Day Two Of Hivio 2015, 'Audio Future Festival,' Looks At Spotify, Slacker, Sales

Day Two Today

The final day of MARK RAMSEY and JAIME SOLIS' annual HIVIO conference took place TODAY (6/4) at the HOLLYWOOD IMPROV in WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA, closing the event's two-day schedule of presentations looking at the future of radio, streaming, podcasting, audio advertising, and branding.

FRIDAY's agenda kicked off with an appearance by iHEARTMEDIA's DENNIS CLARK speaking on talent coaching and development, terming his talent development job with iHEART "a point of difference" between his company and its competitors.  He advised talent seeking to work for a station to be persistent and "come to us" with "hand up."  "Be annoying," CLARK said, "we love it."  But he cautioned that applicants need a deep knowledge of the station's brand and how to be "a great show inside the package of the radio station."  And he noted that RYAN SEACREST is eager to be coached, which he said was a "sign of great talent."

Marketer and event planner JACLYN JOHNSON of (NO SUBJECT) stressed the value of creating experiences in marketing ("experiential offline"), and gave her impressions on how to reach Millenials, who she said are "really smart," and aware of advertising and sponsorship but open to brands which take risks.

SLACKER's DUNCAN ORRELL-JONES gave an overview of his company's competitive position -- "human-powered radio" -- and use of partnerships both in content and distribution.  He was followed by PODCASTONE's MIKE AGOVINO, who remembered buying a car from a dealer featured on HOWARD STERN live spots to illustrate the value of matching products being advertised to the right host, and said that podcasts need talent "with a tribe, who have impact on their tribe"; he added that there are more differences than commonalities between the radio and podcast world, and that "you can't take what you did on the radio" and merely use it as a podcast.  On metrics for podcasts, he suggested that NIELSEN/ARBITRON-style numbers won't matter but "we'll get them" anyway, and projected that the metrics to be used will measure some combination of attribution and conversion.   XAPPmedia's PAT HIGBIE closed the pre-break sessions with a live demonstration of his service, which aims to allow interaction with streamed spots by voice command; he detailed how voice response rates are significantly higher than those requiring a touch.

After the break and KIPPER MCGEE giving a talk about his upcoming book "Brandwidth: How Big Broadcasting Missed the Mediamorphosis," SPOTIFY's BRIAN BENEDEK ran through a presentation on his company's recent activity, including partnerships with disparate entities like UBER and STARBUCKS and the addition of video and podcast content to the service, and, like ORRELL-JONES, did not see APPLE's pending entry into the streaming wars as a problem (any APPLE success, he said, "lifts all boats").  And STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP's KRISTEN WOLF closed things out with observations on the changes in audio advertising from the agency viewpoint, giving radio some solace with the comment that "nobody else has the ground game" -- the ability to go out into the market and have personalities connect with listeners -- like AM and FM radio.  She said that buying has become less about price and more about "smart" impressions, and that while a unified form of measurement for audience reach and engagement has yet to surface, "we've figured out ways around it."  WOLF said, however, that "smarter, more thoughtful" audio creative is needed.

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