With only a high school education, Vivien Thomas worked as an assistant to a surgeon. Born in 1910 and without any formal medical training, he developed a procedure used to treat blue baby syndrome. He was a teacher of operative techniques and was a pioneer in cardiac surgery. He received an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1976.
Dr. Thomas’ contributions to the medical field are just one of thousands of reasons we celebrate the achievements of Blacks every year during Black History Month.
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.
Author: Madison Wright, Associate Producer, Radio Mercury Awards
Since their inception, the Radio Mercury Awards have honored the best in radio creative and have brought together agencies, productions companies, advertisers and radio broadcasters, all to celebrate radio.
On Wednesday, November 17, the awards, produced by RAB, brought the celebration event to wherever viewers were watching – at home, in their offices, with family or with colleagues, all to celebrate the power of radio and the future of audio creative.
Here are four key takeaways from this year’s awards:
Radio and audio continue to be front and center in an advertisers’ media mix. The robust number of entries this year exceeding the previous few years reflects this trend.
The caliber of work submitted in this year’s competition so engaged and engrossed the final round jury that it took nearly two full days to deliberate and determine the winning work. Thus, showing that the art of radio creative continues to grow and evolve.
2021 celebrates the 15 winners and is now woven into the rich history of the Radio Mercury Awards. Want to hear more? We encourage you watch the full, encore viewing of the show here.
Alejandro Ortiz, executive creative director, Campbell Ewald Detroit/NY, will be serving as the 2022 Radio Mercury Awards chief judge.
“I’m super excited, I have a lot of history with these awards… this is an amazing festival and the quality of work that comes in every year is incredible. I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes with.”
Stay tuned for more information regarding 2022 Call for Entry. Want to stay ahead of the curve? Be sure to subscribe to the Radio Mercury Awards mailing list here.
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.
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.
The growth in audio usage across all platforms and devices has been incredible. One segment of that growth has captured a lot of attention – podcasts. Podcast listeners have been considered a niche audience. Do they differ from broadcast listeners, and what are their views about broadcast radio?
An online search for Gen Z will deliver results in the billions regarding various topics and industries. If you are wondering why, it is because they are about to become the largest and most important consumer target. They may also be the most complex.
Contributor: Sarena Gerard, Senior Research Associate, GfK
Combining online and in-store shopping is a highly personal, consumer-driven experience that’s here to stay — one that predates COVID-19 but that has picked up major momentum over the last 18 months.
For many consumers, pivoting from in-store to online shopping was one survival tactic among many adopted to cope with pandemic lockdowns —and as the omnichannel trend continues to rise, many advertisers are working hard to get in front of consumers in both online and in-store environments. This is especially true in categories that have experienced strong omnichannel growth over the last year – among them clothing & fashion, household cleaning products, and packaged foods and beverages.
Author: Madison Wright, Associate Producer, Radio Mercury Awards
For the past 30 years, radio broadcasters, agencies and advertisers have entered their creative work into the Radio Mercury Awards. Produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau, it is the only awards competition that exclusively honors creativity in radio and audio since its creation in 1992. Around 20,000 commercials have competed for close to $3.5 million in prizes.
When reflecting upon the Radio Mercury Awards, especially during this special anniversary, two things come to mind – the rich heritage of the awards show and how they continue to matter to the creative community as the medium continues to evolve.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
IAB published survey results at the end of 2020 indicating that 64% of media buyers said they will focus on digital performance marketing in 2021 with the ability to evaluate plans and results more frequently.
With significant advancements in the attribution space, radio has been able to prove unequivocally that it is one of the most effective media in driving online behavior among all target audience groups.
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.”
The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) fields questions daily regarding research, best practices, promotional ideas, and more. One of the most frequently asked questions is, “How many ads should I run per week?” The answer always starts with, “That depends. What is your goal?”
The role of advertising is to increase the chance that people will choose your brand by making the brand easy to think of and easy to buy. Yet determining the amount of activity needed to reach consumers is anything but easy.
CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One and the Radio Advertising Bureau partnered to determine and set guidelines based on four campaign goals that range from 34% reach to a 78% reach of a station’s audience.
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.
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.
In less than a month, Americans from all walks of life will use the opportunity to make their voices heard. They will vote.
To say that this election will be like no other would be a great understatement. While campaign advertising started early, over the next few weeks, the airwaves will be inundated with information, facts and promises to influence and sway voters. During this emotionally charged year, connecting personally will be vital to the success of a candidate’s campaign. No other medium connects and engages personally more than broadcast radio.
