Advocacy
Radio is engaging. Radio is effective.
Radio drives ROI. Radio works.
These are the messages the RAB Business Development team has been driving home
within the advertising community throughout 2018.
The audio boom taking place in our society and among consumers is naturally addressing some of the misperceptions that have existed for years about declines in engagement; and the influx of methodology is allowing broadcasters to measure campaign effectiveness like never before. Regardless of the objectives of the campaigns or where or to whom the message is targeted, data and technology is unearthing the hundreds if not thousands of compelling proof
points to share with advertisers and agencies alike.
The advertising community is taking note and the message is resonating.
Following is a recap of some of the work and results achieved throughout 2018:
RAB is a thought leader partner of the ANA, affording us the opportunity to touch more than 50,000 brand leaders from more than 1,000 leading companies who collectively spend more than $400 billion in marketing and media annually. Radio's strong position and the significant role it plays within consumers' daily lives is front and center in everything we convey to this group and the results (to name just a few) have been momentous:
#1, Top Performing Content Piece in the ANA Knowledge Center:
On December 12, 2017, the RAB's contribution to ANA Forward, a monthly newsletter distributed to 73,000 ANA Members, Associate Members and non-members, achieved unprecedented attention and resonance by outperforming all ANA baseline metrics. It achieved 4.2K unique page views with an average of 4 minutes and 26 seconds time spent on the page, as compared to a 2 minute and 30 second ANA average. The 2018/2019 edition entitled "The Audio Boom: Why It Is Something Marketers Should Listen To" released on December 6, 2018 and can be found by clicking here.
Webinar "Exceeded" Expectations:
In early November 2018, RAB conducted and presented an ANA webinar open only to ANA members and Associate Members. The webinar, aptly titled "Achieving Effectiveness, Engagement and ROI with Radio," included 40+ brand marketers from American Honda Motor Company, Capital One, GlaxoSmithKline, GoDaddy, Hershey, Johnson & Johnson, Kaplan, Liberty Mutual, MilkPEP, Stage Stores, T. Rowe Price, Mercer, Robert Half International, Toll Brothers, University of Chicago and Wells Fargo, among others. The webinar achieved a 3.3 content score (compared to an ANA average of 3.1) and high praise from marketers including:
"Excellent content with best practices."
"Good to hear in general about the increased measurement ability around radio and its viability as an ad platform. Creative best practices were great to hear as well."
"Good stuff overall. Interesting info on measurement - felt like there could be a separate seminar tapping into that; and
neat 'best practice' tips."
"Very interesting. Never really thought about radio."
Webinar Feedback
Radio Rocked the Masters
Each year, ANA presents 17 national conferences, 21 members-only conferences and several local thought leader networking events - many of which RAB attends, networks and drives engagement for radio. The most notable of all is called ANA Masters of Marketing which is one-of-a-kind in that it brings 3,000 CMOs, entrepreneurs, brand stewards, media executives, creative professionals, technology experts, digital leaders, research, insights and data folks together for three days under one roof. RAB masterfully exhibited why radio matters, conveyed all the ways radio works for brands, presented the most requested promotional items and perhaps most importantly truly engaged face-to-face with marketers from over 300 companies with ongoing follow-up taking place as you read this annual report.
Whereas the ANA provides RAB with a platform to meet, advocate and connect, they are not the only association of focus for RAB Business Development. In the past year, RAB has been invited to present to the 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies) Local Audio/Video Committee and has attended workshops and conferences in addition to providing articles of interest to the 4A's membership. Conferences and events from organizations including the 4A's, Alliance for Women in Media, MediaPost Automotive, MediaPost Upfront and MediaVillage have all proven fruitful for advocacy and business development efforts throughout the year.
Business Development
RAB Business Development is focused on keeping the advertising and marketing community up to speed on everything happening in the radio industry.
Whether it be partnering with our broadcast membership to support their engagement with clients or working directly with advertisers and agencies, our goal is always to help the advertiser creatively and uniquely leverage the most appropriate radio assets and platforms to meet their specific objectives and strategies.
2018 brought a wide breadth of activity including advocacy initiatives where we have seized any and all opportunities among advertisers, agencies and consultant groups. Specific client work has resulted in a renewed interest in radio and in many cases incremental revenue from brands like Allstate, American Express, ATD American, AutoNation,
Coca-Cola, Febreze (P&G), GoDaddy.com, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Jersey Mike's, LifeLock, L'Oreal, Lumber Liquidators, NeighborWorks America, Sport Clips, State Farm, Target and Universal Orlando, among many others.
This year has also brought an influx of inbound client opportunities. More than in previous years, brands ranging from those interested in single market radio plans to those that are national in scope and looking to radio for multi-million-dollar campaigns are reaching out to RAB Member Services for information and are forwarded to Business Development to drive it home.
Matter of Fact
Matter of Fact is the advertiser-facing newsletter that keeps our growing national database in the know about radio across platforms. Articles of focus in 2018 have included topics such as: Data Stories - an article that shared some key case studies that prove brands' attributable successes to radio; The Podcast Boom that focuses on the rapid growth of the platform but more importantly, radio's leadership role; and Influencer Marketing that shines a spotlight on radio personalities -- a segment of influencers that originated the concept of influencer marketing and native advertising. Matter of Fact also shares the facts that position radio as a leader in the advertising community. We encourage our broadcast membership to forward these articles to their clients and invite you to view past issues.
Visit Matter of Fact
The Pitch
The Pitch is going into its 8th year and remains a source for local, regional and national sellers to hit the street armed with facts and ideas for three categories of business each month.
Most categories published in 2015 or earlier were updated in 2018 and new categories of business have been added, bringing the total to nearly 130 categories available on The Pitch drop-down menu on RAB.com. The Pitch remains one of RAB's most beloved products with nearly 4,350 unique visitors in 2018, an average 740-page views per month and over 5,000 individual category presentations that are downloaded throughout the year.
Radio It's On
See the Radio It's On in Philadelphia recap video. Click Play below.
In 2018, the RAB relaunched "Radio It's On...," an event-based platform programmed to energize and excite advertisers in a local market or region and allow them to discover radio's full potential. Steered by a taskforce of the RAB Board of Directors and in partnership with Philadelphia broadcasters and the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, we produced "Radio It's On in Philadelphia" on October 17, 2018. It was an afternoon that truly demonstrated the strength and importance of radio in the local Philadelphia marketplace. Survey results revealed that the overwhelming majority found it to be a good investment of their time, and 75% of survey respondents indicated they plan on investing more in radio as a result of attending this event. Based on the success in Philadelphia, RAB will collaborate with the taskforce to prioritize markets across the country and take the new "Radio, It's On..." to as many markets as we can in 2019.
Case Studies
Finally -- RAB Business Development is continuously updating the case study section on RAB.com and remains abundantly grateful to our members and research partners that are willing to share their stories and allow us to shine a spotlight on their successes.
Explore
Radio Mercury Awards
See the Radio Mercury Awards sizzle video. Click PLAY below.
In June, RAB produced the Radio Mercury Awards, presented by Hubbard Radio in partnership with iHeartMedia, honoring and recognizing the best radio creative and audio commercials of the past year. The year-long initiative kicked off with Call for Entry, first round and final round judging, with the culmination of the awards event on May 31, 2018 at The Cutting Room in New York City.
Sean Bryan, co-chief creative officer McCann NY, served as Chief Judge, and along with an impressive final round jury, selected 104 Finalist spots created by agencies, radio stations, production companies and students. The winners were honored with the world's most prestigious radio advertising awards as well as some hefty cash prizes.
The 2018 $50,000 Best of Show honor was split between FCB Chicago for their "Tours" Radio Flyer Campaign and Fitzco//Casanova McCann for their "Share A Coke 1,000 Name Celebration" Campaign. Sean Bryan said it best: "We were really torn over this classic, incredibly creative storytelling
for Radio Flyer and then this innovative and exciting use of the medium for Coke. Splitting the Best of Show award was the best option with a nod to the heart of the medium, and a wink to the future."
The Radio Marketer of the Year award was presented to Comcast XFINITY for the brand efforts activated during the past year where they consistently leveraged radio's multi-platform capabilities. They created significant programs to support their suite of video, broadband, mobile, phone and home security products and services that showcase the very best of radio.
The Advisory Council continues to guide the Radio Mercury Awards competition from year to year, ensuring the awards evolve and remain relevant in a changing audio and media eco-system. The Radio Mercury Awards foster and nurture long-term relationships with the creative community and enable us to elevate the caliber of audio creative and share best practices and learnings for radio creative.
2018 Radio Show
See the 2018 Radio Show sizzle video. Click PLAY below.
Orlando was home to the 2018 Radio Show. Produced in partnership with the National Association of Broadcasters, nearly 2,000 attendees came together to connect, network and most importantly gain knowledge about radio's future, then head back to their markets and put new learnings to use with clients and listeners!
Over 100 students participated in the third annual Student Scholars program. Underwritten by broadcasters, this program acts as a great recruiting and marketing platform for radio.
The Radio Show featured a complete lineup of educational and professional development sessions, music and entertainment, a robust exhibit hall, a myriad of networking opportunities plus some showbiz sizzle!
Thanks to Steering Committee Chair Bob Proffitt, CEO, Alpha Media, the Radio Show's underlying theme around the importance of data and insights in every aspect of the radio industry culminated in powerful and impactful sessions.