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Celebrate with Radio

July 4th.  On this day 271 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was signed. In commemorating the occasion, we celebrate our collective patriotism and most importantly, remember all those who have and continue to protect and serve our country.

During this holiday like so many others, radio stations across the country will celebrate, honor and recognize those who have served and continue to serve – both overseas and in our communities.   Radio as a live and local medium has the ability to bring listeners of like minds, passions, interests and lifestyles together.  Radio celebrates with its listeners every day.

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Cost Effective and Targeted: How Radio Helps You Do More

Today’s guest blog post is courtesy of Karen Hayes, Principal, Marketing Consultant with Mount Marketing

Think for a minute. While you read this, another company or organization is targeting your customer. Regardless of what you’re offering — a product, service, or even information – another company is offering the same or similar. Advertising channels, once limited to TV, radio, print and direct mail, have exploded in recent decades. Now companies have multiple channels available to them to target and reach your customers: cable and network TV; radio; print; out of home; direct mail; social; mobile and digital among others. When you have a multi-billion dollar advertising budget, you can leverage a strategic combination of several channels to reach customers. But what happens when you are trying to reach a national audience with an advertising budget so limited that some multinational companies could spend more in one market? That’s the reality for some organizations.

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News – Listeners Hear All About It

Previous posts have touched on radio’s ability to reach people across age groups, gender, language and locations.  Radio’s reach is based upon many things – community, personalities, music and news.  Yes, news.  Despite technology and social media trends, people continue to listen to news on the radio.

While it may not be surprising that of those adults who believe that radio is a good source for learning and providing information, 83% are radio listeners.  It may surprise you to know that of those adults who believe radio is the most trusted, 30% are A18-34, 56% are A18-49, 54% are A25-54 and 36% are A35-54 – based on GfK MRI data.

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Over-the-Air Radio Dominates —
Complemented by Streams

It doesn’t matter what state or city you are in or even the street you are on, smartphones are everywhere.  Smartphones have become an item that you can’t be without.  Think of the last time you forgot your phone.  Did you get that sick and almost lost feeling, like you were disconnected from everything?  It’s even harder when you live in a city where you commute using public transportation?  You have no choice but to read the signage on the bus or trains and even worse, look at people!!  Yikes.

OK, well maybe that’s a bit extreme, but I’m certain that brought at least a chuckle!  The point is that the smartphone doesn’t replace everything in a consumer’s life, but it does complement it.  Similarly, streaming or online radio complements broadcast radio.

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Complemented by Streams”

Men are Shopping, Buying and Listening

In recent years there have been studies and articles about millennial males and the increasing impact they have on purchases for everything from food to personal care.  While this may be true, it is because the role that men play in today’s American families has changed and continues to change.

According to Pew Research Center, “fathers today who live with their children are taking a more active role in caring for them and helping out around the house. And the ranks of stay-at-home and single fathers have grown significantly in recent decades.” The number of stay-at-home fathers varies based upon the source, ranging anywhere from 215,000 to 1.3 million.  Anecdotally, we all know that the number continues to grow – we hear about it more and more from friends, colleagues and family members.

This post is not intended to focus solely on stay-at-home dads, but to highlight how efforts to reach the male audience today has changed and is reflective of the shift in their role at work, at home and with family.  In the U.S. today there are nearly 120 million men 18 and older. So here’s what you need to know.

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Radio Reaches a $1.3 Trillion
Consumer Segment

Previous posts have focused on radio’s diversity – its diversity of music, formats and ability to reach different age groups. Radio also reaches a diverse audience – general market, Hispanic and Blacks/African-Americans.

According to African-Americans: Demographic and Consumer Spending Trends, a report released by Packaged Facts, African-American buying power grew 27% to $1.3 trillion – from 2010-2015. That buying power is forecast to grow 16% from 2015-2020.

While many pieces focused on Blacks/African-Americans’ rise during Black History Month, it’s important to note that this is a powerful consumer segment that should be reached for more than just that period of time. Read on to learn about some of the powerful ways that radio reaches this target audience.

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Consumer Segment”

Radio = Results

Today’s blog post is courtesy of Jim Higgins, President, Chief Operating Officer, United Stations Radio Networks; co-author and contributor: Matthew Warnecke, Senior Account Executive, United Stations Radio Networks

As audience behaviors expand, contract, and realign, much time is taken up with the search for the latest answer to age-old marketing questions. Namely, where are the consumers? How can we reach them? What are their lives like? How can we do more with less?

Potential customers are now living in a media consumption world of “and,” rather than “or.” In other words, don’t put all of your commercial messaging into one media. It’s finding the right “mix” that can mean success in reaching audiences effectively. Multi‐media is the smart answer and radio/audio is a substantial part of that mix. Depending on which recent studies you look at, at least 90% of Americans listen to radio every week! Whether it’s RADAR (247M weekly 12+ listeners), or Nielsen’s Q4 Total Audience Report (280M weekly 6+ listeners), marketers can’t go wrong when they look for consumers among a universe of HUNDREDS of MILLIONS. If we look at Adults 18+, 92.5% (222.2M) tune in to radio each week (Nielsen Comparable Metrics 3Q 16). Nielsen says that is a larger number than TV, larger than PCs, larger than smartphones, larger than tablets. Read that previous sentence again.

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Radio Listener Fans – A Treasure Trove of Information

Radio listeners’ emotional bond with the stations they tune into is no surprise.  We’ve shared in the past the unique connection that listeners have with the personalities on those stations.

Today, the two-way conversation that radio has with its listeners extends well beyond the call-ins from years ago.  Radio engages with its listeners via text, tweets, social media and even via their loyal listener database.  If the concept of a database for a radio station surprises you, then read on.

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The Radio on Main Street Podcast
Featuring Surprising Revelations from the HD Radio Ad Study

In this episode of Radio on Main Street, RAB President and CEO Erica Farber speaks with Joe D’Angelo, Sr. VP Broadcast Radio, and Rick Greenhut, Director, Broadcast Business Development from Xperi, the new parent company of HD Radio.

Joe and Rick provide updates on HD Radio and share some of the surprising highlights gleaned from the recent HD Radio Ad Study.

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Radio – A Smorgasbord of Creativity

The Radio Mercury Awards just announced finalists for the 2017 awards.  There were 117 radio spots and campaigns nominated by a group of some of the most creative minds in the ad business.  It’s amazing to imagine all of those creative minds in one room – listening to their thoughts, insights, and of course, jokes.

“Anything is possible” was the theme set for this year’s awards by Mark Gross, founder and creative director, Highdive Advertising and chief judge for the 2017 Radio Mercury Awards, and there is a video to prove it. If you haven’t already seen it, I encourage you to do so as it truly highlights all that is possible on the radio.

Creativity is not just limited to the commercials that run on the radio stations. Creativity is also seen in the numerous ways that radio goes to market to help drive traffic and awareness of brands and products for advertisers.

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There’s Something for Every Ear

“I’m a purple person.”  “I prefer basic black.”  “I like to wear bold colors.”  People have distinctive tastes and preferences when it comes to clothing or accessories.  These preferences are personal, similar to that of radio listening, and similarly, music choice.

A researcher at Heriot-Watt University in the U.K. studied over 36,000 participants’ ratings of 104 music styles and found a direct correlation to their personalities.  The study showed that heavy metal music fans are normally calm and comfortable around others, while classical music lovers are often shy and creative.  Hard-working and outgoing would be words to describe pop and country music listeners.   The relationship between radio and the listener has always been an emotional one but what they listen to is not just personal, it is an extension of who they are.

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Mom Knows Best, Best to Know Mom

 

Any way you slice it, U.S. moms are a massive group of passionate and loyal consumers who are decision-makers, multi-taskers, media junkies and have a collective buying power of more than $2.5T.

Not all moms are alike. There are stay-at-home moms, work-from-home moms, working moms, new moms, moms of older children and late bloomer moms, just to name a few. Generally speaking, moms are women who are making purchasing decisions not just for themselves but for the entire household. They are the consummate multi-taskers; they are socially active and aware; they value their time with family and their time alone or with friends; and they are constantly on-the-go.

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The Personality Connection

In case you missed it, read this commentary on youth and radio personalities.  Despite what some may think about youth and their communication via texts, half sentences, pictures and emoji’s, the human voice is still important.  And not just any voice, but the voice of a broadcast radio personality.

If you overheard a conversation and someone was referencing Mike and Patti, Letty B., Tad and Melissa or Ana Alicia, you might think that they were mentioning the names of friends.  Well, you are close. The names listed here are of those that seem like a friend to people on a daily basis – at least to listeners.  These are just some of the names of broadcast radio on-air personalities.

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Sports Radio Knocks It Out
of the Park for Fans

“There’s nothing like listening to my Red Sox on the radio outdoors or in the car.”

 “I listen to play- by-play more than watch games on TV since I do not have cable anymore.”

 “I enjoy the freedom of listening to the radio for sports programs as it allows me the freedom to be outside working on various projects.”

 “Announcers are funny. Commercials seem less intrusive and I don’t mind the interruption as much.”

These are just a few of the quotes we grabbed from an informal online survey regarding Sports Radio listening habits — sports radio simply works and works hard for those that are passionate about sports.  It’s not just the “big” games, it’s every game.  It’s the conversation, it’s the debate, it’s the voices, it’s the surprise, delight, defeat, and it’s simply the passion for sports that fuels the beast.

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of the Park for Fans”

Radio. No Secrets Here.

During the recent Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2017 Media Conference, Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer at P & G, challenged CMOs to demand transparency from their digital media partners by eliminating ad fraud and making sure that the ad purchased actually reaches the intended  consumer.  Little to no audited proof of ad delivery should be considered unacceptable.

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Whet the Appetite with Radio

Isn’t it odd that when you hear someone talking about a meal they had you suddenly crave it?  And the more descriptive they become – using words like creamy, spicy, and juicy – that image comes to life, driving you to crave it even more.  These words don’t have to come from someone sitting next to you to whet your appetite; they can come from listening to the radio.

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Radio Rules the Road

“It’s Saturday night, about time to go.  Got my white leather jacket and a neon soul.  Once I turn on the radio I’m ready to roll.”  Those lyrics from Maren Morris’ “80s Mercedes” resonate with everyone.  Who doesn’t know that feeling of getting in the car, turning the radio on and listening to your favorite songs? Continue reading “Radio Rules the Road”

Radio + Smartphone = Constant
Companion

According to Statista, there will be well over 220 million smartphone users by the end of 2017.  These users will engage with radio in various ways – texting, downloading or just listening in.

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Companion”

Women – The Importance
of Communication

Everyone you know has a woman who has been influential in their life.  As people, we understand the important role that our mothers, aunts, sisters, and friends have played.  As women break through glass ceilings and help pave the way for others, the advertising industry has already recognized the important role that women play.  Radio, however, has always communicated to women and with women – from local radio personalities to nationally syndicated program hosts.

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of Communication”