Dr. Jerry Boulding Reports From Day 2 Of The Arbitron Client Conference

Herman Cain - Keynote Speaker

ALL ACCESS Urban Editor Dr. JERRY BOULDING reports from day 2 of the ARBITRON CLIENT CONFERENCE in ANNAPOLIS:

THURSDAY's sessions kicked off with VALERIE SHUMAN, VP/Industry Programs of the CONNECTED VEHICLE TRADE ASSOCIATION, and JACOBS MEDIA President FRED JACOBS discussing the definition of "connected car,” with SHUMAN offering insights into how the new app-enabled dashboard offers safety and convenience. Insurance companies, she noted, have discovered that they can use this information to learn about you. Soon, she said, every car can talk will be able to talk to every other car, something the federal government would like as a safety factor. The panel noted that the automated car is on the design board, along with parking assist systems and improved sync systems, with studies showing that the new connected systems are major reasons consumers bought particular cars.

JACOBS provided several slides and videos on heavy in-car listening. One of his presentations showed that the younger a driver is, the more likely he or she is to consume radio on the go. One in ten drivers has a sync system in the vehicle they drive; JACOBS provided a series of slides and clips to demonstrate how various manufacturers were developing and thinking about how to fulfill all the potential car buyers’ needs and desires. Every broadcaster, he said, needs a mobile strategy.

The next session from CLEAR CHANNEL's BRIAN LAKAMP emphasized the need for building radio’s online footprint and demonstrated the benefits of services like iHEARTRADIO for broadcasters, listeners and advertisers.  LAKAMP said that iHEARTRADIO stays with listeners until they go to sleep and is there when they wake up.

ABBEY KONOWITCH, the former SVP of Music & Talent for MTV and GM of HOLLYWOOD RECORDS, and COLEMAN IINSIGHTS Pres/COO WARREN KURTZMAN headed a session on brand building, with KONOWITCH telling radio stations to stay true to their brand and what their brand stands for.  "Know your audience," KONOWITCH said, telling stations to do their research and to get their audiences working for them.

JOHN SCHNEIDER was the leader for “Sports Radio’s Past, Present, and Future.” Panelists included CBS RADIO's CHRIS OLIVIERO, ESPN's SCOTT MASTELLER, and DIAL GLOBAL's CHRIS CORCORAN, discussing the recent growth of sports radio and its movement to FM in major markets. The panel looked at whether Sports is the "format of the future" and how it compares to edgy, male-skewing talk that does not always appeal to some clients. The panel noted the growth of the female sports audience and the need to serve the Hispanic sports fan. Other formats, they said, can learn from the success that sports is having right now by providing fresh, strong content from experts.

This year’s keynote speaker was DIAL GLOBAL/COX MEDIA GROUP Talk WSB-A-WSBB/ATLANTA talk personality and former REPUBLICAN presidential candidate HERMAN CAIN. In his remarks he said that the American dream is under attack and it’s losing. He said that AMERICA "is in decline" and that its leaders don’t have answers, but instead have questions. He spoke of the need to remove the barriers to success -- namely, excessive legislation and high taxation resulting in slow job growth.

The first session of the afternoon, “2012 Year In Review – Not Your Average Quarter Hour,” was presented by ARBITRON’s RON RODRIGUES and JENNY TSAO, who shared and reviewed some of biggest insights and trends from 2012, including which formats have made the most progress.  They discussed the reasons for some formats' growth and offered new findings on what metrics drive top performing stations and what boosted CHR stations’ ratings this summer.

The final session was “Building Brand Loyalty The DISNEY Way," with THE WALT DISNEY CO.’s MIKE McLEAN discussing how DISNEY built and maintained a loyal fan base and the similarities between what DISNEY has done and what radio can do. He shared his thoughts on how to build a company-wide commitment to customer service, building repeat business and how that is key in the ”loyalty profit chain.”

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