Last week’s post about the UK’s Radiocentre campaign to key into hot shot marketers, one clever commercial at a time, elicited many comments on social media as well as in person. It was timely that I presented at both the New Jersey and Virginia state broadcasting conferences last week, putting me in contact with hundreds of avid radio and TV people who know a smart marketing concept when they see one.
As out of the box, innovative, and radical as the Radiocentre effort is, a very different success story from Canada highlights a campaign that was simpler, more 
direct, and just as effective. And ironically, it involves that country’s version of Nielsen, now known as Numeris.
If you thought Canadian ratings were conducted by BBM, you may not have been aware they changed their name to Numeris in 2014. Now a corporate name change tends to be a big deal to a company, but typically has little impact on consumers.
But in this case, name recognition, familiarity, and credibility are key to generating strong and reliable ratings. That’s because when the company contacts consumers to qualify them for participation in the ratings, the system performs better when potential respondents are familiar with the company, creating a level of trust.
In this case, Numeris might as well be a tech or pharmaceutical company. So the idea was to create an advertising initiative to build brand awareness quickly and effectively. Working with the agency Cundari, a campaign comprised of TV and radio ads was crafted. Flights were run during the fall and winter of 2014 with the help and cooperation of radio and TV broadcasters around the country.
And in the process, Numeris created a controlled marketing experiment. How quickly would Canadians become aware of their name and what the brand was all about? So let’s look at the “before and after” of top of mind awareness of BBM, and then Numeris.
Back in 2013, the chart below shows where BBM recognition stood among both English and French speaking citizens. And you can see the immediate impact of the broadcast campaign over the next two years when these spots ran. Numeris, the brand, took hold in 2014, and began to truly soar last year.
Interestingly, BBM’s awareness level among English speaking Canadians was below 20%. By early March of 2015, the broadcast campaign catapulted brand recognition to nearly 50%.
One of the challenges that Nielsen, Numeris, and all researchers face is connecting with Millennials, and encouraging their participation in the ratings process. Here’s how Numeris brand awareness looks by demographic:
Predictably, 18-34s lag their more mature counterparts. But Numeris awareness even among the youngest participants is light years ahead of where BBM sat just two years earlier.
We continue to hear about radio’s reach, but perhaps an even more profound value is its ability to shape perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs. And then there’s that issue of ROI. So often, success is being measured these days with clicks rather than by brand awareness and perceptual impressions. While there is much to be said for direct advertising accountability for car dealers, mattress stores, and drug companies, consumers have to be aware of brands and have good feelings about them in order to pull the trigger and commit their hard earned dollars to a product.
In the case of this Numeris campaign, the results point to two key takeaways:
1. Broadcasters can work together to accomplish a common goal
2. Traditional radio and TV advertising works
The relatively quick ramp-up of the Numeris brand is good for the credibility of Canadian ratings measurement for both stations and the advertisers that invest in broadcast media. And it’s interesting that while American radio stations spent most of 2015 going around and around with Nielsen about the validity of a black box called Voltair, Canadian radio and Numeris were executing a mutually beneficial initiative.
And in the process, they created a great success story that proves the concept, eh?
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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