Better Way to Advertise HD Radios

[BruceS8852]

All the advertisements for HD Radios are very general and empahasize quality of sound, no monthly fees, and just say you can get "stations between the stations". I suggest that the ads be market specific and say what those stations are. In NYC, the commercial can say you can'g get country music on analog radio but 103.5 HD2 gives you country music without monthly fees. Likewise a commercial on Q-104.3 can say "If you like Q-104.3, you like Deep Tracks Q-104.3 HD2. The current marketing strategy for HD radio does not seem to have generated an interst so why not tray a new approach.


Bruce

 

[clouseau]

In NYC, the commercial can say you can't get country music on analog radio but 103.5 HD2 gives you country music without monthly fees.

If you need a recommendation letter for the HD radio promoter job, drop me an email...

Likewise a commercial on Q-104.3 can say "If you like Q-104.3, you like Deep Tracks Q-104.3 HD2.

Wher are thos Guiness guys?

The current marketing strategy for HD radio does not seem to have generated an interest so why not tray a new approach.

Beat's the Heck out of me... You're right...

Clouseau

 

[Mike Walker]

EXACTLY! This is what I've been saying for a long time. Tell what the specific benefits are! The ad campaign has been, frankly, awful. I'd fire any ad exec or "creative services" person who came up with something so lame for a big client. And this is the BIGGEST CLIENT.....US!

Quit being "artsy-fartsy", quit with the silly "stations between stations" (WTF does that mean? I tuned "between" and got NOTHING!), and tell me SPECIFICALLY what I will get that I don't get now. In my area, you can get classic country (in the foothills of NC!) ONLY on HD...not on analog! In the Triad market, you can get classical music ONLY on HD, not on analog! I know, it's as fun to bash hispanic immigrants here as HD Radio, but some stations are serving this VERY LARGE AUDIENCE via their HD streams. One such example is WMIT in Black Mountain/Asheville NC, with Spanish-language religious programming on HD2 (on this station owned by the Billy Graham Evengelistic Assoc).

"The Shuffle Channel" in Charlotte NC (WLYT's HD2) plays a variety of music that's simply not available on analog, or anywhere else that I'm aware of. FREAKIN' TELL 'EM ABOUT IT!

Clear Channel last year shut down what was almost certainly the first FM country music station in America, WFMX in Statesville NC, where I'm proud to have done mornings, and been Production Mgr. in the late 80s. With HD they could have retained the UNIQUE country format on HD2!

Not to mention LIBERAL TALK (more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans caucused in Iowa last night!). Bring Air America to every large market in America FINALLY on a multicast stream.

How about black music WITH A MELODY! REAL SOUL MUSIC...from artists like the Temptations, Supremes, Gladys Knight, Earth Wind and Fire, Sly Stone, Four Tops, Aretha, etc???

How about BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, a top-10 format in most markets when it disappeared in the 80s and 90s. BRING IT BACK ON HD, and tell people that IT IS AVAILABLE! There has never been a more loyal audience than this one! And talk about time-spent-listening!

Put UNIQUE THINGS ON HD, things not available anywhere else (gay/lesbian programming, tech news, women's issues (check out Oprah Radio on XM!), and so many others!) HUGE segments of this population hear NOTHING on terrestrial radio that "speaks to them". Suddenly HUNDREDS of new "channels" are available! If we can't turn THESE "lemons" into lemonade, frankly we deserve to fail!

 

[Chuck]

Put UNIQUE THINGS ON HD, things not available anywhere else (gay/lesbian programming, tech news, women's issues (check out Oprah Radio on XM!), and so many others!) HUGE segments of this population hear NOTHING on terrestrial radio that "speaks to them". Suddenly HUNDREDS of new "channels" are available! If we can't turn THESE "lemons" into lemonade, frankly we deserve to fail!

Good points. There are a lot of specialty formats that aren't often found on radio these days. I have no idea why they are not finding homes on HD-2 channels. Formats vary from market to market, but Standards, Classical, Jazz (smooth or real), Oldies, Beautiful Music, Show Tunes, Black Adult Oldies (Motown, etc), Celtic, Real Country, Gospel, Americana, plus all kinds of talk formats seem pretty obvious. Most, of them aren't that hard to do, or they can be picked up in syndication. These formats may not have huge audiences, but they will have very loyal audiences. Right now HD really needs that. It sure doesn't need "more of the same stuff we do on our regular channel."

After loading up the automation computer to run one of these formats, the next step is to tell people about it. That shouldn’t be that hard to do. Even some form of guerilla marketing might work. Since you are targeting a very distinct segment of the market, it doesn’t need to be a huge campaign, just a well targeted one. There is no point in telling a bunch of teenage head-bangers about your new Gospel station, but you might target a lot of churches.

Basically a campaign from “Marketing 101” ought to produce results. Right now, very few "regular folks" know anything about HD, and if they do, they usually think they are listening to it, and the RDS display in their car radio is living proof.

In fact, selling HD may be a part of the problem. Why not sell a radio station format? Forget the “HD” part. People listen to ‘radio.” They could give a rat’s a$$ how the signal gets to their speakers.

For a business that is mostly about marketing, to date, this one goes down with "New Coke." Kinda sad, actually.

 

[KB1OKL]

All the advertisements for HD Radios are very general and empahasize quality of sound, no monthly fees, and just say you can get "stations between the stations". I suggest that the ads be market specific and say what those stations are. In NYC, the commercial can say you can'g get country music on analog radio but 103.5 HD2 gives you country music without monthly fees. Likewise a commercial on Q-104.3 can say "If you like Q-104.3, you like Deep Tracks Q-104.3 HD2. The current marketing strategy for HD radio does not seem to have generated an interst so why not tray a new approach.


Bruce

I have a novel approach: How about...... the truth! heavy co-channel interference especially on AM, lousy range and even worse programming than on the main channels, stuff like polka channels, Al Martino sings The Beatles, Punk's most melodic ballads, The Yanni all the time! channel etc, the receivers are deaf and need outside antennas ala 1956 TV. It won't work in moving vehicles unless of course you enjoy dropouts and drive in circles around the transmitters. We would have portable radios except you would need to lug a car battery along with your radio, stuff like that.
Hey, that can't do any worse than has been already done. If the people don't want it, they don't want it period, no amount of money and coercion will force people to buy what they don't want.
There is absolutely no need for IBOC and people know this, it's proven weaknesses far outweigh it's alleged strengths and most people because they have not even heard of it, certainly don't know how controversial it is so you can't blame the absolute apathy on that either..
Don't you guys think if it was wanted it would at least be in a few stores by now and a few people outside of radio people would own them?

 

[Radioman100]

Put UNIQUE THINGS ON HD, things not available anywhere else (gay/lesbian programming, tech news, women's issues (check out Oprah Radio on XM!), and so many others!) HUGE segments of this population hear NOTHING on terrestrial radio that "speaks to them". Suddenly HUNDREDS of new "channels" are available! If we can't turn THESE "lemons" into lemonade, frankly we deserve to fail!

Good points. There are a lot of specialty formats that aren't often found on radio these days. I have no idea why they are not finding homes on HD-2 channels. Formats vary from market to market, but Standards, Classical, Jazz (smooth or real), Oldies, Beautiful Music, Show Tunes, Black Adult Oldies (Motown, etc), Celtic, Real Country, Gospel, Americana, plus all kinds of talk formats seem pretty obvious. Most, of them aren't that hard to do, or they can be picked up in syndication. These formats may not have huge audiences, but they will have very loyal audiences. Right now HD really needs that. It sure doesn't need "more of the same stuff we do on our regular channel."

After loading up the automation computer to run one of these formats, the next step is to tell people about it. That shouldn’t be that hard to do. Even some form of guerilla marketing might work. Since you are targeting a very distinct segment of the market, it doesn’t need to be a huge campaign, just a well targeted one. There is no point in telling a bunch of teenage head-bangers about your new Gospel station, but you might target a lot of churches.

Basically a campaign from “Marketing 101” ought to produce results. Right now, very few "regular folks" know anything about HD, and if they do, they usually think they are listening to it, and the RDS display in their car radio is living proof.

In fact, selling HD may be a part of the problem. Why not sell a radio station format? Forget the “HD” part. People listen to ‘radio.” They could give a rat’s a$$ how the signal gets to their speakers.

For a business that is mostly about marketing, to date, this one goes down with "New Coke." Kinda sad, actually.

I don't think I could have said it any better myself Chuck.

On the surface, the problem is the marketing. It's bad. Really, really bad. You can't sell anything without a unique selling proposition, and the people who are doing the marketing (i.e. the radio industry) know this.

The question is WHY is the marketing bad? Simple. The people responsible for the bad marketing are the same people responsible for producing radio and revenue on today's terrestrial signals. They don't want to compromise their current product or revenue stream at all, and view their own HD2 channels as competitors. Friendly competitors, but competition nonetheless.

HD will only blossom when those managers are given an incentive to make HD Radio work. Until then they'll continue to do their best to hide it in plain sight.

 

[KB1OKL]

In fact, selling HD may be a part of the problem. Why not sell a radio station format? Forget the “HD” part. People listen to ‘radio.” They could give a rat’s a$$ how the signal gets to their speakers.

For a business that is mostly about marketing, to date, this one goes down with "New Coke." Kinda sad, actually.

Did you guys ever stop to consider that maybe the general public just doesn't give a rat's a$$ about the whole thing? IBOC is in a catch 22, the public is not going to know about these "wonderful" 2nd channels without an IBOC radio and if that is the new selling point they ain't going to buy them until there hear them. Kind of a conundrum isn't it?

 

[Radioman100]

Did you guys ever stop to consider that maybe the general public just doesn't give a rat's a$$ about the whole thing? IBOC is in a catch 22, the public is not going to know about these "wonderful" 2nd channels without an IBOC radio and if that is the new selling point they ain't going to buy them until there hear them. Kind of a conundrum isn't it?

I think that's the point everyone is making. Unless you let people know exactly what's available to them on HD Radio, there's very little chance they're going to spend the money on the radios.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

I think that's the point everyone is making. Unless you let people know exactly what's available to them on HD Radio, there's very little chance they're going to spend the money on the radios.

If the promotion of the programming offered on multicast channels is left in the hands of the same people who see those channels as "friendly competition", then this doesn't sound like a really hopeful outlook.

At this point, it would be difficult even to broker out these channels to paid programming's "usual suspects", since at the moment, they seem satisfied with analog AM.

In the near term, it's tough for me to see any real way out for the multicast channels except pay-per-listen for special events or niche formats with small but extremely loyal audiences.

 

[KB1OKL]

I think that's the point everyone is making. Unless you let people know exactly what's available to them on HD Radio, there's very little chance they're going to spend the money on the radios.

These are direct quotes from the people who are going to "let people know exactly what's available to them on HD Radio"

"Over the last two years, the alliance used radio inventory to promote the partnerships with companies like Radio Shack and Best Buy," said client CEO Peter Ferrara. "But while we've been trying to carry the HD Radio message to consumers, everyone has been doing it their own way. We need to move from awareness to intent to purchase, and messaging will be the real driver to connect to the consumer." Ferrara said that while previous campaigns drove awareness to 77 percent, only 33 percent of consumers understand the new consumer electronics technology.

(77% and 33%?? what planet does he live on?)

Of past efforts, GSD&M account director Ronnie Steck said, "It was a gallant effort but the effort was disparate. They drove awareness but didn't assign meaning to it and why you would want it."
Of past efforts, GSD&M account director Ronnie Steck said, "It was a gallant effort but the effort was disparate. They drove awareness but didn't assign meaning to it and why you would want it."

HUH?????

 

[Chuck]

They don't want to compromise their current product or revenue stream at all, and view their own HD2 channels as competitors. Friendly competitors, but competition nonetheless.

HD will only blossom when those managers are given an incentive to make HD Radio work. Until then they'll continue to do their best to hide it in plain sight.

That is one of the biggest non-technical problems HD has to face. To a lot of broadcasters, it is an answer to a question that nobody asked. Additional channels appear to just be more competition to their station's primary signals. Why would they want to compete with themselves? If you are in a town of 20,000, the law of diminishing returns becomes fairly obvious.

Back in the days when a major market had a dozen stations with distinctive formats, life was good. A small market might have two or three stations. Everyone listened. Each station had its own group of dedicated followers and the cash register rang.

Since then, things have exploded. How many stations can you receive in the DFW area 60? 70? Something like that. Even where I am, 35+ are receivable. That slices the pie even thinner. The good news is the pie has grown, but has it grown fast enough? I'd be one of the first to say we need more unique formats in radio, but I'm not sure that radio really benefits by adding more outlets to deliver them. YMMV

 

[R.F. Burns]

"Additional channels appear to just be more competition to their station's primary signals. Why would they want to compete with themselves? If you are in a town of 20,000, the law of diminishing returns becomes fairly obvious."

This is a constant argument from those against IBOC for which I do have the answer. Yes, it is possible that by adding more programing on a second channel, a few listeners might be lost to that second channel. However, considering that both channels are owned by the same company whatever monies are derived from that second channel end up in the same bank account. At the network level they may have 20 or more different programs being transmitted simultaniously and yet it is still very profitable. As a group owner it isn't how much a single radio station earns, it's how much money is earned at the end of each quarter & what percentage of the total market you have listening to your product that matters. If you loose 5,000 listeners to the new channel, you still have those listeners and by providing an alternative you gain more listeners who would otherwise go to other media for their entertainment. In other words you don't loose in the end. Also, America is a big country and radio is an expensive business. If you own a station serving 20,000 people, even if you have 100% of that market you can't compare that with stations which are presently installing IBOC in markets with millions of people.

 

[Chuck]

"Additional channels appear to just be more competition to their station's primary signals. Why would they want to compete with themselves? If you are in a town of 20,000, the law of diminishing returns becomes fairly obvious."

This is a constant argument from those against IBOC for which I do have the answer. Yes, it is possible that by adding more programing on a second channel, a few listeners might be lost to that second channel. However, considering that both channels are owned by the same company whatever monies are derived from that second channel end up in the same bank account. At the network level they may have 20 or more different programs being transmitted simultaniously and yet it is still very profitable. As a group owner it isn't how much a single radio station earns, it's how much money is earned at the end of each quarter & what percentage of the total market you have listening to your product that matters. If you loose 5,000 listeners to the new channel, you still have those listeners and by providing an alternative you gain more listeners who would otherwise go to other media for their entertainment. In other words you don't loose in the end. Also, America is a big country and radio is an expensive business. If you own a station serving 20,000 people, even if you have 100% of that market you can't compare that with stations which are presently installing IBOC in markets with millions of people.

I think you succinctly summed up why HD is attractive to large broadcasters in large markets. You also may have explained why, at least right now, it is not very attractive for small operators in secondary and tertiary markets.

The best scenario would be that these new channel bring people back to radio. Even in NYC, I'll bet there are a lot of people who have given up on radio. If you come up with something that brings them back you might have a winner, at least in places with the population density to support it. So far I've seen little evidence that most stations are doing that, even giving Clear Channel's Format Labs their due.

 

[R.F. Burns]

To b honest Chuck, I have the feeling that most HD 2 audio is put on the air to modulate the carrier. I still feel it's a technology in the experimental stages. Too many stations turn their exciters on and off as changes are being made to the finished product. We, of course, are scrutinizing every moment in the developement of IBOC. For IBOC to succeed from a programing point of view, the technology must be in place before any serious work can be done.

 

[Savage]

There's actually a very pragmatic reason for the lack of enthusiasm for HD2 and HD3 channels from commercial FM managers and why in fact the loss of primary-channel listening to co-owned HD side channels will NOT result in fragmented income ending up "in the same bank account." It just doesn't work that way.

Advertising on most stations is placed outside the market by ad agency "cubicle queens" who simply look at formats, station facilities and ratings on a Tapscan computer. The client, say Home Depot says, "buy the top 4 stations in target demo 24-54 men AQH in Philadelphia, DFW, Charlotte, Miami" and so forth. Some dweeb looks up the station and e-mails or faxes the buy. End of story.

If you decide to be an HD pioneer and compete with yourself using your own side channels, you could conceivably pull the main channel's ratings down in MARKET RANK sufficiently to drop you out of the buy altogether. The little media-buyer type doesn't care whether the listeners went to your HD side channel or to a non co-owned competitor. The listeners aren't there, so you miss out on the buy. Ta-daaahh! You've just screwed yourself!

This is why the big groups have been known to spend $75K out of their promotional budget to nail a $75K commercial buy, just to steal that revenue from a competing group of stations. If you're a market manager the name of the game is "percentage of market revenue." To get the job done you need every rated listener you can scrape up, because inevitably you're gonna have a "down book" and you have to have built enough local revenue headroom into your billing to weather that.

HD threatens your ability to maintain stable revenue because you can unwittingly fragment the audience that generates your billings.

 

[Radioman100]

There's actually a very pragmatic reason for the lack of enthusiasm for HD2 and HD3 channels from commercial FM managers and why in fact the loss of primary-channel listening to co-owned HD side channels will NOT result in fragmented income ending up "in the same bank account." It just doesn't work that way.

Advertising on most stations is placed outside the market by ad agency "cubicle queens" who simply look at formats, station facilities and ratings on a Tapscan computer. The client, say Home Depot says, "buy the top 4 stations in target demo 24-54 men AQH in Philadelphia, DFW, Charlotte, Miami" and so forth. Some dweeb looks up the station and e-mails or faxes the buy. End of story.

If you decide to be an HD pioneer and compete with yourself using your own side channels, you could conceivably pull the main channel's ratings down in MARKET RANK sufficiently to drop you out of the buy altogether. The little media-buyer type doesn't care whether the listeners went to your HD side channel or to a non co-owned competitor. The listeners aren't there, so you miss out on the buy. Ta-daaahh! You've just screwed yourself!

This is why the big groups have been known to spend $75K out of their promotional budget to nail a $75K commercial buy, just to steal that revenue from a competing group of stations. If you're a market manager the name of the game is "percentage of market revenue." To get the job done you need every rated listener you can scrape up, because inevitably you're gonna have a "down book" and you have to have built enough local revenue headroom into your billing to weather that.

HD threatens your ability to maintain stable revenue because you can unwittingly fragment the audience that generates your billings.

Which is exactly why contrasting, not complimentary formats make a lot of sense on HD2.

Look at the scenario you just presented in reverse. In Dallas, country KPLX has a CHR format on its HD2. I don't see a lot of George Strait fans turning into Fergie fans overnight, but KPLX-HD2 offers an alternative to KHKS that seems void of commercials and thug rap. It offers more pop rock and dance.

If it pulls anything away from KHKS, that's good for KPLX.

Many HD2 channels offer formats that do not compete with their main channels at all.

 

[R.F. Burns]

I can tell you that many buys today are corporate. For instance an agency will buy Clear Channel, Memphis and a specific spot will air on the entire CC Memphis group, not on a single radio station.

 

[Savage]

All very true, Radioman - certainly it would be in the manner of common sense to use your HD side-channels as "flankers" to chip away at your competition's audience, thus hoping to elevate your own market rank. But the problem is: that argument cuts both ways.

While you're hoping to use HD2 and 3 as a competitive weapon, the guys across the street are doing the same thing - against you. So any "flanking" potential turns out to be a wash, with the best possible scenario the status quo, and the worst - net damage inflicted on your station(s). As new weapons are fired randomly in a crowded room, it's impossible to predict the outcome. GMs hate unknowns almost as much as they hate surprises.

And the net result, after all is said and done, is further fragmentation of a static, non-growth existing audience. There are only so many pairs or ears and there's only so much total TSL. The more you spread that rated audience among various channels, the more difficult it is for the agency grebes to buy radio.

 

[clouseau]

As new weapons are fired randomly in a crowded room, it's impossible to predict the outcome. GMs hate unknowns almost as much as they hate surprises.

And the net result, after all is said and done, is further fragmentation of a static, non-growth existing audience. There are only so many pairs or ears and there's only so much total TSL. The more you spread that rated audience among various channels, the more difficult it is for the agency grebes to buy radio.

Bob, your thoughts here seem to have a good ring to them on the surface. However, a few other things would be also appear to be true if we accept them.

If we were to DECREASE the number of stations to one total in each market, this would make advertising buying easiest for the agencies. Clearly this would NOT increase total radio revenue. The audience is NOT static.

Also, if the average listener switched between a couple of formats depending on their mood, requiring them to purchase Satellite to get their "Smooth Jazz" (or whatever) has enhanced your competitor. Also, they might just decide to listen to that NFL game on their Sirius, rather that a local station like YOU (or me)

More choices in terrestrial radio equals less motivation to augment it and maybe later substitute it for other sources.

Just a thought.

Clouseau

 

[Play Freebird]

Another problem is brand identity.

The initial approach taken by most groups -- encouraged by the HD Alliance -- was "brand extension"; they would try to serve a niche within their existing demographic, just like Coke has done with Diet Coke. For example, Power 99, a hip-hop station in Philadelphia added "extreme hip-hop" on HD-2. However, as Bob has pointed out, most GMs fear such an approach will hurt their rankings. The miniscule audience attracted to the secondary channel isn't large enough to make a dent in Arbitron, but if those listeners are switching over from the primary (the channel responsible for making money) its rank may fall a notch.

Problem is, if you try to do something completely different, then listeners become confused about the brand and what it stands for. If you ask someone in Dallas/Fort Worth what KPLX plays, the usual response will be "country" -- the format KPLX has been playing quite successfully for over 25 years. But when that listener sees KPLX-2 on the radio display and hears CHR, some cognitive dissonance is going to kick in. Kind of like drinking a bottle of Dasani water that has COKE printed in big letters on the label.

Now suppose KPLX wants to put "VIBE99.5" on the HD-2 display. Oops -- the Importer won't accept eight characters! iBiquity designed the callsign display to show only four letters (which will mess things up if they expect to sell HD Radio in Europe).

CBS has a similar challenge in Philadelphia with its KYW all-news simulcast on the HD-2 of WYSP, which is supposed to be a rock station (once again). From a fill-in standpoint, the simulcast makes sense; KYW has a poor signal to the northeast, an area covered well by WYSP. But I expect some listeners are going to be confused when they tune to the KYW simulcast and see WYSP-HD2 on the display, rather than KYW. Someone needs to think this stuff through a little better.