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June 19, 2007

Radio Advertising in Context

We're getting a little philosophical-big picture today.

Sometimes it's easy to get myopic about radio advertising. We can rant on and on about our killer proprietary database and the cool analyses it allows us to do that result in "ring the bell" results and "wring the towel" profits. We can talk for hours about creating great radio ads, the little nuances that are fascinating and so gratifying because they're hard to glean without spending years immersed in testing across categories, seasons and situations. And we can talk about the radio industry with all of its threats, shortcomings and promises.

But like everything else in life - everything - radio advertising must be looked at in context. What is radio advertising, anyway? Why do it? Why do we care about it?

Generally expressed, all advertising establishes a business' presence in society. It is your voice. It's how you shape the perceptions people in a society have of you. You become who you are (or wish to be) by what your advertising conveys. Now, your presence is not limited to advertising. All of your interactions shape the perceptions (collectively your "brand") people have of you, including your web site, your sales and customer service people, right down to your packaging and packing slip.

In direct response advertising, the purpose of advertising morphs to include more than just shaping perception. It's not just "here's who we are" but also "try us out" or "buy our product" or some other urging that people engage with your company in some specific way.

All businesses - regardless of the business model, have one need in common. They all need to acquire new customers. Retailers may look to location and foot traffic to drive leads and convert them into customers. Catalogers look at mailing lists. Direct marketers stimulate the market to drive leads to a web site or phone center.

It is the context of customer acquisition that direct response radio advertising is best viewed. Direct response radio advertising is a method of acquiring customers profitably and therefore serves as an engine of business growth. It is one of many possible approaches to growing a business, and it is one of the most effective.

Posted by Jeff Small & Brett Astor at 02:25 PM | Permalink