Is Anybody Listening?

John Wanamaker opened his first New York store in New York City in 1896. He is credited as the first retailer to place a half-page ad in the paper, and later, a full-page ad. Wanamaker, an advertising pioneer, is also famous for saying, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." Fast forward 120 years, and today's marketers are essentially saying the same thing as they pioneer the digital landscape. Choices, choices, choices… there is always a decision to be made – a choice to make. Not a simple A or B choice, but a seemingly unlimited amount of options. How stressful! In his book, The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less, psychologist Barry Schwartz argues that eliminating consumer choices can reduce anxiety for shoppers. “Autonomy and freedom of choice are critical to our well-being, and choice is critical to freedom and autonomy. Nonetheless, though modern Americans have more choice than any group of people ever has before, and thus, presumably, more freedom and autonomy, we don't seem to be benefiting from it psychologically.” As sales professionals, our clients are bombarded by choice. The annual Cross-Channel Marketing Report, published by Econsultancy and Oracle Marketing Cloud, finds less than half (43%) of marketers today feel they understand their customers’ journey throughout their media day and that they’re putting campaign components together in the right way to reach them. Uh-oh… Less than half of marketers today know how to reach their customers throughout their media day and feel like they are putting campaigns together in the right way? Houston, we have a problem. Simon Robinson from Oracle says in the report: “Keeping the customer ‘switched on’ to your brand message is more challenging than ever before. Almost a quarter of companies (21%) surveyed believe that the customer journey is the singular most important factor for a successful campaign. To that end, a majority (51%) of companies now say they “focus on the customer, not the campaign.” There are many great new ways to engage your brand with consumers: wearable technology, geotagging location-relevant content, SEO, CRO, etc. All of this technology can further enhance your efforts and your brand. However, you have to have a brand for consumers to engage with. Think of all the “brands” you can name in any category. Chances are pretty good that those brands have space in your mind because of broadcast advertising. If you want to help your prospects, customers and marketing friends reach their target consumers on their media journey and build their brand, radio with its 90%+ reach would seem to be the obvious choice.