius/XM) middleman.

Certainly, technology and consumer behavior have evolved to where that’s not only feasible, but likely and lucrative for The King of All Media. Millions followed Stern from terrestrial broadcasting to satellite, paying cash for new hardware and monthly fees to enjoy his show. There’s no reason to believe they wouldn’t follow him wherever he chooses to bring his delightfully dysfunctional comedy troupe.

Stern voiced his appreciation for the owners and management at Sirius and didn’t rule out a new deal with his present employer. “They’ve done right by me,” he asserted. Stern grimaced at the thought of returning to terrestrial radio, noting “I love being on these kind of censor-free airwaves. If we can build up Sirius XM, there will be a place for broadcasters (who want the freedom of censor-free radio).”

The point is, radio isn’t about the specific distribution system. It’s about content. Terrestrial programmers learned a costly lesson when homogenized radio formats left them vulnerable to alternative media outlets programming edgy and interesting formats. Witness the rise of XM Radio. Before Stern’s flip to satellite, XM Radio lured millions of subscribers who were happy to pay for access to 70+ different music channels that didn’t all sound the same.

Both Jarvis and Stern agreed that Sirius would be wise to make better use of the Internet and other new technology for distributing their programming content. “Make it Internet smart,” Jarvis suggested. “It shouldn’t be tied to the satellite.” At present, all Sirius/XM channels are available online (for a additional fee) and subscribers can download a free app to listen to satellite programming on their iPhones and iTouch (but without content from Stern and premium sports packages like the NFL).

Sirius isn’t in the business of selling satellite radios, Jarvis noted. They’re in the content business. He cautioned Sirius not to make the same mistake as the newspaper industry, which lost revenue and market share by acting as if it was in the business of printing on paper, rather than reporting news.

Music services like Pandora and Live365 will continue to increase their audience share as more people stream content on cell phones and PDAs. WiFi will forever change the playing field. Radio, in all of its forms, will play on through terrestrial, HD, satellite and streaming channels, as well as delivery systems still on the drawing table.

In the end, listeners will make their programming choice based on the quality of content. Just like in the good old days. Except now, the choices – and opportunities – are virtually limitless.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO

I have a teenage daughter who doesn’t go anywhere without her iPod and her cell phone. Working in the radio biz, I’m so curious to know if she, and others like her, still listen to radio; or has traditional media become passé. She’s my focus group of one (1) for her demographic so I asked her a leading question, “How do you know what music to download to your iPod?” Her answer was a bit unsatisfying and so typical for a teenager. “Mom, I just know.”

Well, now I know that radio is a large part of the equation! A new study, How U.S. Adults Use Radio and Other Forms of Audio, was just released by The Council for Research Excellence (CRE). The study observed real time audio media usage and recorded how much time people actually spent using each type of audio media, ranging from broadcast and satellite radio, CDs and tapes, portable audio [ipods/MP3 players], digital audio stored on a computer such as music files downloaded or transferred to and played on a computer, digital audio streamed on a computer and finally, audio on mobile phones.

Here are the findings:

• 90% of adults are exposed to some form of audio media on a daily basis, with broadcast radio having by far the largest share of listening time.
• Broadcast radio is the dominant form of audio media at home, work, and in the car.
• Broadcast radio reaches those aged 18-34 at rates equivalent to the general adult population, with 79.2% of younger adults listening to broadcast radio for an average of 104 minutes a day among listeners.

“It really seems like the young group tend to be more audiophiles,” said Dr. Michael Link, Chief Methodologist of The Nielsen Company, who funded the study. “They’re really into their audio. So, it’s not that they abandoned radio, per se, but they essentially augment with some of these portable media/digital media devices.”

Now I understand why my teenager never hears me when I tell her to clean her room, walk the dog or set the dinner table. Her ears are otherwise engaged. She’s an audiophile. The big news, however, is that for young demos, RADIO still accounts for the biggest share of their listening.

Lisa Sable, Senior Marketing Strategist

New standards for the use of testimonials in advertising went into effect on December 1, 2009. It’s been nearly 30 years since these guidelines were updated, so it’s no surprise that in this day and age of direct response, informercials, celebrity endorsements and blogging, it comes as no surprise a decision was made to redefine the rules.

A few highlights:

• An ad featuring a consumer representing an experience with a product or service as “typical” when that is not the case, must disclose what a typical consumer should expect.
• A blogger with a “material connection” to the product or service they are endorsing must disclose their relationship with that company when writing about or promoting their goods and services.
• Celebrity endorsers will now be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims that they make on behalf of the company they are representing. This could result in higher celebrity talent fees as the cost of legal review by the celebrity’s attorney may now be folded into their charges.

View 12 pages of “real world” examples of what uses are – and are not – governed by these stricter guidelines. And be sure that your legal time is well versed on the new rules before you take your message to market.

Call me crazy – and you wouldn’t be the first – but I see a good year ahead for radio in 2010.

First off, it would be difficult to match the year radio endured in 2009. The economy wreaked havoc with marketing budgets and consumer spending. Things have since stabilized, if not recovered, positioning radio for a much better year in ’10. (Radio revenues for January are already posting double-digit gains over January 2009.)

But the big difference for radio, I believe, will be the growing number of applications that enable smart phones and other devices to receive and deliver radio in all of its forms. Terrestrial. HD. Satellite. Internet streaming.

For decades, media journalists have recycled the same tired story of how something new (MTV, Nintendo, iPods, etc.) will bring about the death of radio. But this year, new technology (like smart phone apps) will make it easier than ever for people to take their favorite stations with them.

The 1960s transistor radio has been reborn. 50 years later, we call it the smart phone.

Instead of 10 or 20 listening choices, we now have 10,000 or 20,000. Instead of scratchy AM sound, we have digital audio delivered through ear buds.

And while this won’t mean “the death of terrestrial radio” (despite the predictable headlines that will herald otherwise), terrestrial radio’s overall share of listening will slip a few ratings points over the next few years, as alternative audio options creep their way into our homes and vehicles.

Wireless speaker systems from innovators like Sonos and Bose will make it easier to play your computer’s music library in every room of the house. And in-dash WiFi will make it possible to listen to your favorite talk show host in another time zone or the All Beatles station emanating from Moscow.

Advertising buys will slowly trickle into these alternative radio outlets, with performance tied to their ability to turn a first-time advertiser into a year-round customer. The concept of accountability will permeate radio advertising negotiations at every level, as CMOs and Agency Media VPs protect their jobs by keeping their clients and their bosses happy.

Bottom line? This is the beginning of Radio’s Digital Golden Era. Bank on it.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO

Howard Silver is a Senior Account Executive at CBS Radio in San Francisco and a 25+ year veteran of the radio industry. In the first of our series looking ahead to Radio 2010, Howard shares his view from the sales perspective.

RDR: 2009 was a challenging year for radio sales. What do you think will be different
in 2010?
HS: I see radio revenue growing in 2010. A large part of that is tied to the way we treat our current clients as partners and seek out new clients in the best position to benefit from radio.

RDR: Aside from the economy, why do you think radio found itself in such a rut?
HS: Listeners complain there’s not enough programming variety and too many commercials. Advertisers don’t appreciate radio’s wide reach. And most agencies value visually-oriented media more than audio. Buyers tend to commoditize and “buy it by the pound” rather than delving deeper to appreciate the advantages that individual formats can provide.

RDR: How can radio get past these issues and create new sales opportunities?
HS: By targeting advertisers in the best position to benefit from radio and treating clients as “partners.” Radio companies need to do a better job of positioning themselves as “content providers” offering marketing solutions on the tech platforms in the position to be the most widely used.

RDR: Let’s talk a little about that new technology. What do you see as the future of
satellite?
HS: Internet Radio and in-car WiFi will limit its success. Their content delivered through WiFi will make them a player here. As the price of in-car WiFi becomes more affordable, its use will become more widespread and eventually reduce terrestrial listening.

RDR: Does HD Radio still factor into the mix?
HS: HD has been slow to be accepted. I think the future of HD is to incorporate its content in WiFi and mobile phone delivery platforms. Radio needs a greater variety of music genres and HD can play a significant role here. HD content provided by broadcasters should appeal to a large audience.

RDR: Finally, how has the growth of direct response radio changed the playing field?
HS: Quite positively. I am fortunate to represent radio and online products that have proven to be effective. And I enjoy the immediate feedback our campaigns get and am always looking for way to improve the results. I’m looking forward to a good year.

Vince Raimondo, Vice President of Marketing

If you like fun and games as ways to chase away the blues,
Expand your brand in March and celebrate with Dr. Seuss.

If you are a family-friend brand, make March the time to rhyme and get noticed. Ask radio stations to help your brand celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday the week of March 2nd by hosting a rhyming contest. Station personalities will set the topic and ask listeners to write or call in with a Seuss-like rhyme to win your product or service. It’s great fun on-air and a spontaneous moment could erupt that can keep your brand front-and-center for the entire morning show!

That’s thing one. Here’s thing two.

March is also Women’s History Month. So why not honor the women of the past by rewarding women of the present who are making significant contributions in their community. Your brand can help fund an initiative or provide a much-needed vacation for the woman who is making it happen.

For additional ways to get your brand noticed in March (if you’re NOT green beer or an NCAA basketball bracket) call us!

Barbra Tabnick, Senior Account Manager

Before looking ahead, let’s look around. When the final numbers are tallied, the radio industry will report an annual revenue decrease of 15-20% versus 2008. And while a few observers boldly forecast a small increase in 2010, most broadcasters would be thrilled to simply stop the bleeding.

Higher demand for inventory will find stations and networks trying to squeeze every dollar out of the market to make up for its revenue hemorrhage in ’09. But for direct marketers willing to commit sizeable annual budgets to the medium, they’ll find more stations and networks willing to take accountability for delivering the results these marketers need to fund their investment in the medium. The lean year of ’09 convinced many broadcasters to walk the walk to match the talk on the issue of sharing responsibility for the success of its advertisers.

Despite the doom-and-gloom drum beats of the media beat writers, radio will continue to be a vital part of American media. More than 236 million Americans now listen to radio every week. Consumers of streaming radio are at an all-time high and those numbers will only grow as more terrestrial stations strengthen their presence online. These online stations – plus the synergistic opportunities of banner placements and e-mail blasts – add an exciting, new dimension to marketing on radio.

Cell phone and smart phone applications will make it easier than ever to listen to radio through mobile, handheld devices – a 50-years-later update of the transistor radio - only this time, with thousands of channels.

Sirius XM satellite should experience modest subscriber growth with the long-awaited up tick in new car sales. Much will be riding on Howard Stern’s decision to either extend his stay on satellite or leave at the end of his five-year contract. His 2005 leap to satellite arguably inspired millions to subscribe. His 2010 departure could cause many of those minions to follow.

Direct marketers will continue to use radio profitably, although few will trumpet the details of their successes, lest their competition copy the blueprint. Still it’s safe to say that when you hear a brand market its toll-free number or web site, month-after-month, they do so because they find it profitable.

Radio will rebound in 2010 as the public discovers and enjoys new ways (Sonos, smart phone apps) to access and interact with radio. If you haven’t already made plans to include it in your marketing plans, you might want to shake loose a few dollars to dress up and join the party.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO