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Higher Ad Recall? Talk Radio Take Note

I can’t listen to my local news/talk radio station anymore in the morning.  I love the news content, but can’t take all of the commercials.  During my 20 minutes in the car, at least half is jammed with “everything must go” screaming furniture ads or this annoying jeweler guy. Yet this station touts superior ad recall in the news/talk format as a key selling point.  Maybe at one time:  but not in today’s 140 character world. Then I read that Hulu is garnering some of the biggest ad recall in the electronic media.  Hulu is the on-line site created by television’s content providers (who are setting the table to no longer need networks and affiliates). The key part of the piece: Hulu has over 200 Fortune 500 advertisers, from GM to McDonalds, to Microsoft, which used Hulu as a centerpiece of its campaign to launch its Bing search engine. Hulu takes an approach of less is more: put fewer ads on each TV episode and charge advertisers more for those ads.   It’s working in that Hulu has an ad recall rate that’s twice that of other online video sites. He won’t tell me how much Hulu charges for its ads; he acknowledges that it’s definitely a premium to other online video ads though not double. And advertisers are willing to pay for that recall rate and the ability to target based on the type of content So unlike the disasterous “less is more” radio tactic – Hulu is really pulling it off. One might argue that talk radio isn’t as targeted as a Hulu type of site. Anyone who has ever studied an Arbitron ratings report, or sat-in on a news/talk radio perceptul study knows that talk radio is the most targeted radio format – and may be one of the most targeted media outlet of all. This should be a study case for radio. Maybe it’s a shot across the bow. Does radio’s best content providers (talent) need radio anymore? Makes we think of Jeff and Jer in San Diego.  Looks like they’re working on getting back on the air. Too bad.  They could launch their own Hulu kind of site for radio and use Google’s pending micropayment system for content to become a leading radio biller in San Diego.

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Tap Water for Me

Posted by Bob | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 30-05-2010

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I was hanging out with a bunch of people younger than me.

Seems easier and easier to do these days …

While having lunch, it struck me that several of them bought bottled water as a beverage.  This in spite of the fact that the restaurant would offer you a free cup to capture water from a giant cooler at the end of the counter.

Me:  Free cup all the way.

Yet among this group of 20- something people, none were into buying music.  They were unabashed file sharers.

  • Water: the most plentiful resource on the planet … $1.59 for a bottle … no problem.
  • Music: $1.00 for a legal download:  no thanks.

Were they thieves?

Hardly.

One person who ordered a diet soda even asked at the counter if re-fills were free … and was willing to pay for another if they were not.

So why won’t they pay for music?

I don’t have the answer.  My group was small and hardly interested in talking about something so trivial.

But they did agree that buying swag and concert tickets was cool … one even bragged about paying over a hundred dollars for good seats once.

Those of us who grew up saving money to buy records … only to have to buy the same CD’s a few years later for a whole lot more money will probably never understand.

The track has real value to us.  Heck, I just sold a bunch of my old CD’s at a yard sale and made good $$ … all to people my age or older.

It’s probably time for the music industry to stop wondering WHY … and start wondering HOW …

As in HOW to we make money from the generation that is about to become the important consumer.

As each year progresses …  I am guessing it will likely be less about the sale of pre-recorded music … and that the smart artists won’t bother giving most of their profits to record labels.

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