Blogscapes

Somebody was bound to figure this out sooner or later. If Streaming Radio is great, then IP addressable advertising on that radio is even better.

Subscription-based radio (see Sirius/XM and other models) will not survive. The internet-using populus will reach a point of subscription overload, and decide that commercials aren't really that bad when the entertainment is free (see the last 60 years of radio).

Enter Clear Channel's Katz Media Group. They've struck a deal with Pandora to sell ads. Now, if they'll figure out how to let listeners CHOOSE what kinds of ads they want to hear, and localize those ads via IP address, new life will be breathed into radio.

Read the AdAge article, then think of the possibilities that come with addressable, permission-based advertising. 

--Brent Walker

Here's an interesting piece from Ad Age about radio.

This is a roundtable discussion with people like Rick Boyko (pictured) and Kelly O'Keefe from VCU Brandcenter, Bill Wright-CD of CP+B, Mark Gross from DDB Chicago, Mike Hughes from The Martin Agency and other creative heavy-hitters.

Interesting points:

•   • Radio is often used tactically rather than strategically
•   • Programming currently sucks
•   • DigitalMania is drawing all the attention
•   • There are no good "AdCritic" style sites for radio

Watch and enjoy...(even though the audio was not recorded very well--go figure.) Click here to read the full article.

-Brent Walker

Back at the dawn of XM and Sirius, everyone was asking if this was the end of terrestrial radio. Of course, this question has been asked since television first flickered into our living rooms.

The answer is, there will be no end for terrestrial radio. It simply changes over time. AM and FM transmitters and receivers are nothing more than a system for conveyance of what we know as Radio...an entertainment medium that consists of audio only. But I digress...

Here's a NYTimes article pointing out Satellite Radio's key weaknesses, as well as its consistent decline.

Toodles, Howard!

Alert the media.

The warm glow of goodness rises above San Antonio, as Clear Channel--widely thought to be the Evil Empire of Radio--actually creates something useful.

It's an iPhone app that streams radio.

There's all manner of hope on the horizon! Here's the link.

You know Roy H. Williams, (the Wizard of Ads), right? If not, do yourself a favor and bookmark his site. It's a fountain of advertising wisdom.

Here's a link to a story about the results from a dollar-for-dollar comparison between radio and newspaper. (spoiler alert: Soundscapes does not buy ink by the barrel—if we did, I sure wouldn't put this on our blog.)

It's a great story, a fine thing to forward to all the AE's, and a testament to the fact that radio simply works.

Decades ago, popular psychology divided our brains into hemispheres of differing functions: our Left Brain took responsibility for logical, rational thinking—lists, organization and details, while our Right Brain picked up the creative tasks—holistic thought, creativity and imagination. We can use this divided-brain scenario as a good template for discussion of effective radio.

All too many times, clients want us to use radio to “run down the list” of product attributes—you know—copy points, mandatories. While this makes for a very satisfying script for the client to approve, it typically means nothing to the listener. The reason? Listeners are passive. They’re not hanging on to every word of a radio spot, nor are they working hard to remember the copy points we all sweat to cram into the 30 or 60 seconds we’re constrained to. With spots like this, we’re expecting them to digest multiple copy points as if they were processing with their Left Brain. They’re not.

The most effective, memorable radio is that which appeals to a listener’s Right Brain. Stories, big concepts and entertaining, picturesque scenarios are what appeals to radio listeners. Check out the winners of the Radio Mercury Awards, or the EAR awards. Radio that focuses on one big idea is radio that works.

Perhaps we should re-think creative briefs that allow for more than one major copy point in radio. We should teach account people to communicate to clients that quantity destroys quality. If the client has three big things that they need the listener to remember, an opportunity is opened to create a themed campaign that can encompass three individual spots. This lemons-into-lemonade approach allows for the big idea to carry the copy points. And it’s the big idea that appeals to our Right Brain.

Themed campaigns have the added benefit of longer shelf life for a concept. If written properly, one spot will lead into another and cause listeners to want to hear the next one!

Remembering that radio is a right-brained medium is one good way to frame your radio creative for success.

Did you know radio waves might cure cancer? Doctors at MD Anderson in Houston are exploring that possibility, and clinical trials could be as close as three years away. All thanks to former radio engineer, station owner and leukemia patient John Kanzius. After seeing children suffer when he went in for chemotherapy treatments, he decided there had to be a more humane way to treat the disease.

When asked what made him think he could cure cancer, Kanzius said, "What made me think I couldn't cure cancer? Nobody else was doing it."

Link