You may have seen or read about an article that ran earlier this week in Advertising Age with a very provocative, glaring headline about the state of radio.
And guess what? It wasn’t negative – it was wildly positive:
Why Marketers Need to Reevaluate Radio, the World’s Most Popular Medium
And amazingly, Mary Beth Garber didn’t write it.
Nor did anyone else from broadcast radio’s biggest companies or lobby groups. In fact, it was written by the CEO of a digital ad agency, The Barbarian Group. Benjamin Palmer is the guy who penned this piece and he used the following phrases to describe broadcast radio:
The perfect platform
Increasingly sophisticated
Evolved a lot to compete with digital platforms like Pandora and iTunes
More interactive than TV
A pretty good source of inspiration
Let’s consider the value of radio in the marketing mix
Now I realize that many of you have become sadly accustomed to hearing tales of gloom and doom about radio’s future from people as diverse as your barista, your dentist, your next door neighbor, and maybe even your partner. And there’s no shortage of people inside radio who bash away at the medium that has employed them and paid the bills for most of their careers.
So to hear the effusive phrases of a guy who is ensconced in the digital end of the business is downright encouraging. But is it real?
Well, perceptions are reality, and this piece should be lining the cubicles of every radio station in North America. It should be a mailer to all clients, big and small, national and local. And it should be the centerpiece of this week’s sales meeting.
Because Palmer’s POV is absolutely right – if and only if radio stations from New York City to Nome take a look at themselves and start drinking his Kool-Aid. That means taking advantage of some of the potentials Palmer talks about from audience-tracking metrics to smart, efficient production to fueling morning show bits to trend on social media platforms.
Is radio really as good as Palmer claims it to be?
Only if radio’s brands make great mobile apps that consumers can easily access on their smartphones.
Only if clusters put together integrated campaigns that take advantage of the myriad digital avenues.
Only if the industry lives up to the potential that has always been there.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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