Marketron

Category: Business Unusual

Radio Covers Auto Insurance

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, nonessential workers limited their vehicle use – other than for trips to the supermarket or leisurely drives. As lockdowns lifted, drivers hit the road again as businesses reopened and companies developed hybrid work-from-home and office schedules. In a report issued by INRIX, a location-based data and analytics firm that tracks traffic and parking, the vehicle-miles traveled may have had dropped initially but speeds increased. Based on this same report, collision rates began to climb back up to pre-COVID-19 levels between August and October.

Recognizing the shift in consumer behavior, the insurance industry responded by offering their customers discounts or rebates. However, those consumers who had once not owned or leased a vehicle, were now beginning to view vehicle ownership as a form of personal protective equipment. All these shifts created another behavior – search for auto insurance.

While radio reaches 88% adults who use any auto insurance provider, radio’s reach is even higher among adults, Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics who are planning to switch their auto insurance provider – 90%, 94% and 93%, respectively.*

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It Is Different This Year

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to look into the future and see how 2020 will be described and documented? It has been quite a year – a pandemic, major job losses and political and social unrest. Despite all the hurdles that 2020 delivered, there were positive stories.

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Purpose in Action with Radio Drives Business and Positive Change

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

It has been well-documented that consumers, now more than ever, care deeply about how brands are addressing social and environmental issues. According to the 2020 Porter Novelli Executive Purpose Study, 89% of business leaders believe companies that lead with purpose have a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace. In fact, 85% agree being a purpose-driven company drives profit. The bottom line is that in increasingly competitive markets, in just about every category of business, a brand’s contribution to society becomes the decisive point of difference for consumers.

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Being Thankful

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is here. It has been a very unusual year for everyone, and the pandemic has prompted many of us to stop and appreciate some of the things that we may have taken for granted in the past.

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Response Data is Rewriting the Way Radio is Sold and Bought

Contributor: Rick Kestenbaum, General Manager, AnalyticOwl

As the old saying goes, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” This is especially true in radio selling and buying, where a reliance on expensive ratings data and audience demos leads to buys made on the description of an audience rather than the actions of an audience. Contrast this with digital selling, where plans are made based on historical response and ROI. It’s clear which gets an advertiser off to a better start and which leads to greater satisfaction. Now, thanks to the rise of response data, radio can be sold and bought on the same game-changing premise.

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Here’s the Buzz from Radio Week

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Engagement. Local. Heart. Soul. Creativity. Partnerships. Those were words that resonated across the various sessions and events that took place during Radio Week.

From Oct. 5 – 9, CEOs, managers, sellers, radio personalities and some the brightest creative directors participated in two of radio’s biggest events – Radio Show and the Radio Mercury Awards.

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Inclusive, Diverse and Community

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Inclusiveness and diversity are words that we are hearing a lot lately. Sometimes they are used interchangeably, when in fact, they are different. According to the Cambridge dictionary, inclusiveness is “the quality of including many different types of people and treating them all fairly and equally.” Diversity is “the condition or fact of being different or varied; the mixture of races and religions that make up a group of people.”
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Celebrate Radio

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Radio. According to Merriam-Webster, radio is “the wireless transmission and reception of electric impulses or signals by means of electromagnetic waves.” At the Radio Advertising Bureau, these are just some of the words we use to define and describe radio: mass, personal, engaging, live, local, interactive, informative, entertaining. And yes, there are many more that can be used as we celebrate radio.

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Back-to-School … at Home

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

It’s August! Did you know that August is considered National Back-to-School Month? It’s the time when parents of school-aged children are in the deep throes of clothing, shoes and school-supply shopping. This year will be no different from any other.

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Christmas in July?

Author: Rita Landells, Member Response Manager, RAB

If the holidays represent the most wonderful time of the year, it would be no surprise that consumers are already thinking ahead to the holidays and fantasizing about a more optimistic time. According to a recent Voxware study, 51% of consumers expect to begin their holiday shopping earlier than usual this year. Another study done by Radial found that 39% of shoppers plan to begin shopping for the holidays in October.

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The Current State of Radio Listeners

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Coming off a holiday weekend, it is a reminder of the way things used to be. Very little about this year has been usual so far. Everything is different and continuously changing. This is now the new normal – constant change, shifts and analysis into what consumers are thinking, doing and plan on doing.

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The Spirit of Radio

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

Radio has long been known as a deeply personal, trusted and supportive partner for consumers, communities, and companies of all stripes. Fostering unity is part of the DNA of the more than 15,000 radio stations across the country. It is the spirit of radio.

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Political Media Buying 2020: How Has the Coronavirus Impacted Strategies June 2020 Update – Part 2

Contributor: Leo Kivijarv, Ph.D., Executive Vice President & Director of Research of PQ Media

In August 2019, PQ Media projected that political media buying would reach $8.33 billion in 2020. This projection was made before Michael Bloomberg became a Democratic presidential candidate and spent over $500 million in his failed attempt to win the nomination. Additionally, since the original projection was made, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, requiring politicians to revise their media buying strategies because planned rallies and fundraising events had to be cancelled.

Since the last blog post, a few items have happened which will impact the 2020 presidential and other elections.

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Radio Has a Great Story

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

As states across the country locked down, it created massive shifts in behaviors and routines. We’ve all read about studies that have analyzed the shifts and the overall mood by people across the country. One thing was evident among all these studies – people are missing what they did every day.

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Local is a Driving Force

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Local truly matters. If there is one thing that everyone has learned during this pandemic, it is how important local businesses and communities matter – to everyone. When this all began, little did anyone realize how much walking into local businesses would be missed. You walk in, say “hello,” and if you frequent them enough, they call you by your first name. This event has been a very painful reminder of how much these local businesses mean to all of us.

Kelton Global, a consumer insights and strategy consulting firm, has been analyzing consumer behavior and sentiment since the onset of the pandemic. The most current data shows that 52% of Americans believe that the long-term effects of the coronavirus will be mostly positive than negative, and 9 out of 10 believe that there will be one positive change to come out of the outbreak.

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Radio Ad Categories Web Increases During COVID-19

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

It may be hard to imagine, but it was just a few years ago that headlines focused on how a particular generation was changing and impacting everything – from the workplace, to food and shopping. It is without question that 2020 will be marked as a year that impacted how and where all consumers shop.

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Here’s What Listeners Are Thinking

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Understanding the mindset of the consumer has always been important for advertisers. However, during these times, what resonated with consumers pre-COVID may no longer be relevant. How a consumer currently feels, their concerns and their trust has never been more important for advertisers to recognize than now.

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Advertising During Difficult Times

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

It can’t be said enough – these are extremely unusual and difficult times for everyone. As each day passes, I think it is safe to say that we all hope and look forward to things getting better. They will, but it is just a matter of when.

I am certain that many of you have gone to local businesses in search of certain products or items and looked at the people in those businesses in a way you never had before. They are on the front lines, making sure that we have what we need.

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The Spirit of Radio – Connecting in Times of Business Unusual

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

“There’s something about the spirit of radio. It helps us all to know each other better and gives us a sense of purpose and community in a time where we need those things more than ever.”
– Adam Grant, Creative Director, AKQA (abridged).

Historically speaking, in periods of great challenge, truly there is no more important medium than local radio. In uncertain and unpredictable times, broadcast radio has proven that it is the backbone of the country’s information distribution system, with increased listening among consumers across all of its platforms.

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Radio. It’s On!

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Cancellations, social distancing, empty streets, working from home, virtual classes – this has become the new norm for many of us. We are all anxiously waiting to get back to how it used to be. In the interim, there is one thing that everyone can count on. Radio. It’s On.
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