Online’s Granularity Compliments Broadcast’s Reach

Combining online audio with the broadcast radio can be a benefit in a combination buy, according to agency panelists who participated in the Internet Advertising Bureau’s first “Streaming Audio for Agencies Day” held in New York City this week. While online audio provides listener data culled from registrations and server-side resources, broadcast radio delivers the critical one-to-many mass reach. A Targetspot study revealed that adding Internet radio to broadcast can increase recall up to 3 times, depending on the category.

“The hurdle,” said Chris Fontana from MediaVest, “is audio – not digital or broadcast,” indicating that radio, whether on-air or online, still has work to do in conveying its compelling story to the advertising community. Agency representatives acknowledged the challenges of working across what used to be defined areas, and agreed that collaborative efforts between digital and radio buying had advanced.

Sponsored by Triton Digital and The Media Dash, the debut event was an opportunity for many industry experts and advertising agency representatives to share insights, research, and discuss broadcast radio and streaming audio as entertainment and advertising platforms. In conjunction with the event, the IAB released a Digital Audio Advertising Overview, compiled from various sources by the association’s Audio Committee.

Download the Report here: http://www.iab.net/media/file/IABDigitalAudioPSR11.pdf

- Renee Casis - Radio Ink  

A Healing Touch From Hospitals

Some advertising agencies weathering the economic downturn are getting a shot in the arm from the most suitable of sources: hospitals.

In the first six months of 2011, advertising by American hospitals, clinics and medical centers rose 20.4 percent, to $717.2 million, from $595.5 million in the same period in 2010, according to the Kantar Media unit of WPP.

Advertising agencies increasingly are trying to quicken the pulse of consumers, who have come to expect ads with doctors in scrubs posing with impressive machinery, ad copy boasting of "skilled" doctors and "caring" nurses, and the latest ratings from U.S. News and World Report.

A new television commercial for Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, for example, features pedestrians on a busy sidewalk, and the text, "We can't help you with playoff tickets. We can't help you with co-op board approval, or getting your child into a preschool. But if it's really a matter of life and death -- we can help."

A print ad for the campaign, much of which celebrates the fact that the hospital has been around since 1857, has this headline: "We had cardiologists before the city even had arteries."

The campaign is by the New York advertising firm of DeVito/Verdi.

"We're looking to brand a hospital while breaking some of the clichés and unwritten rules of hospital marketing, like showing a building, showing pictures of the medical staff, or showing machines," said Andrew Brief, director of client services for DeVito/Verdi.

DeVito/Verdi also created a campaign for Mount Sinai Medical Center, which began running in 2003. Print ads featured patient success stories with catchy headlines such as "Ironic that a plumber came to us to remove a clog."

Also featuring patients' stories are television commercials introduced by New York-Presbyterian Hospital around the beginning of 2011. The campaign, by Munn Rabôt in New York, includes a spot featuring Heather McNamara, 9, in the commercial, who describes a lifesaving procedure when she was 7 to remove a baseball-size cancerous tumor.

Patient testimonials have become so popular in the last decade that some hospitals get their hearts -- and their heart clinics -- set on the approach.

"They say, 'We have really satisfied patients so why not use patient testimonials to tell our story?' " said Susana Cascais, managing director of Frank Unlimited, a Seattle agency whose local clients include the Group Health Cooperative and the Everett Clinic. "But we try as much as possible to steer our clients away from those clichés, because if you cover the logos in those ads, it could be anybody."

A billboard by the agency for Group Health last year, highlighting secure online medical records, read, "Helpful for when your wife yells, 'What is wrong with you?' " And a print ad, for the Everett Clinic about pediatric care and scheduled to be introduced on Sept. 26, reads, "We diagnose mumps, ear infections and Legos lodged in noses daily."

Also X-raying the funny bone is Bethesda Heart Hospital, in Boynton Beach, Fla., which recently ran billboards along I-95 in Boynton Beach and nearby Delray Beach, cities popular with retirees.

"Your heirs can wait," read one billboard; another, "Outlive your foursome."

Paul Amelchenko, the creative director at BFW Advertising in Boca Raton, Fla., which produced the ads, explained in an e-mail message that the strategy "was to focus on the benefit of the hospital (we help you live longer) versus the features that they have (great technology, world class physicians) that all other hospitals claim to have as well."

A television spot for the Mayo Clinic that began in August starts with a single firefly in the night sky, which gradually lights up with too many to count, and is accompanied by the voiceover, "You can make an appointment with one doctor -- or you can choose Mayo Clinic, where a team of experts works together for you."

The campaign -- by Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies -- includes a similar spot with paper lanterns multiplying in the night sky.

Reid Holmes, executive creative director at Campbell Mithun, said an institution as well regarded as the Mayo Clinic need not "prove its performance ability." Instead, spots highlight the collaborative approach of the doctors and the fact that -- with facilities in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida -- it is more accessible than consumers may think.

"The reputation that the Mayo Clinic has is its own proof point," said Mr. Holmes. "But a predominant misperception in many ways is either, 'I'm not dire enough to need them,' or, 'I'm just a regular dude and I can't get access to them.' " The ads, he continued, demonstrate "that anyone can get an appointment at Mayo."

At UPMC, which is based in Pittsburgh and operates 20 hospitals, some current commercials and online-only videos take the unusual approach of de-emphasizing hospital care. The spots, which feature people who are not actors, highlight efforts like a college scholarship program.

The videos are part of a broader campaign, called "Life Changing Medicine," started late last year by Grey New York, part of the Grey Division of the Grey Group, which is owned by WPP.

"When looking at building the brand of the hospital, this organization goes beyond just the hospital and beds," said Dean Walters, a marketing vice president for UPMC. "What consumers don't usually see is the tremendous giveback to the community that UPMC makes."

(Source: The New York Times, 09/13/11)

Dual TV/Radio Ad Campaigns Up Reach

Results from a TV-radio station test indicate that jointly selling radio and TV advertising together in simultaneous campaigns can increase audience reach -- and deliver near prime-time viewership levels -- all with the help of a single-source measuring system.

Arbitron Inc. and Entravision Communications, a Spanish-language media company that owns TV and radio stations, said a test with Entravision's Denver, Colo. stations showed improved audience reach. It also includes out-of-home viewing, thanks to Arbitron's portable people meter (PPM) ratings service.

The test discovered -- as other studies have shown -- that usage patterns of television and radio complement each other. From 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., radio delivers 70% to 80% of the combined television/radio audience; television delivers 80% of the audience from 7 p.m. to midnight. Each platform delivers a distinct and separate consumer.

All this offers advertisers gains by using a single-source measuring system such as Arbitron's.

Jeff Liberman, president of the radio division of Entravision, stated: "This single-source, cross-platform PPM pilot project reaffirms what we've been proving to our advertisers for years -- utilizing both radio and television is an efficient and effective way to increase reach over a radio-only or television-only advertising schedule."

(Source: Media Daily News, 08/16/11)

As video advertising heats up, some radio companies turn to video.

No media is rebounding faster than the internet this year, with recent forecasts of revenue growth in the neighborhood of 13%-20%. While banner ads will remain second only to search for the foreseeable future, video continues to be the fastest-growing online ad format.

It’s projected to surpass classifieds and directories as the third biggest online advertising channel by 2013, with $4.2 billion in revenue, according to eMarketer. “Video advertising continues to attract new ad spending from brands because it generates greater audience attention than other digital ad formats,” eMarketer principal analyst David Hallerman says.

With video advertising heating up, radio brands offering robust video content have an opportunity to go beyond pre-roll ads and grab a larger slice of the marketplace. “Video is by far and away the top driver for websites, followed by pictures,” Digital Tribe founder Dave Presher says. “Radio websites should be all about videos and pictures, games, loyalty clubs, contesting and what music is playing and has played.” Lindahl says video advertising offers the greatest potential for media brands to grow revenue.

“The power of our local brands with expert product execution in our digital channels positions the industry to continue to grow revenue by offering our local advertisers these kinds of video solutions for their campaigns — that’s where the real opportunity lies,” Lindahl says.

INSIDERADIO.COM - Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Arbitron: Radio Ups Reach By 2 Million Listeners

While advertising revenue is still down from a few years ago, broadcast radio's reach is bigger than ever, according to Arbitron's most recent RADAR report, which tracks the overall audience for national and network radio in the U.S.

The report includes 56 radio networks owned and operated by American Urban Radio Networks, Citadel Media Network, Crystal Media Network, Dial Global Inc., Premiere Radio Networks, Westwood One Radio Networks, and United Stations Radio Networks. Among other things, the Arbitron data shows that radio still reaches a sizable majority of Americans every week.

Broadcast radio's total reach among U.S. adults ages 12 and up increased from 189,990,000 in June 2010 to 191,891,000 in June 2011, for an increase of 1% over this period.

In proportional terms, radio's reach increased from 73.8% to 74% of the U.S. population 12+. Among U.S. adults ages 18+, radio's total reach increased 0.9% from 172,706,000 to 174,299,000; in proportional terms, reach in this cohort remained stable at 74.3%.

Among adults 35+, reach edged up slightly, from 119,360,000 to 120,238,000, meaning reach actually decreased in proportion terms, from 73.7% to 73.4%. However, adults ages 18-39 saw total reach increase from 103,336,000 to 103,841,000, resulting in a proportional increase from 76.5% to 77%.

The number of adults ages 25-54 listening to radio in an average week increased from 97,489,000 to 97,992,000, or from 76.9% to 77.2% of this age cohort.

The sample size for Arbitron's latest RADAR report, RADAR 109, was 395,531 persons aged 12 and older, and includes data from all 48 Arbitron markets using the Portable People Meter, a passive electronic measurement device.

Despite this good news, the fact remains that broadcast radio revenues are still significantly down from just a few years ago. Due in part to the recession, total advertising revenues plummeted from $21.7 billion in 2006 to $17.3 billion in 2010, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. That's a 20% decline in four years.

The trend reversed with modest growth in 2010-2011, but radio still has a lot of lost ground to make up. While revenues increased 3% from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011 to $3.8 billion, that's still down 19.7% from $4.73 billion in the first quarter of 2007.

Erik Sass - Media Daily News