HOLLYWOOD, FLA. — The second day of the three-day Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Multicultural & Diversity Conference saw the introduction of hybrid and virtual sessions, with the latter visible only to those opting to access the conference app.
Perhaps the biggest of the virtual sessions involved the Radio Advertising Bureau‘s SVP of Insights, the President of iHeartMedia‘s BIN: Black Information Network, and the Medallas de Cortez-winning regional radio GM for TelevisaUnivision in San Diego, Las Vegas and the Rio Grande Valley.
Offering “best practices” for engaging with Black and Hispanic consumers — by using Radio, specifically — were the RAB’s Annette Malave, iHeartMedia executive Tony Coles and TelevisaUnivision’s Sabina Widmann.
With consumers today motivated by brands that are authentic, culturally relevant, and those that share their values, the key word that came out of their discussion, moderated by Malave, was “authentic.”
For Coles, this means the Radio industry needs to do more to reflect its audience by reimagining its leadership, team leaders and those asked to carry out the company’s objectives and goals. “It is really hard for us in the audio space,” Coles said with respect to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives that the advertising industry has already actively engaged in. In particular, Coles believes the challenge lies in that, while the minority is quickly becoming the majority in the U.S., “our stations are not reflective of that.”
Yes, iHeartLatino is a key multicultural initiative of iHeartMedia and there are plenty of options for the African American audio consumer, diverse teams are still needed across the U.S.’s radio clusters. “There’s still a lot of work to do,” Coles said, noting that simply having a hip-hop station or two does not make a radio broadcasting company diverse. The answer: a staff that reflects multicultural America in 2022. “Until we do that, we still have an uphill battle,” Coles said.
For Widmann, asked by Malave to share an example of the power of radio with U.S. Hispanic consumers, there’s one key goal for TelevisaUnivision. “Invite them, and they will come,” she said.
Then, there’s the need to be authentic. At TelevisaUnivision, this involves inviting brand partners to work with their assets’ biggest influencers, the air personalities that host radio programs. “There is such a wonderful connection to our audience, and that is different than in the total market,” she said.
Storytelling is a big selling point in the multicultural space, and both Widmann and Coles noted how the multicultural audio story starts with storytelling — much like the kind the late Casey Kasem delivered as host of American Top 40 from 1970-1988 and for Casey’s Top 40 until returning to AT40 before retiring.
Coles mentioned how iHeartMedia’s heritage R&B station in Memphis, WDIA-AM, is celebrating its 70th anniversary as the first Black-focused radio property in the U.S. At the heart and soul of this longevity is its personalities and listener connection, Coles said, adding that it is also at the heart of BIN. “It is delivery of content the listener wants, in an authentic way,” he said.
And, while Widmann and Coles live in “parallel universes,” there is commonality and they do think alike, she said. How so? The key to success is authenticity, and being your own brand.
“We want you to be our long-term partner,” Widmann said. This requires understanding, in an authentic way, how to best connect with the multicultural consumer through Radio.
