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Entercom Communications COO Weezie Kramer: "The onus is on us (as an industry) to debunk myths and proactively take back the narrative on radio."
January 10, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. There is no question that radio is undervalued and we need to be more proactive in sharing radioís value proposition and impact. Tools like NMI [Nielsen Media Impact] are a game-changer for radio both nationally and in our markets. This tool will make it easier for advertisers to do business with us and illustrate how radio fits into the media mix and delivers a more effective and efficient media buy
Radio Rally Point was created by DMR/Interactive and All Access to shine a spotlight on the power of AM/FM radio. In this edition, DMR/Interactive Pres Andrew Curran catches up with Weezie Kramer, Chief Operating Officer, Entercom Communications.
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What fundamentals make radio’s existing business model so resilient?
Weezie: Radio is resilient because it is unique and different from other media. Radio is local, connected and personal. Radio creates dialogue and engages the audience so fans feel a personal connection to their favorite radio stations. The feeling radio creates isn’t replicated by other media.
Radio can make you feel happy as the soundtrack to your life, feel engaged in conversation with our personalities, feel safe as a lifeline during crisis, feel informed by our News and Talk stations. At the end of the day, radio is resilient because of this connection between our fans and radio stations and personalities.
This is what makes radio a part of consumers’ everyday lives and why we see such consistency with Radio usage among all age groups and demographics. Advancements and investments in innovation and technology have made radio more accessible than ever and provides our listeners even more ways to connect with our brands on multiple platforms, which will continue to drive listeners to radio.
What opportunities do you see for radio right now?
Weezie: We need to spend more time and energy touting the benefits of radio through case studies, thought leadership, data analytics and attribution and advocacy. I can argue that we, as an industry, are just waking up to the fact that radio doesn’t sell itself. We have been out-marketed by streaming services, social media and frankly, television. The onus is on us to debunk myths and proactively take back the narrative on radio.
The time to do this could not be better. Entercom has seen a surge in new business coming from brands that are returning to radio or never considered radio before. Procter and Gamble is not only leading the charge, but bringing other brands along. I am also excited to see “digital first” brands like Amazon Prime, Peloton, Casper and Uber turning to radio as part of their plan.
As we think about maximizing our opportunities, part of what we still need to convey to advertisers is that we can prove that adding radio to the media mix grows reach cost-effectively without increasing overall investment, that on-air personalities are compelling influencers and brand ambassadors, that radio scales up while streaming services can’t, that radio is still #1 in cars and everywhere else. For stats and figures, here's a handy two-pages on radio.
What role does the strength of the on-air product play in being able to sell digital and events?
Weezie: In the past couple of years, research has been published that shows how radio drives results. We see this everyday with our clients -- examples of where we drive measurable results and deliver a return on their marketing investment.
Using our airwaves, we sell out events big and small, drive movie sales and generate in-store traffic. From an event perspective we can create excitement, build interest and drive sales. We are using our airwaves to sell out our growing event portfolio around the country.
From a digital perspective, we have research that shows that radio drives search, but I think one of our best case studies that show how radio can impact digital is one of our own. In July we launched our RADIO.COM platform.
Using a high frequency radio campaign, RADIO.COM has become the fastest growing app, according to ComScore. We have grown significantly, surpassed early projections and we see continued momentum. The results are phenomenal and truly illustrate the power of radio.
With radio consumption dominated by employed persons, who have money to spend with our advertisers, what’s the best opportunity for radio to accelerate its momentum?
Weezie: One of radio’s greatest strengths is our ability to evolve and respond to changing consumer behaviors. Radio is at the forefront of music discovery and we know that younger 12-17 and 18-24 consumers are highly engaged with radio. In order to keep these fans and grow their TSL and engaging with our brands, we must continue to innovate and look for new ways to engage with our younger fans.
As a company, we are striving to create great content, programming to meet the needs of changing consumer behavior and investing in new content distribution platforms including podcasts, web-only content and new streaming stations.
At Entercom, we are deeply committed to innovation, which is why we have invested in research, focus groups, technology platforms, data and more to ensure that we are leaders in responding to the evolving marketplace and our fans.
With Nielsen adding radio data to local and national planning tools, how does radio fully utilize this opportunity to grow core revenue?
Weezie: There is no question that radio is undervalued and we need to be more proactive in sharing radio’s value proposition and impact. Tools like NMI [Nielsen Media Impact] are a game-changer for radio both nationally and in our markets. This tool will make it easier for advertisers to do business with us and illustrate how radio fits into the media mix and delivers a more effective and efficient media buy.
The research consistently shows radio as being underutilized in terms of leveraging its reach to build brand awareness. It is important that, as an industry, we are aggressive in demonstrating how shifting dollars from other media to radio improves advertising results.
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Thanks for reading and working each day to drive radio forward.
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