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An underserved population?

stan

stan

We've had this discussion many times, but the sense here is that generationally we are "siloed" and the ones making some of the decisions have no idea about others and their abilities (or listening habits for that matter). There's a reason classic hits does well in San Antonio and Dallas.

Read the article and watch the video. https://dicktaylorblog.com/2016/05/08/real-possibilities/
 
stan said:
We've had this discussion many times, but the sense here is that generationally we are "siloed" and the ones making some of the decisions have no idea about others and their abilities (or listening habits for that matter). There's a reason classic hits does well in San Antonio and Dallas.

Read the article and watch the video. https://dicktaylorblog.com/2016/05/08/real-possibilities/
Click to expand...

Hey - radio abandons us - return the favor. HD, DX, Satellite, streaming, iPhone - there are alternatives. We are no longer a captive audience with DX the only alternative.
 
stan said:
We've had this discussion many times, but the sense here is that generationally we are "siloed" and the ones making some of the decisions have no idea about others and their abilities (or listening habits for that matter). There's a reason classic hits does well in San Antonio and Dallas.

Read the article and watch the video. https://dicktaylorblog.com/2016/05/08/real-possibilities/
Click to expand...

The whole blog article is based on the false premise that radio advertising is all determined by media buyers at ad agencies.

In fact, nationally, most ad buys in radio are local direct and placed by business owners who know who buys at their business and who their business was designed to serve. Most major businesses... the ones that buy retail radio advertising... are not owned by Millennials.

For agency accounts, it is the client, backed often by hundreds of millions of dollars in product and consumer research, who tells the agency what age groups to buy against. The senior marketing staff at P&G or Ford or Coke is not made up exclusively of Millennials, either.

The simple issue is that older consumers need to hear an ad more times before a decision to buy is made. Those added impressions cost money. That increases the cost of the sale, and makes selling to seniors less profitable.

Speaking specifically to Houston, the issue about starting a new classic hits station is simple; it's a format with a determined shelf life. Existing stations are worth keeping, but it may not be the best choice for a format conversion.
 
JoeFM said:
The thing is, most of us old folks don't want to fiddle with all these gadgets and gizmos We want to turn something on and leave it alone to play. We want radio as we know it.
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Yeah, that is why I use my smartphone to listen everywhere. Easy, one or two tap options to hear what I want and it moves from place to place with me.
 
JoeFM said:
The thing is, most of us old folks don't want to fiddle with all these gadgets and gizmos We want to turn something on and leave it alone to play. We want radio as we know it.
Click to expand...

And want it to be free. And don't want to hear commercials. And don't want repetition. When you listen to what seniors want, there's no way to please them.
 
DavidEduardo said:


The simple issue is that older consumers need to hear an ad more times before a decision to buy is made. Those added impressions cost money. That increases the cost of the sale, and makes selling to seniors less profitable.
Click to expand...

And yet Coke, Pepsi, Ford, GM, P&G and innumerable drug companies advertise to the point of nausea and the majority of their products are not targeted at seniors. Selling to seniors might be less profitable than to Millennials but the differences can't be too great given the number of commercials.
 
landtuna said:


And yet Coke, Pepsi, Ford, GM, P&G and innumerable drug companies advertise to the point of nausea and the majority of their products are not targeted at seniors. Selling to seniors might be less profitable than to Millennials but the differences can't be too great given the number of commercials.
Click to expand...

Research these terms:

Share of Voice
Top of Mind Awareness
Point of Purchase

... and you will see why advertising to the customer base constantly and continuously is essential.

Of course, this is done with the product's target consumer in mind. Advertising to seniors would imply making media buys directed specifically at that groups, which is only done with products unique to the senior market.
 
landtuna said:


And yet Coke, Pepsi, Ford, GM, P&G and innumerable drug companies advertise to the point of nausea and the majority of their products are not targeted at seniors. Selling to seniors might be less profitable than to Millennials but the differences can't be too great given the number of commercials.
Click to expand...

When I re-read David's comment: "The simple issue is that older consumers need to hear an ad more times before a decision to buy is made." - it sounds suspiciously like a bunch of spoiled brat Gen-X'ers in advertising agencies are implying that all seniors have dementia and have to hear things several times for their short term memory to kick back in. In other words - blatant characterization of an entire age group without supporting evidence. The implication that people over 55 have senile dementia is offensive and doesn't reflect reality.

As for fiddling with new technology - its about the music. Nothing free on the air to listen to. My wife doesn't even turn the radio on in the car any more. I suspect a lot of people feel the same. Either radio works and provides something people want to listen to, or they go elsewhere. Those of us who used to have to DX to get music - and fiddled quite a bit to do it - now fiddle with new technolgoy that is sometimes equally frustrating as DX - like HD. Or making iTunes act the way we want and not treat us like a pirate. The payoff is the music we want. The blazes with what the ad agencies and focus groups want to force feed us and expect us to like. Not happening.
 
DavidEduardo said:


Research these terms:

Share of Voice
Top of Mind Awareness
Point of Purchase

... and you will see why advertising to the customer base constantly and continuously is essential.

Of course, this is done with the product's target consumer in mind. Advertising to seniors would imply making media buys directed specifically at that groups, which is only done with products unique to the senior market.
Click to expand...

David - about 99% of the ads I hear on radio are equally relevant to people over 55. I have NEVER heard an ad for reverse mortgages, viagra, walk in tubs, home elevators, etc. on radio. Not even on oldies stations. Just lots of car / home insurance, fast food, cars, etc. Things everybody buys regardless of age. And that is on the oldies stations I stream, too. Those stations don't sell Lawrence Welk records, dementia drugs, or whatever the heck you think people over 55 are buying to the exclusion of normal things you buy under 55. People are just people, regardless of age. Or race, or nationality, or lifestyle.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
When I re-read David's comment: "The simple issue is that older consumers need to hear an ad more times before a decision to buy is made." - it sounds suspiciously like a bunch of spoiled brat Gen-X'ers in advertising agencies are implying that all seniors have dementia and have to hear things several times for their short term memory to kick back in. In other words - blatant characterization of an entire age group without supporting evidence. The implication that people over 55 have senile dementia is offensive and doesn't reflect reality.
Click to expand...

In general, ad agencies don't determine the target of advertising for their clients. It's done by the marketing department of the client, and with larger clients involves millions of dollars in research. Sometimes an agency will be involved in the evaluation of research as part of a strategy process to determine the most productive approaches to advertising.

The reason why seniors require more ad impressions has to do with maturation, not senility. The older a person gets, the more bound to habit they generally become; in the case of advertising it means changing traditional buying habits. The older a person gets, the more skeptical they generally become; that means they are less subject to ad messages because they have become more immune to them.

The supporting evidence is, of course, proprietary. P&G is not going to share its consumer research with Lever. But the fact that, except for senior-specific brands, P&G buys 18-49 on TV and 25-54 or 18-49 on radio shows the results of their hundreds of millions of dollars worth of research.

As for fiddling with new technology - its about the music. Nothing free on the air to listen to. My wife doesn't even turn the radio on in the car any more. I suspect a lot of people feel the same. Either radio works and provides something people want to listen to, or they go elsewhere.
Click to expand...

If you and your wife are over 55, it is likely that you will have fewer radio choices than someone who is "thirtysomething". That's because radio stations targeting 55 are diving into a pool that has no water in it. There is essentially no revenue for a 55+ radio station in a major metro.

Those of us who used to have to DX to get music - and fiddled quite a bit to do it
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I wondered when DX would creep in here. You make it seem like a broad-based practice when it is really a very, very, very, very (did I say "very") limited group of people.

now fiddle with new technology that is sometimes equally frustrating as DX - like HD. Or making iTunes act the way we want and not treat us like a pirate. The payoff is the music we want. The blazes with what the ad agencies and focus groups want to force feed us and expect us to like. Not happening.
Click to expand...

The technology is very simple. If 6-year-olds can master it, then most adults can. Unless, of course, they are set in their ways, tied to the past and resistant to change.

And again, the ad agencies and focus groups have little or nothing to do with this.
 
"I want it to play everything that was ever recorded since 1955 until I stopped listening, and play my favorite obscure song whenever I turn it on. No commercials either, but DJs. Unless they suck"


TheBigA said:
And want it to be free. And don't want to hear commercials. And don't want repetition. When you listen to what seniors want, there's no way to please them.
Click to expand...
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
David - about 99% of the ads I hear on radio are equally relevant to people over 55.
Click to expand...

But the media options they buy on are targeted to some part of 18-54. The rest is what is called "spilllage" and is an extra bonus but one which the client does not pay for.

I have NEVER heard an ad for reverse mortgages, viagra, walk in tubs, home elevators, etc. on radio. Not even on oldies stations.
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Those ads require, per client research, visuals. Taking the example of Viagra(tm) the commercials all show lifestyle enhancement, not pictures of a woodie. The images of "seizing the moment" and closeness and tenderness that they sell with can't easily be done on the radio. The home elevator ads show the convenience, ease and simplicity of such systems while using "models" who look "look like me".

That is why they are not on the radio.

Just lots of car / home insurance, fast food, cars, etc.
Click to expand...

Point of purchase, share of voice, awareness using media that reach 18-49 and 25-54 or some subset.

Things everybody buys regardless of age. And that is on the oldies stations I stream, too. Those stations don't sell Lawrence Welk records, dementia drugs, or whatever the heck you think people over 55 are buying to the exclusion of normal things you buy under 55. People are just people, regardless of age. Or race, or nationality, or lifestyle.
Click to expand...

But those campaigns are targeted against under-55 listeners. If they deliver some folks over 55, that is a free bonus. But agencies don't pay for the demo because the client would fire them if they were buying out of demo.

The senior-specific accounts are products based on retirement, expanded leisure time, disease and aging, estate planning, etc. As often as not, they run on TV as PI (Per Inquiry) accounts that pay based on response, not on a flat ad rate.
 
I'm not quite sure why I'd want to hear "My Generation" by The Who followed by ads reminding me how I'm older and things don't quite work the way they used to
 
The same ol' complaint again.
Bruce, I have aged out of the "desired" advertiser age group. After working in broadcasting for my entire career, I understand why the 55+ group is generally not of interest to many advertisers.
We have found the products which suit our needs. We need a really good reason to try other brands.
It's as simple as that.

There are many threads about this subject. In all cases, they result in circular arguments.
Perhaps it's time that you agree to disagree and stop complaining.
 
frankberry said:
There are many threads about this subject. In all cases, they result in circular arguments.
Perhaps it's time that you agree to disagree and stop complaining.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, most of these threads blame Millennials, ad agencies and media buyers for the lack of senior-targeted programming and ad buys.

Media buyers have none of the blame. They are told what demographic (and what markets if a multi-market buy) to buy, and they find the stations that deliver that target at the right price. If they don't, they are fired.

Ad agencies have little blame. They are subcontractors to the clients, the advertisers. They do what the advertiser wants. If they don't, they are fired.

Millennials are not to blame either. Millennials, of all the generations, are the most focused on research and statistics and are comfortable in a rich media universe. If in decision-making positions, they look at who the consumer is, what the price of acquisition is, and make very reasoned decisions on media placement.
 
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