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Radio and Podcasts – Engaging Listeners Everywhere

Author: Nick Arias, Research & Insights Assistant, RAB

Broadcast radio plays an important role in the lives of listeners and will continue to be a part of their daily routines. Engaging with radio content matters to these listeners and as broadcast radio expands the conversation via podcasts, the combined role that radio and podcasts play as part of the audio pie becomes significantly greater.

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If You Can Dream It, Radio Can Measure It

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

Navigating the complex world of attribution is not that complex with new measurement capabilities in play for radio success

There is a misperception in the advertising community that an audio ad’s influence on a consumer’s purchase journey can’t be measured to the same degree as ads that run on digital media. This inaccuracy is grounded in radio’s broadcast nature, which makes attaching a digital pixel for tracking individual listeners from exposure to purchase an impossibility.

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Radio Works to Drive Business Forward

Tapping into radio’s loyal, attentive, and social audience yields a boost to the bottom line

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

The current economic environment and consumer concerns over inflation are challenging marketers and media alike to do more with less in an increasingly complicated and competitive marketplace. Add to that the ongoing threat of another health crisis, the rapid influx of advancing technology, and the multiplicity of events in 2023 and their long tail impact, one thing has remained stable, efficient, results-driven, and a trusted partner to marketers. Radio.

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Influence Destinations with Radio

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

After years of staying at home and staycations, people are ready to get out and about. Domestic travel is expected to rise compared to previous years despite economic concerns. The U.S. Travel Association forecasts that the total number of trips in 2023 will be 2.33B – significantly higher that 2021 at 2.02B.

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Radio Paves the Way for Growth

New Ways Marketers Can Deepen Their Engagement with Audiences

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

It has been proven time and again that innovation drives growth. In fact, according to Kantar BrandZ, brands that continue to innovate in difficult times and beyond grow seven times faster than competitors.

The same is true for media brands. As the media landscape continues to be disrupted, audio is innovating and providing new channels for growth, new listeners to connect with, and new creators that deliver exceptional, must-consume content. No wonder its forecast for growth is solid.

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Raising the Volume on Radio Creative

Experts discuss what it takes to create great radio ads.

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

“The beauty of a creative field like advertising is that you are always learning,” says Mark Gross, co-founder and chief creative officer at Highdive Advertising. Gross is the real genius behind the iconic Bud Light “Real Men of Genius” campaign. “Great ideas are a team effort,” Gross says, reflecting on that campaign. “Great ideas for radio aren’t always great ideas for other [media] and you never really know when you have an award-winning idea on your hands.”

For more than 30 years, the Radio Mercury Awards, produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau, have celebrated creativity in radio with hundreds of chief creative officers from a range of agencies and brands listening, discussing, and collaborating to ultimately identify and award the best audio campaigns and radio commercials. Here, a select group of those celebrated professionals share guidance, inspiring campaigns, and best practices for raising the volume on radio creative.

How to Train Others to Create Great Audio

Creating an unforgettable ad requires creativity and a mind for solving business problems; creating unforgettable and effective radio requires a passion for the craft. “While there are things you can train people for as far as craft, there are also things that, as a writer, you need to work on yourself,” says John Fiebke, head of copy at FCB Chicago. “Becoming a great writer requires falling in love with language – and love requires obsession.”

Teaching how to create, regardless of media, is grounded in inspiration, and every creative professional interviewed for this story agrees that when it comes to radio, the first step toward finding inspiration is to listen. Erik Fahrenkopf, creative director at Wieden + Kennedy, inspires his team with examples of the smartest, funniest, and most unexpected radio campaigns he has ever heard. He encourages them to “nerd out” on spots they love and to analyze why they like them.

“Radio,” says Aldo Quevedo, CEO and creative chairman at BeautifulBeast, “is the best way to exercise the craft and push beyond visual crutches.” His advice to writers is to outline the story, turn an ordinary situation into something interesting, invent characters that are central to the story, and see where it goes.

While that process can be frustrating, if not downright scary, Wendy Mayes, creative director and writer at Plot Twist Creativity, suggests it’s just the starting point to learning how to write for audio content. “Go to work with a dozen concepts before writing a 30- or 60-second spot,” she says. “Make sure it sounds solid as an idea before filling out the spot. Then once it is written, plan on re-writing it over and over and over until every single part of it works.”

Dissecting the Best of the Best

When asked about the best radio creative he’s ever heard, Fahrenkopf from Wieden + Kennedy points to Bud Light’s Radio Mercury Award Best in Show–winning “Real American Heroes” campaign. Highdive Advertising’s Gross, who created the campaign, says what made it so special was how the writing immediately painted a picture for the listener. As soon as the announcer says “Mr. Bowling Shoe Giver Outter,” Gross says, the listener gets it.

When Josh Grossberg, executive creative director at McCann Health, was asked about the best radio creative of all time, he likened it to identifying the best dessert because there are limitless answers. However, he says it’s hard to beat the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s campaign created by Devito/Verdi. “The second it starts, you’re immediately in the world of horse racing,” he says. Instead of simply being told how exciting it can be, “[the ad] made you feel it,” Grossman adds.

Chris Smith, principal and chief creative officer of Plot Twist Creativity, points to Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man” as another iconic campaign. “The writing … made me envious,” he says. “I found myself repeating the lines all the time. To me, lines are 85 percent of what you’ve got, and it doesn’t have nearly as much weight in any other medium.”

But for Smith, it was the Motel 6 “We’ll Leave the Light On” campaign that perhaps had the most influence. “It is why I decided to do this for a living,” he says. Prior to founding Plot Twist Creativity, Smith spent 22 years at the Richards Group where he was a creative director working on the Motel 6 account. Thirty-six years later, the campaign, famously voiced by Tom Bodett, is at its core unchanged, but it’s unique and refreshed executions are still as relevant as ever.

Creating the Theater of the Mind

“Radio requires more imagination than almost any other medium. You’re trying to make other minds imagine a world that’s not actually there. With static image-based executions, it’s all there. You see what you get,” FCB Chicago’s Fiebke says. “When the mind is triggered by sound, it imagines something far more amazing than what any affordable video special effect is capable of.” This may be why radio and audio creative, with some exceptions, is often the last box to be checked by brands and their agency partners — it’s difficult to do, and there is no special visual effect to hide behind.

But Quevedo of BeautifulBeast advises brands to lean into that challenge and start with radio when developing campaign work. Dedicate time to the work and create with an understanding that the message will be consumed when people are doing other things, he says. Make it hard to ignore, he emphasizes, and all other media will fall into place.

Plot Twist Creativity’s Mayes makes a similar point to Fiebke’s and Quevedo’s: “Whether it’s radio, podcasts, in-store announcements, or a guy with a microphone and a sandwich board, it needs to be entertaining and grab the listener’s attention within seconds,” she says. “There are no visuals to rely on, so what a person hears needs to make an impact. Don’t wait for a slow build. Entertain from the beginning.”

recent neuroscience study conducted by Alter Agents for Audacy reinforces what Mayes and many of the other experts are saying: In measuring immersion, which the study defines as attention plus emotional connection, before, during, and after hearing a radio commercial with frequency over time, the study shows that the best radio commercials hook the listener from the beginning. Spots with high rates of immersion did a great job of explaining “What’s in it for the customer?” and carrying that message through to the end, the study found.

Creating a spot that builds an entire world for the reader and still drives home the brand’s key message takes a deceptively large amount of work. Editing, the experts say, is key.

“Edit mercilessly,” says Robin Fitzgerald, chief creative officer at BBDO Atlanta. “Cut lines and words, even though you hate to do it. You need to give the idea room to come to life.”

CLICK HERE FOR TIPS TO CREATE GREAT AUDIO.

Radio Reaches Adopters of Technology

Author: Victor Texcucano, Content Coordinator, RAB

The world of technology advances every day, and it sure is getting interesting. We now have 8K smart televisions with more than 33 million pixels, smart home speakers that let you hear local, national and global news with a mere voice command and even internet-connected thermostats that can be controlled from smartphone applications. Today’s technology is truly transforming our living spaces into smarter, more helpful environments.

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Radio – You Can Bank on It

Author: Annette Malave, SVP-Insights, RAB

A 2016 PwC publication stated that fintech (short for financial technology) would reshape banking. Based on a survey of banking executives, the article stated that, within five years of the article, 90% of banks expected growth of mobile applications. At that time, a little more than half of the respondents offered a mobile app for their clients, and 18% were currently developing one. Clearly, the pandemic has had a greater impact on services and offerings by banks and financial institutions.

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Radio Advertising Is the Perfect “Lift” for Digital

Contributor: Dustin Wilson, Manager of Client Development, Digital, Marketron

It’s no secret that integrated advertising campaigns typically perform better. When you pair radio and digital ads, they’re an excellent complement to each other. That’s because audiences consume content in multiple ways across lots of mediums. And that’s a necessity in a world where people encounter hundreds if not thousands of ads in a single day.

The competition to break out from the noise and connect with audiences is key for any advertiser. However, they may have misconceptions about what channels work best. Well, they don’t need to go on hunches, and neither do you. Data and research support that radio ads can lift the performance of digital ones.

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Tradition is Valued by Auto Buyers

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Before the pandemic, traditional aspects of the auto purchase were changing. People were considering subscription auto plans versus ownership. Vehicle options were also shifting. COVID-19 changed all that.

Traditional vehicle ownership is still considered to be the most convenient, practical and flexible by consumers. When it comes to audio entertainment, traditional sources are important.

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Marketers Ride New Waves of Radio Advertising

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

One of the hottest trends in advertising is “screen-free media,” as people liberate their eyeballs and engage their ears with a potpourri of audio programming. However, for marketers to capitalize on the audio renaissance, they must develop an audio strategy that goes beyond ad buying and adopts a distinctive voice and sound for their brands, according to the Carat Trends 2021 report, titled “The Year of Emotionally Intelligent Marketing.”

The diversification of audio platforms and the attention audio commands among consumers has opened up tremendous opportunity for brands to expand their audio strategies and grow their audiences.

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Radio Post-Pandemic

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

The challenges that the marketing, advertising and media community faced throughout 2020 and the first half of 2021 have been like nothing any business has ever seen or experienced before. These challenges brought opportunity and have demonstrated a collective resilience in nearly every sector of business.

The next frontier for radio has been shaped by many of the lessons learned as consumers, businesses and brands have leaned in to audio across all platforms as the soundtrack to their daily journey.

What is new is old. What is old is new. Radio trends born from past truths.

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Play Ball with Radio

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

The role that sports plays in the lives of Americans became magnified during 2020. Whether it was the dribbling of a basketball on a court, the crack of a bat or the sounds from a huddle – people needed to watch and experience sports.

Sports fans are passionate, and they are engaged in the team or player they are following. They are emotionally connected – just like they are with radio.

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Motivating Listeners to Act in 2021

Author: Tammy Greenberg, SVP/Business Development, RAB

Forecasts reveal that digital is driving the advertising rebound in 2021 and, according to Tony Hereau, VP of cross platform insights at Nielsen, “Radio is the soundtrack of America’s recovery.”

Radio, across all of its digital platforms, has and continues to experience exponential growth, earning significant share of media consumption throughout 2020 and the post-pandemic. While over the air AM/FM radio accounts for 76 percent of the daily audio time spent with any ad-supported platform, understanding consumer behavior as they move across platforms and what motivates listeners is critically important for marketers who are poised to succeed in the rebound.

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A Look at Black and Hispanic Audio Consumption

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

The events of 2020 have magnified the importance of reaching ethnically diverse consumers. Advertisers across a wide array of categories, from Main Street to Madison Avenue, have increased their focus to reach Black/African American and Latino/Hispanic consumers. Knowing the media habits of each of these audiences is important to connect with them.

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Radio – Still the One

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Last week’s post highlighted radio advertising as trusted by consumers, according to a YouGov survey. The latest Total Audience Report from Nielsen not only confirms that finding, but also illustrates that radio ads are very/somewhat trustworthy among adults 18-34. Yes, they are listening, and they trust the ads they hear on radio.

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Radio – A Trusted Medium

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

After a tumultuous year, consumer confidence and optimism are slowly on the rise. According to the Consumer Confidence Index®, these improved in February after an increase in January. While confidence is increasing, what about the issue of trust?

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Gen Z is Tuning into Radio – Social
Media Platforms are Taking Notice

Author: Madison Wright, Events and Communications Coordinator, RAB

You may be looking at this title and are thinking “Gen Z doesn’t listen to the radio; social media is where you reach them.” Did you know that radio reaches nearly 44,000,000 Gen Zers every week, according to Edison Research? While this group makes up around 20% of the U.S. population, per Statista, there is no denying the listening power of Gen Z.

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Media Platforms are Taking Notice”

It’s About the Bigger Picture – Insights into CES 2021

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

During RAB’s CES coverage, RAB, along with guests, discussed not only the change with CES from in-person to virtual, but also the changes in products and efforts by various tech companies. Shawn DuBravac, futurist and president of Avrio Institute, suggests when hearing about the products presented during CES, to zoom out of the individual product announcements and “look at the bigger picture.” DuBravac continues, “Push more broadly around products tying into their bigger goals and bigger desires… this is really going to disrupt the advertising market.”

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Happy Anniversary, Radio!

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

This month marks radio’s 100th anniversary. It’s an incredible milestone, and never has radio been more important, valued or recognized as it has this past year.

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