Nothing can bring about more bad karma than squashing the hopes of the hopeful. That’s why I kept my mouth closed when a friend ebulliently shared his excitement about his new opportunity with a popular major market radio station. Just kidding. I actually said “Radio? Do people still listen to radio?”
With Playlists, Grooveshark, Pandora, Sirius, SoundCloud, Spotify and Audible (just to name a few), I question the continued relevance of radio in our lives.
Further research unveiled the latest data from the CMO Council which confirmed my suspicions. Radio spend is indeed dropping, albeit not as fast as its ailing cousins (print and TV). Not surprisingly, the biggest changes upward are in interactive spending including social advertising, social media, video, retargeting, and search.
I also read that an unnamed source at GM predicted that car makers will remove radios from the dashboard of new cars within the next five years.
But before you turn the dial off, there are a few inconsistencies.
– In a recent MarketingCharts Debrief on ad channel effectiveness, traditional media such as TV and print outweighed digital channels in stated purchase influence among consumers.
– Highlights from the March 2014 RADAR® 120 National Radio Listening Report claims that the total U.S. radio audience has increased by more than 1.2 million weekly listeners since March 2013, and now reaches 244.4 million Americans on an average weekly basis. Daily time spent listening among radio listeners ages 12 and up now averages approximately two hours and 41 minutes a day, holding steady from the previous year. I also believe in radio’s ability to connect with a both a local community as well as a passive audience of people who are hearing your message as they drive to work, or sit at work or listen to the weather, news, and traffic delays.
So, whether you’re on the air or on the internet, or just in charge of radio ad sales, there’s still some hope for your career. Like everything else, radio is evolving to a digital platform but will still be an important consideration for marketers looking to extend their brand reach through an integrated marketing approach.
The most important thing is to reach for your dreams, whether they’re on the air or in the clouds.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
