The clock really may be ticking for Classic Rock on KLOS

[Art Landing]

Oh I agree that trust is a very key motivator - always has been. That's how Bernie Madoff used his respected position to con so many wealthy investors - they bought in because their friends were rather than examining the impracticality of what was allegedly happening.

And you're right. People will still buy hype and incur debt if desire is cranked up high enough - look at the time share industry and the interest rates they charge. But we are talking radio audiences here, and the days of Bob Hope touting Jello or Arthur Godfrey Lipton Tea are gone. But such buying is not as pervasive ass it was fifty years ago.

The trend is also against selling cars with the jingle from my childhood "tour the USA in your Chevrolet." Fuel savings and reliability are believed to = Japanese and luxury tends to = Germany. No one remembers the once seemingly insurmountable image created by Bernay's 1939 campaign on behalf of General Motors as the "company of the future" (or the copy cat post WW2 campaign "there's a Ford in your future"). Some may remember Charlie Wilson's comment that "What's good for GM is good for the country." After the bailout a few years ago such icons are simply memories, even for the over seventy crowd like me.

 

[AM FM listener]

Based on the replies to my question about why people 55+ are so undesirable for radio advertisers, I guess the answer is that audio-only messages just don't get through to them anymore. Audio+Visual still works, as in TV, but apparently visual-only still works because I see a lot of ads for 55+ in newspapers and magazines. I wonder if radio is simply giving up too easily to advertisers' outdated assumptions. Instead, perhaps radio should invest some time into explaining its value proposition to advertisers regarding, say, 55-64 year-olds, as a start.

 

[davideduardo]

Based on the replies to my question about why people 55+ are so undesirable for radio advertisers, I guess the answer is that audio-only messages just don't get through to them anymore.

That's not it at all. Advertisers know that seniors buy stuff. But they also know that it takes more advertisements to make the sale, reducing the profits on the sale of whatever is advertised.

Many if the senior-focused TV ads are for things that require visuals... travel being an example. And many prescription drugs require lifestyle depictions of the life you can have when you take those pills. But this has always been true.

 

[AM FM listener]

That's not it at all. Advertisers know that seniors buy stuff. But they also know that it takes more advertisements to make the sale, reducing the profits on the sale of whatever is advertised.

But 55 has been the advertisers' age cap for decades now. There is no way a 60 year-old today behaves the same as a 60 year-old did 20 years ago. Aren't today's 60 year-olds more like yesterday's 50 year-olds, or something like that? In other words, a 60 year-old now should not require as many ads to "make the sale," as you say, as did a 60 year-old 20 years ago.

 

[davideduardo]

But 55 has been the advertisers' age cap for decades now. There is no way a 60 year-old today behaves the same as a 60 year-old did 20 years ago. Aren't today's 60 year-olds more like yesterday's 50 year-olds, or something like that? In other words, a 60 year-old now should not require as many ads to "make the sale," as you say, as did a 60 year-old 20 years ago.

Actually, the core target for advertisers is moving towards 18-49 (and its subsets) and not 25-54. This, of course, is the "TV Demo" on which success or failure of both the traditional and the cable networks' programming depends.

 

[semoochie]

Actually, the core target for advertisers is moving towards 18-49 (and its subsets) and not 25-54. This, of course, is the "TV Demo" on which success or failure of both the traditional and the cable networks' programming depends.

How is that moving along? It's been awhile since I last asked. Can you pick an approximate year when we might reach that point? Also, someone once said that the vast majority of radio sales were(in order)Adults 25-54, Women 25-54, A 18-34, W 18-34 and Men 25-54. Is this still true or has the 18-49 demo had a significant impact yet? Thank you.