Katz Expands Advantage Group To Boost Radio Sales

Katz Media Group is boosting its radio sales capabilities with a major expansion of its Clear Channel Katz Advantage marketing group. The expansion will double the number of sales personnel in its marketing and business development unit, according to Katz Advantage president Bonnie Press, as part of a concerted push to better communicate the radio platform's advantages to advertising executives, chief marketing officers, and brand managers.

Altogether the Katz Advantage group represents a total of around 3,500 stations, including Bonneville, Citadel, Cox, Cumulus, Emmis, Greater Media, Journal, Regent, Saga, Sandusky and South Central, in addition to Clear Channel.

The group will emphasize a few key selling points.

First, radio's audience is not declining, as commonly believed--it still reaches about 95% of the American population ages 25-54 on a weekly basis. Second, new HD digital formats and Internet radio offer advertisers new advertising possibilities; in the latter case, streaming audio and video.

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Third, radio stations are trying out unusual new advertising formats beyond traditional 30-second spots, such as exclusive daypart and even whole-day sponsorships. Finally, the promise of electronic measurement by Arbitron's Portable People Meter service means that radio ratings will be as transparent as other traditional and new media, including television and the Internet.

In addition to hiring new personnel, Katz Advantage is also opening two new offices in San Francisco and Atlanta "to bring the message to advertisers where they are," Press said.

The expanded sales force will tout Katz's new Internet ad service. Last year, the company purchased Net Radio Sales, which allows advertisers to deliver ads across a variety of audio and Web-based platforms, including hundreds of station Web sites in its digital network. The company also provides a variety of interactive ads to station Web sites.

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