• by Buck Robinson , September 2, 2011

Why should reemerging brands consider radio? In today's digital media marketplace, radio offers an attractive value proposition and a high ROI compared to other media options, and engages with consumers at home, work and closest to the point of purchase.

You know what the message used to be, and you think you know what the new message should be, but you need to fine-tune the message with today's consumers. From a budgetary and efficiency perspective, it is much more cost-effective to do this with radio.

Radio Myths

Unfortunately, radio is either totally ignored or placed at a third or fourth level by most major brands. Why? Usually it's because of common misconceptions about the medium. Radio isn't relevant anymore. It's a dying medium. By battling this misinformation, we can open the door to a rediscovery of radio.

Radio Realities

"Radio is free, mobile and there's a format for everyone," says Jeff Haley, president and CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau. "Listeners continue to turn to radio for news, information and entertainment, despite an ever-increasing selection of media options."

Haley cites the following statistics that prove the worth of radio in today's increasingly cluttered media marketplace:

• Radio reaches 93% of all Americans every week -- 241,802,000 people, to be exact. Every day, radio reaches 71% of U.S. consumers (183,271,000 people).
• Radio reaches 93% of African-Americans and 95% of Hispanics every week.
• Radio reaches 92% of millennials (12 to 24 years old) every week.
• Every week, radio reaches 95% of people with household income of $75,000+.
• Radio reaches 89% of retail shoppers and 87% of major credit card holders every week.
• Unaided recall of brand names was 4.5 times higher with the mix of radio.

Radio Economics

Branding dollars can go further in radio, because other major brands are likely spending a disproportionately small percentage of their media budget on radio. This levels the budgetary playing field, from what could be a 100 to 1 spending ratio on television to a 1 to 1 ratio on radio.

In addition, up-front costs and flexibility of radio are better than television. For starters, you don't have to produce hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of TV commercials. From a budgetary standpoint, it's an apples-to-elephants comparison.

In terms of flexibility, radio allows you to produce multiple promotional messages at the same time. This means you're able to put more customer-catching lines in the water for a smaller up-front investment. You can tell your story in many variations on radio, while optimizing and refining quickly, instead of blasting out one message on TV and crossing your fingers.

One-Two Branding Punch: On-Air Plus Online

Do not look at radio in isolation! For maximum impact and cost-effectiveness, radio excels when integrated with an effective digital strategy. When you have a complementary on-air and online presence, that's when you get the biggest bang for the buck. Some 24% of consumers initiated an online search based on a radio ad. Integration of both a radio and a digital component allows brands to engage with the consumer on their terms.

Radio and Social Media

Talk radio is the original social medium. Anyone who listens to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity knows how much impact a top-tier talk radio host can have on his audience. 

When talk radio personalities get behind your brand, offering category exclusivity ("the official ____ of our show"), it's more than a marketing message. By getting the brand conversation going, talk radio offers audience reconnection and engagement with a reemerging brand. It provides an opportunity for listeners to talk about what this brand evoked, how it made them feel, and why that feeling is still valid in the present day.

Then the social media magic can begin. The host encourages listeners to post feedback on the show's Facebook or Twitter page. When radio is linked to the viral power of social media, it can create a huge value proposition with ROI factors as high as three or four to one.

When All is Said and Done

If you have only so many dollars to spend, don't you want to spend them where they will have the greatest impact? When it comes to unaided recall, radio is hard to beat. How many old radio jingles can you remember from 10, 20, even 30 years ago? 

The best news of all is that our misconstrued media priority system leaves the radio door wide open to reemerging brands. Because of the inherent ad agency bias against radio -- they can't bill as much, so radio isn't as lucrative for them -- your competitors probably won't be there. Choose the medium that is best for your product or service -- not your ad agency.