A reason why advertisers don't target 55+ audiences

[davideduardo]

Commercial Radio treats older demos as lepers and that business model is no longer viable...

It's not viable because ad agencies don't buy 55+.

Commercial radio simply ignores those over 55 because attracting them will not attract advertising accounts.

Radio does not "treat older demos as lepers". Radio simply can't be sustainable with over-55 listeners.

 

[davideduardo]

Couldn't stuff like Cracker Barrel target them? I never see anyone under 55 there.😅 Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night!

Generally, chains don't buy local radio. And most chain restaurants want video for "appetite appeal". Radio is generally used only as a supplement to gain frequency in multimedia campaigns.

 

[TheBigA]

It's not viable because ad agencies don't buy 55+.

Commercial radio simply ignores those over 55 because attracting them will not attract advertising accounts.

Although talk radio reaches 55+ and does well by running lots of medical, drug, and insurance ads, as well as infomercials, none of which fit with older music formats

 

[davideduardo]

When people go to You Tube, they hit SKIP AD as soon as possible. Advertising is essentially -- Throw a lot of Chum into the water and hope for a bite...

Advertisers know this. They have plenty of proprietary studies about the effect and impact of their campaigns. All the distractions are taken into account.

There was talk back in the 70's that some cities had dangerous or damaging water pressure issues when viewers of All in the Family or M.A.S.H. all simultaneously took a bathroom break during those shows.

The behaviour goes back to the days of early network radio almost 100 years ago. The technology is what has changed.

 

[davideduardo]

Since Radio has fewer formats aimed at older demos, it stands to reason that they are no longer listening...

Again, you are speak while devoid of facts. 55+ and 65+ actually spend nearly as much time with radio as 35-54 folks do... and the difference is minimal.

 

[davideduardo]

The only restaurant where the name describes the decor and the clientele.

I recall when a group of us from Puerto Rico went to a Cracker Barrel in Lake City, Florida where we had stations and we were speaking Spanish at our table. The looks from the resident crackers were "unusual".

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Again, you are speak while devoid of facts.

Oh how many times this would have been a great response in a meeting.

Not a good one for keeping a job, but how satisfying it would be.

 

[radiofan2023]

Oh how many times this would have been a great response in a meeting.

Not a good one for keeping a job, but how satisfying it would be.

I prefer “you cannot imagine how wrong you are”

 

[anotherguyTN]

My daughter is 21 and loves Cracker Barrel.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I prefer “you cannot imagine how wrong you are”

I've used, "assumes facts not in evidence"

 

[tbolt909]

Again, you are speak while devoid of facts. 55+ and 65+ actually spend nearly as much time with radio as 35-54 folks do... and the difference is minimal.

And Again, you didn't repost my entire reply. I have relatives in their 80's that have responded to advertising from AAA. They booked trips based on that.

You claim that many 55 + are still listening to formats that aren't aimed at them. Even if true, what good are they? Advertisers aren't interested in them, so it won't help your station. It would be the same as someone sitting in a booth at a restaurant, but not buying any food or drinks...

 

[CTListener]

And Again, you didn't repost my entire reply. I have relatives in their 80's that have responded to advertising from AAA. They booked trips based on that.

You claim that many 55 + are still listening to formats that aren't aimed at them. Even if true, what good are they? Advertisers aren't interested in them, so it won't help your station. It would be the same as someone sitting in a booth at a restaurant, but not buying any food or drinks...

Advertisers are happy to see anyone of any age become their customers. The money of a male 60-year-old buying a product after hearing of it on a 25-44 "wall of women" adult contemporary station is just as good as that of a 30-year-old female listener. But pushing more advertising dollars into a station playing 60-year-old pop hits is not going to produce significant additional buys to justify that expenditure, because by and large, the oldies listener conforms to the profile detailed in previous posts -- reluctant to change brands, budget-conscious, etc.

BTW, I'm a "worthless" 68-year-old country listener. The stations don't particularly care if I'm listening, and their advertisers aren't buying time on those stations specifically to reach me, but make no mistake, I'm always welcome to buy the advertisers' products or services.

 

[Prescott Joe]

There are PLENTY of stations that make or could make money targeting older
listeners. Simply stated, it probably takes more WORK and the likelihood of
making LESS MONEY.

 

[michael hagerty]

There are PLENTY of stations that make or could make money targeting older
listeners. Simply stated, it probably takes more WORK and the likelihood of
making LESS MONEY.

Which is where the concept of profit margins come in. We're long past the days of swimming in ad revenue, even in the most popular 25-54 demos. So, when you say "LESS MONEY", the question any broadcaster has to ask is "will it be ENOUGH money?" (to pay the costs and return a given profit).

And, as always, the pearl of wisdom I got early on in my career---No one goes into broadcast ownership or management to make "a little" money.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

There are PLENTY of stations that make or could make money targeting older
listeners. Simply stated, it probably takes more WORK and the likelihood of
making LESS MONEY.

There actually aren't.

 

[secondchoice]

We can't generalize the industry. IMHO there are two or more subsets of stations. The stations that make the majority of their money from agencies and the smaller market stations that "beat the street" and deal directly with local decision makers. I feel the larger stations sales are really a "commodity" and the rest are a service provider. The "commodity" stations are number driven kind of like when you fill up at a gas stations where price per rules. Of course different types of fuel (audiences) come into play. But at the end of the day the agencies really are spending their clients money and have to show they targeted the demographic with a reasonable price per point. On the local level (sub 200) you are dealing with someone who is spending his (hers) money. You should be offering a service that get the business owner results. If there are enough businesses that cater to +55 in your area you might offer a good service. It's easy to find the number of +55 folks in a zip code. In fact if you don't know the age race demographics in your service area and are too lazy to look it up yourself, for a small fee I will figure it out.

 

[michael hagerty]

We can't generalize the industry. IMHO there are two or more subsets of stations. The stations that make the majority of their money from agencies and the smaller market stations that "beat the street" and deal directly with local decision makers. I feel the larger stations sales are really a "commodity" and the rest are a service provider. The "commodity" stations are number driven kind of like when you fill up at a gas stations where price per rules. Of course different types of fuel (audiences) come into play. But at the end of the day the agencies really are spending their clients money and have to show they targeted the demographic with a reasonable price per point. On the local level (sub 200) you are dealing with someone who is spending his (hers) money. You should be offering a service that get the business owner results. If there are enough businesses that cater to +55 in your area you might offer a good service. It's easy to find the number of +55 folks in a zip code. In fact if you don't know the age race demographics in your service area and are too lazy to look it up yourself, for a small fee I will figure it out.

About five weeks ago, I posted this in another thread. It applies here, too.

In the aughts, I was Director of Programming and Promotion for a startup independent TV station in a Top 15 market. Metro population 4.1 million.

The station started out with cheap off-network reruns and no ratings in a desirable demo---very much a 55+ thing--- trying to do local direct. Here's what we learned:

• If you start out approaching people already doing local direct advertising, you have to convince them that you're worth either the extra added expense or shifting some of their ad budget. If the people they're already advertising with are smart, they're showing them the ratings, just like the agency, to impress upon them the audience they can reach.

• Going after clients not already doing local direct advertising is time-consuming and very expensive. It takes a lot to make someone not spending money on advertising decide to spend that money---especially in a large market, where there's a floor below which that spot rate can't fall or else you're losing money on that client.

• Selling audience response instead of ratings is a double-edged sword. The first week they have where they don't have someone come in and say "I saw your ad on Channel (whatever)", they're on the phone cancelling. We found that three out of four local direct clients were on for a month and then gone---meaning we had to replace them. And, most likely, a month later, replace the replacement. The time chasing those replacements translates to money, as does the endless printing of promotional material and the lunches and dinners over which the sales people hope to sway the businesspersons' decisions.

Ultimately, we learned we were money ahead in investing in more current, more popular programming, getting the ratings up and getting on the agency buys.

 

[secondchoice]

About five weeks ago, I posted this in another thread. It applies here, too.

In the aughts, I was Director of Programming and Promotion for a startup independent TV station in a Top 15 market. Metro population 4.1 million.

The station started out with cheap off-network reruns and no ratings in a desirable demo---very much a 55+ thing--- trying to do local direct. Here's what we learned:

• If you start out approaching people already doing local direct advertising, you have to convince them that you're worth either the extra added expense or shifting some of their ad budget. If the people they're already advertising with are smart, they're showing them the ratings, just like the agency, to impress upon them the audience they can reach.

• Going after clients not already doing local direct advertising is time-consuming and very expensive. It takes a lot to make someone not spending money on advertising decide to spend that money---especially in a large market, where there's a floor below which that spot rate can't fall or else you're losing money on that client.

• Selling audience response instead of ratings is a double-edged sword. The first week they have where they don't have someone come in and say "I saw your ad on Channel (whatever)", they're on the phone cancelling. We found that three out of four local direct clients were on for a month and then gone---meaning we had to replace them. And, most likely, a month later, replace the replacement. The time chasing those replacements translates to money, as does the endless printing of promotional material and the lunches and dinners over which the sales people hope to sway the businesspersons' decisions.

Ultimately, we learned we were money ahead in investing in more current, more popular programming, getting the ratings up and getting on the agency buys.

Maybe I didn't state this clearly. I will try again. If your station is in a smaller market (sub 200) your marketing is different. You can't count on agencies to pay the bills. That's why when you buy a small market station that has good sales, you make sure the existing sale team is part of the deal.

I would never try to make any money in the big markets with local sales. It a price per point game sometimes called number pushing. Any non agency business should be considered extra unbudgeted income.

I live in a County that had decreasing numbers of school age children yet the census shows a significant population gain and we are one of the top 10 Georgia counties in average household income. I doubt a form of CHR would work here. If you are in "flyover country" radio is local, and not exciting, profitable and sales are harder than the top 20.

 

[michael hagerty]

Maybe I didn't state this clearly. I will try again. If your station is in a smaller market (sub 200) your marketing is different. You can't count on agencies to pay the bills. That's why when you buy a small market station that has good sales, you make sure the existing sale team is part of the deal.

I would never try to make any money in the big markets with local sales. It a price per point game sometimes called number pushing. Any non agency business should be considered extra unbudgeted income.

I live in a County that had decreasing numbers of school age children yet the census shows a significant population gain and we are one of the top 10 Georgia counties in average household income. I doubt a form of CHR would work here. If you are in "flyover country" radio is local, and not exciting, profitable and sales are harder than the top 20.

I just returned from visiting my grandkids in rural Georgia. Their town's population is 7,500 and it has a local radio station, an AM that's been on the air since 1957, with an FM translator.

Thing is, if you draw a circle around the town with the lines being 30 miles in any direction from it, there are about half a million people living there----which means most of the businesses in the area are national. You name the chain, they have it. And those folks don't advertise. Meantime, what used to be a bustling main drag is now about 40% empty storefronts.

Not much of a street to beat.

Does that station make money? Probably. A lot? Probably not.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

The challenge is that local money is also split more and more ways. If I can DIY myself a social media ad (setting quality aside for a moment) and target just who I want, just where I want, and I can see the results, getting that money for broadcast (or getting it back) is labor intensive and of mixed success. As the pool fragments, fewer players are going to be able to subsist on smaller pieces. And even in those areas, there may or may not be businesses who feel the need to spend with you (or with anyone).

It's not so simple as owners just don't work hard enough, or don't know enough, or what have you. Sometimes the money just isn't there.