oddly targeted spots

[bobdavcav]

I'm hearing some oddly targeted spots on radio lately, what's up with these?
1. I'm hearing the spot for the RSV vaccine all over the place. I do not understand why this spot is on such a wide swath of radio stations right now as that vaccine is I think only available for those 75 and older, or 60 and older with increased risk factors. So, what's that spot doing on a station whose target is 18-34 or 18-49? I could see this on maybe sports, news/talk, classic hits, classic rock, and maybe AC, but I've heard it multiple times on a rhythmic-leaning Hot AC I listen to frequently.
2. Occasionally when I can't sleep, I'll flip the radio on to at least get an idea of what time it is. One spot I hear every once in a while is a message from the American Academy of Dermatology basically telling young women to stop tanning to prevent skin cancer. Why in overnights on the news/talker though? The spot specifically mentions women ages 15-29, but those I know in that age group would either be listening to the CHR or in bed at the hours I usually hear this spot, seems like it would be more effective to buy the CHR during the day than the news/talk station overnight.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm hearing some oddly targeted spots on radio lately, what's up with these?
1. I'm hearing the spot for the RSV vaccine all over the place. I do not understand why this spot is on such a wide swath of radio stations right now as that vaccine is I think only available for those 75 and older, or 60 and older with increased risk factors.

Maybe they're not "targeted spots," but just part of a mass buy, using a national platform, such as a radio network, and the spots just happen to air on a station that is formatted for younger listeners. This happens a lot. When an advertiser buys a network, they buy placement in all the stations in that network. Not the specific stations. So it's accidental placement.

Why in overnights on the news/talker though?

Once again, likely part of a network buy. Lots of network spots air in overnights. Not every spot buy is targeted. It depends on who places the buy and what they bought. Or it might be a PSA, not an actual paid spot.

I sometimes hear spots that were created to appeal to an urban listener, in terms of language, background music, and the person voicing the spot, on a country radio station. Makes no sense, but the spot was part of a mass buy, the advertiser only created genre-specific spots, and that information didn't trickle down to the scheduling department.

There is something that is called "programmatic buying." It's also pretty common in online advertising. An advertiser places the ad online rather than through a human sales consultant. It's quick, easy, and you can do it 24/7 rather than during business hours. Unfortunately it may lead to your ad airing someplace unintended. That's potentially another way what you're talking about happens.

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[bobdavcav]

In my second example, that makes some sense, as it most commonly appears during Red Eye Radio. It does seem odd that they would choose to buy that program though when the target is young women, but it would at least explain why that spot exists there. I've definitely heard this happen before, Red Eye being a good example, with lots of spots targeting truckers not part of the normal inventory. The RSV one makes less sense though, as I've heard that in local and network programming across at least three stations.

 

[vchimpanzee]

In the 90s a standards station in Myrtle Beach SC ran ads telling people to join the military.