Radio Marketers - Summers Biggest Marketers in 2013

US Marketers pull the pop-top on summertime ad campaigns. Thanks to its mobility, radio has long been the soundtrack to summer, attracting advertisers seeking on-the-go consumers. Despite all the new media options, for many marketers that remains just as true today as it has been in the past. Budweiser and Bud Light have traditionally been big summertime radio users and this year the flagship brand will wrap itself in the flag with a patriotic-themed campaign to help raise money for military families. Regional advertisers are taking a similar tactic. Blue Bell Creameries is using radio to help promote its Red, White and Blue Bell ice cream. And then there’s the Mexican fast food restaurant chain Qboda, which says it’ll be on radio this summer hyping its seasonal menu items like the Mango Mojo Burrito and the Mango Mojo Salad. CFO Jerry Rebel told investors this month that Qboda flies under the radar as it puts “a lot” of its marketing dollars into radio and outdoor — and there have been “some increases” in those budgets as the restaurant chain has launched new products. Something a bit healthier will be the focus of radio ads by Jamba Juice. Starting next week it will race to market an expanded line of fresh-squeezed juices to 500 stores — six months ahead of schedule. Jamba says to reach customers this summer it’ll rely on radio and social media. The National Association of Convenience Stores is forecasting sales to jump 8% to 10% this summer, returning to pre-recession levels as Americans cooped up all winter hit the highway. The trade group says consumers in the Midwest are most likely to spend more money this summer. And Americans are expected to average more than two summer vacation trips of at least two nights away from home, with the bulk of the travel occurring by car. With that as a backdrop, some travel-related advertisers are hitting the radio airwaves, like the upscale Coral Gables, FL resort The Biltmore. It is buying time on English- and Spanish-language stations in Florida as part of its first ad campaign in a decade. Also planning radio spending are state tourism offices in New York, Michigan, and northern Ohio’s Lake Erie Shores & Islands campaign, among others, with cities such as Milwaukee, New York City, and Roanoke, VA also launching their own radio ad blitzes.

Season Advertising - Gets a late start

Like spring flowers, seasonal advertising is arriving later this year. How warm does it need to be in your market for someone to buy a pair of shorts? Or crave a Frappuccino at Starbucks? The answer varies in different parts of the country, and for a wide portion of the country a harsh winter led to a cool spring. The result is not unlike what’s going on with flowers in many gardens: spring advertising is tracking later than a year ago. “It varies, depending on what part of country you live in, but it does seem like we’re looking at a four-to-six week delay in some places,” says John Acello, a radio veteran who is now a vice president at Planalytics, a firm that works with marketers on fine-tuning their weather-related advertising strategies. “We help companies manage the weather and use it to their advantage when they can,” he explains. But there’s been a shortage of management necessary during the past year. While half the country learned what a polar vortex is, the other half has seen record wintertime drought. “For the last year it seems like the weather is the news no matter where you go and it’s really having an impact on the economy in a lot of profound ways,” Acello says. Radio managers in several markets say they haven’t so far seen the sort of spring-time blossoming in certain ad categories the industry has grown accustomed to. Media Monitors data shows ad volume from springtime advertisers like Scott’s and Allegra lags last year.

Digital ads hit-or-miss target - By Product Category

Digital ads hit-or-miss target, depending on product category: comScore. “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” That famous line by department store owner John Wanamaker may need an update in the digital age. An analysis of several product categories shows an average two-thirds (66%) of digital advertising misses its target. Some ad categories are more likely than others to miss their target. Only 42% of retail ads reach the intended target and just 41% of consumer product ads reach hit the bulls eye. It’s 50-50 for auto ads, comScore finds. “Achieving 100% in-target delivery isn’t necessarily realistic and it isn’t always feasible,” comScore senior director of product marketing and ad effectiveness Andrea Vollman said last week during a webinar. “As the target narrows, the likelihood of hitting that target also becomes smaller.” ComScore analysis found that when an advertiser had a broad target, like adults 18+, the ads hit the target 88% of the time. But when it’s narrowed down to a 35-44 demo, just 42% of ads reach the target. Yet advertisers still pour billions of dollars into website advertising. The biggest display advertiser during the first quarter was AT&T, which comScore says had 21.2 billon impressions on desktops. Intuit’s TurboTax was also a big spender, ranking fourth with a total of 8.8 billion impressions. Three of the top 10 were automakers: No. 5 Nissan, No. 9 Fiat and No. 10 Toyota. “These advertisers in the auto space understand that their customers are increasingly turning to the internet during the buying process to research their options, compare across manufacturers and compare different pricing,” Vollman said. Other big spenders included Microsoft, Verizon, Amazon, and SoftBank.