11 November 2008

That Blogger Bloke

I really hate that radio bloke.

The campaign consists of a series of radio commercials informing listeners on the benefits of advertising websites through the radio. That statistic used in this campaigns is something along the lines of...
"Over 80% of people who hear a relevant radio commercial referring to a website have visited a website as a result."
So of every radio ad people are subject to, 80% of them have visited a website. That's got to be at least fifty ads a day for most people... and only one of them will get a visit... and even then there's only an 80% chance of that happening. And that's not even including the irrelevant commercials. Sounds to me like a waste of money with less ROI than a banner ad.

Why not spend that money on paying someone to monitor and engage with your brand's online conversation?

On a side note, I've actually been meaning to blog about this for a while. But I never remembered to because I always heard the ad in the car It wasn't until the Gen Y Marketing Podcast mentioned it while I was with my notebook that I remembered. Guess that just supports my argument.
Posted by Zac Martin at 5:02 PM

12 comments:

  1. Zac, I love those ads. It doesn’t make me want to buy radio, nor do I believe the stats, but they are seriously funny ads.

    Radio still has a part to play (not sure how long it will last though). A lot of people spend a lot of time in the car and it needs to match your demographic. While I listen to an iPod in the car a lot of older people don’t, they listen to the radio. Additionally, while a lot of younger people use public transport, older people drive their cars to work (and in big cities they are in the car for a long time).

    While I am totally on board with digital media, I think sometimes we lose track of the fact that it is the older generations that are still mostly in the positions of authorising spending in companies and in families … so you have to go where they are.
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  2. @ Daniel

    These ads try to sell the idea of building hits on a website... which is pointless. Instead of a radio campaign, spend one tenth as much on monitoring and engaging with online conversation and that will result in meaningful pageviews.

    I do agree, radio can be great, just like television can be, but not for building website traffic. Also take into account you don't have access to the Internet while driving, it's easy to change stations and it's easy to plug in your iPod or download commercial free content via podcasting.

    I really hate that radio bloke!
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  3. Daniel has a point about demographics and media usage etc - start media neutral in strategy, and go with what works for your objectives. Radio works for some goals - but to exist on it's own to drive listeners to a website? Not so much.

    BUT

    Integrate it as one element of an (expensive) multi-touchpoint campaign that includes TV, radio, outdoor, POS, and online / social media (eg. a national consumer promotion over summer by Pepsi)...would it then serve a greater purpose of generating "awareness" of the URL via repetition vs being used as the sole driver?
    Radio should be an element within the strategy, not a standalone!
    I reckon that's what Commercial Radio and Radio Bloke are trying to get across in an effort to sell more spots. (Trivia: Radio Bloke voice is Mark Mitchell, from Round The Twist and Con the Fruiterer infamy)
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  4. I find it somewhat amusing that it took a mention on a PODCAST for you to remember to write this post. Like you I had heard the ad hundreds of times and though to myself on each occasion "I should remember to look that up when I get to work" but never did.

    Maybe they would have been better off advertising in a podcast (for significantly less money)..

    Jake - Gen Y Marketing Podcast.
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  5. "Sounds to me like a waste of money with less ROI than a banner ad"

    Depends how you measure ROI - you are measuring it (from my perspective) purely in terms of people visiting a website ... which I don't agree with.

    Radio and online are very powerful together ... and radio does drive engagement online through search etc ... don't be so quick to dismiss it. Look at cross media consumption statistics to back this up ...

    All radio is trying to do as a group is show that radio isn't all about driving DR or store traffic, there are other ways it contributes to marcomms.

    mate, I think it's great you're passionate about social media and question traditional channels, but you're taking shots here without truly looking at the overall context. Remember too the audience who listen to the radio - how long they spend on the channel etc.

    The utopia is using traditional ATL channels like radio, TV, outdoor etc ... with digital channels that both immerse and interupt and creating campaigns that answer briefs and achieve business goals.
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  6. btw zac banners do have ROI - but like anything context/audience/time/place need to be right - not sure why you think they don't ;)
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  7. I think the point Zac was making was more down the lines of radio ads not crossing over so well into the online world. For a certain demographic I'm sure radio ads work a treat, as do newspaper clasified and weekly catalogues from Coles in the mailbox but trying to sell people on the idea that radio is the perfect supporting tool for an online campaign is a bit of a streach.

    As long as you have offended someone Zac I figure thats a quality post ;)

    Jake - Gen Y Marketing Podcast
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  8. radio does cross over well into online. the two are compilemtary in terms of usage and in terms of advertising messaging if done correctly - and can be across demographics.

    ignore it at your own peril i guess. can't say i agree with the sentiment here. :)
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  9. btw i am not saying i agree 100% with the sentiment of the radio lobby message ... but am moreso saying the two can work together well if done smartly.

    Take a look at media consumption per channel across daypart and it will become blindingly obvious why.
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  10. @ Ben

    I see what you're saying, but I still do not see how they are complimentary.

    Also, important to note I am pretty much against all forms of interruption traditional media of which I find radio advertising the most annoying.

    This is a good discussion though.
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  11. Listen to Triple J.

    Problem solved.
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  12. Oh, and drive-time would obviously be a bad time to make the link, but what about other times? Most of the time when I'm listening to the radio I'm sitting right here at my desk on the internet!

    So probably not the best method in the world of promoting your website but it could work...
    ReplyDelete

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