DASH Conference Kicks Off In Detroit

Oct. 15th-16th

The second DASH CONFERENCE, sponsored by JACOBS MEDIA, RADIO INK and SCG opened today to a very full house of radio execs, car companies and many technology experts at the WESTIN HOTEL in DETROIT.

RADIO INK Publisher ERIC RHOADES spoke about the recent OMNICOM announcement suggesting that advertisers need to back off from TV spending, but advised that "radio needs to stay on its toes."

SCG Pres. VALERIE SHUMAN added, "We have this new platform the car but we need to figure out what to do with it," and she reminded that this new platform is constantly changing.  "We  have 23 different  industries assembled here today.  We are all about dialogue and have two special collaboration sessions, too."

JACOBS MEDIA Pres. FRED JACOBS noted,  "Cars are a large part of DETROIT and connected cars are always in the news.  DASH is a mashup of these industries and we put this conference together and hope to see more localized implementation and bring it all together."

Keynote: CEA Pres./CEO Gary Shapiro Talks FM Chip, 5G, High Audio Quality

The opening keynote featured CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION Pres./CEO GARY SHAPIRO, with an intro by EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS Chairman JEFF SMULYAN.

SMULYAN recalled his first meeting with GARY who called radio "a dinosaur industry" and how he changed GARY's opinion with a demo of NEXTRADIO.

SHAPIRO discussed the idea of integration of an FM chip into cell hones and how its been the center of the relationship with radio and the CEA.  "I believe in the power of getting together  at events like this and sharing ideas and meeting face to face ... We are now discussing not only smartphones but 5G technology and how that will affect the future.

"Americans care about their cars ... and 40% of them plan on buying cars this year and 38% of those are looking for connected cars.  It used to about horsepower and today it's all about technology. A record 11 car companies are going to do presentations at the upcoming CES.

"The next stop is a driverless car and how will that affect everything in the next 20-25 years. But today consumers are concerned with audio and how the car entertainment system sounds, which is a reversal from what happened when APPLE first debuted the iPOD and consumers put up with lesser quality for a long time. We are pushing for high-quality audio and consumers want this as do the artists.  Where is radio in all of this?  I have not been high on radio -- and my viewis that we are better off if government stays out of legislating innovation.  

"JEFF is doing some impressive things (with NEXTRADIO) and AM/FM radio is the last analog  service ... and the fact is that millions listen to radio.  I respect HD RADIO and TAGSTATION, too -- that's innovative.  HD RADIO is an upgrade for radio in my opinion. And it's growing rapidly with a new HD receiver being sold every 20 seconds.

"Radio does have a great future."

It's All About The Experience

COX MEDIA GROUP Dir./Digital Audience - Radio TIM CLARK led a great discussion on improving the consumer experience, as  VISTEON's CHRIS ANDREWS noted, "There is no one straight answer to hitting the mark on what the consumer wants.  We have to make sure that anything a customer expects is there and operates seamlessly ... safe, seamless and meets customer expectations and that's all still changing -- and there will be new things coming we have not thought of.

"We are looking to be part of the predictive part of the car -- with a consumer being able to preset what the want the moment that they get in from audio, to temperature of the car, to seat positions ... You want to take their digital life experience follow them from their home to the car to the office.  Future vehicles will designed around the personalizations of the drive and for the passengers based on their digital signatures."

"We stream and we feature hosted content," SLACKER's MIKE KASPARIAN added. "We are focused on developing systems that are easy to use and not adding to driver distraction.  When you 'like' songs or albums, the personalization you create travels with you from device to device.  As far as music apps go there are basics and how you differentiate your services is the key."

"We are very excited about this area," UIEvolution CHRIS RUFF said. "How quickly and easily can you pair a phone to your car and enjoy it. Thankfully the data plans are competitive and will not be an obstacle to growth in this arena."  

PANDORA's GEOFF SNYDER noted, "I am focused on maximizing PANDORA listenership in cars. We are happy with our progress and are excited about the future. Systems that are the simplest to use have the highest utilization rates. FM radio has it nailed down -- it's easy. The closer our systems are to that experience, the better. The concept of personalization affects the user experience of the system in the car but also trickles to the content that we provide. The car should know who you are, what route you are taking and what you want to hear.

CLARKE asked about advertising opportunities, such as putting advertising up on the screen tied to needs of the drive/consumer. "We can get certain info from certain companies through an API, for example, that can suggest which gas to buy when you are low gas," KASPARIAN responded, "That could extend suggesting restaurants based on the driver's profile.

"It will be a balancing act to prevent value for advertisers from becoming annoying," ANDREWS said.

CLARKE asked about bouncing from broadcast services to app services.  SNYDER answered, "We hope to accomplish this sense of being able to step into a car and hear what you want instantly, whether its sourced from your smartphone or embedded in the dashboard."

Turning Data Into Dollars

Introduced by GREATER MEDIA/DETROIT Market Mgr STEVE CHESSARE, ABACAST Dir./Product Management JIM KOTT began with a presentation from MARY MEEKER's Internet Trends and the explosion of connected devices and the motherlode of data that's being collected.  He then showed a video featuring how you can order a pizza from your car through an app.

He then introduced his two panelists -- BENJAMIN MASSE, VP/GM of TRITON DIGITAL's A2X programmatic advertising platform, and KATZ RADIO EVP/Strategy STACEY LYNN SCHULMAN -- before asking, "The business has created shelf space in the car via an app. How are companies collecting this kind of data today?

"Device IDs and profiles from your phone to user registrations to seeing which songs they skip or curate," MASSE replied. "There are more and more publishers interested in registration date to target content and advertising."

"Today a lot of emphasis is placed on realtime data and we want a lot of metrics to offer advertisers to make better choices," SCHULMAN noted.

"Installed base of users and lack of standards make this personal data collection more complex," added MASSE. "So its a lack of scale, but that's growing."

"Just like we look at how people are looking at TV, we can apply who controls the car content and who is in the car," SCHULMAN nstated. "Once we get to this scale we enter a new frontier. And we are not there yet. We are challenged in radio to be more and more accountable and as a broadcaster, I'd look at more geographically targeted data collection. We need to figure out how to close the link between the driver and the purchase they make when they leave the car."

The Class Of 2015 -- Millennials, Cars & Radio

CBS RADIO Top 40 WDZH (AMP RADIO)/DETROIT's COOP & GILLIAN  introduced NIELSEN AUDIO VP/Measurement Innovation DR. ED COHEN, who showed a presentation of how 150 students, born in 1993, have always known the Internet, and how they use media in their daily lives from walking to bike riding to skateboard and more in a college campus environment. Since 99% own laptops with 40% owning tablets, more than 70% have gaming platforms, 70% or more have iPHONES, their lives revolve around it.

Other observations:

Social Media -- Change comes quickly with FACEBOOK at 100% and SNAPCHAT at 70% and INSTAGRAM at 63%.  Students use is as an intercommunication with each other, new apps, new games and more.

Millennials, Cars and Connected Cars -- Cars are not as important as computers or smartphones -- and even 46% of 18-24s said they'd choose Internet access over a car.

Do OEMS Understand The Class Of 2015 -- Many students felt that they were paying attention, but they felt that lower-end cars, not luxury cars, were paying the most attention.

What About Car Dealers? -- Most students didn't trust them, labeling them grimey and pushy.

What's A Connected Car? -- 44% said they'd never heard of it, while only 14% said they were familiar with the term.

Carriers & Connectivity -- 31% said the carrier would have a consideration in which car they bought if it conflicted with their present carrier.  Many others said it wouldn't matter if they had the radio, but could simply plug their phone in.

SolveIt

VALERIE SHUMAN asked each table of participants to all collaborate on an anonymous basis in a live Solveit to discuss "How can radio and automotive work together to best serve advertisers."

Several tables were called on to share their collaborations, with additional reveal tomorrow from other table facilitators.

DASH Tank

GREATER MEDIA Classic Rock WCSX/DETROIT's JIM O'BRIEN introduced this innovative session moderated by RADIO INK Publisher ERIC RHOADES where three companies pitched their new product to the SHARKS and they picked it apart, offering suggestions and comments.

SHARKS:

FORD MOTOR CO. Global Lead/Business Development & Partner Management SCOTT BURNELL; RAB Pres./CEO ERICA FARBER; and ENTERTAINMENT RADIO NETWORK CEO ANDY TAYLOR.

PRESENTERS:

PANASONIC AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS COMPANY OF AMERICA Dir./Connected Services DAVID TAYLOR presented a system called AUPEO that allows a mix of media and content based on driver preferences that's actually a B2B system playing cached content in the absence of connectivity.  Users could search for their favorite DJs, sports teams, podcasts, etc. to add to their entertainment mix.  Consumer cost: $4.99/month.

XAPPMEDIA INC. CEO & Co-Founder PAT HIGBE offered a simple safe and convenient product  that is voice activated to connect consumers to schedule appointments, download apps, send coupons in a hands-free and eyes-free environment. Advantages are that its safe, and measurable for advertising, telling the user the exact call to action words to initiate a response.  Advertisers are charged on a CPM basis but could be offered on a CPA (Cost Per Action) basis.

GEOTRAFFIC NETWORK CEO FRANK RIZZO shows traffic reports that aggregates images, social media and traffic data that's relevant to the user in realtime.  The app can be white labeled for radio using geo-targeting providing new revenue streams. And this app allows for humans communicating to humans and can be gelt-targeted to user needs tied to advertiser offers.

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