RAB DAY THREE: BUYERS READY FOR ELECTRONIC MEASUREMENT Ken Tucker – Billboard Media buyers are ready for radio to embrace electronic measurement. And while a few early bumps are to be expected, in the end radio will benefit from it. That was the word from a panel of advertising professionals at the Radio Advertising Bureau’s RAB 2006.
The agency world’s experience with Nielsen’s Local People Meters in the television realm should help pave the way for Arbitron's Portable People Meter, the panelists agreed. “Nine markets have switched from the metered diary to LPM,” Mindshare president/local broadcast Cathy Crawford said. “The cost per spot never changed. What changed was the measurement and it’s incumbent upon us to [explain that]. If you look at the difference between a franc and a euro, the item that you purchased didn’t change but the measurement of the item did."
“In the short range there will be a general panic because people will try to shove the new data into the old business box,” according to Initiative Media executive VP/local broadcast strategy Janice Finkle-Greene. “There will be a period of adjustment maybe over months, maybe a year, maybe longer depending on how creative we can be about the data usage.”
Crawford also urged that radio be cautious when first viewing the new results. “If you’re hysterical about this, the buyer gets hysterical,” she said.
But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. “It will definitely improve the perception of radio in the planning force,” Zenith Media Services senior VP/national broadcast department Matt Feinberg pointed out.
While radio sales execs may wonder whether the new methodology will result in a loss of ad dollars, the panelists agreed that the opposite may be true. “The budget doesn’t go any lower and in some cases it could go higher, depending on the planner/client,” Crawford said. “You guys don’t lose anything and you have a lot to gain. Not only do you have a greater measurement opportunity, some clients will raise the budget.”
Finkle-Greene said she was “excited” about electronic measurement. “I’m anticipating that by the time we’re doing this in radio, the PPM will be just another currency change. We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again, we’ll figure it out.”
“We’re ready to handle this,” she added.
Meanwhile, streaming, podcasts promotions and other potential tools in radio’s arsenal mean that the way a media buyer looks has changed over the last few years. “Five or ten years ago you opened up a rating book, looked on a screen, and were able to buy radio,” said Crawford. “It’s no longer about the :60 or the :30. It’s about the promotion, it’s about the Internet, it’s about cell phones, it’s about every single digital asset out there that a buyer needs to know about because if it comes from you, then the buyer needs to know.
“I think the challenge we have — and this is a joint challenge — is we need to teach each other about the value of these media that are along side radio," Crawford said. "Radio gets the message out there but then all these other components add to what radio drives. It’s a huge difference from even just a couple years ago.”
Feinberg, meanwhile, sees new media as an opportunity for radio. “I spend a lot of my time looking at new technologies,” he said. “I think there’s an opportunity for radio to develop revenue stream with their local Web sites. I think there’s an opportunity to not only keep radio budgets but increase radio budgets."
Especially if the Web sites reflect “what radio does best, which is localism,” Feinberg said.
Likewise, podcasting has revenue potential, according to Crawford. “That is going to be the future,” she said. “You need to pay attention to the podcasting and not just give it away.” |