Tomorrow at exactly 4:29pm Central, across 40 radio stations serving the nation’s third-largest market, a 60-second interview will be heard. A Spanish-language adaptation of the minute-long chat will also be heard across the Windy City.
Why? It’s another testimonial from a Chicagoland advertiser who loves radio, and the results it brings to their business.
The latest fan of AM and FM ROI? Perma-Seal Basement Systems.
Roy Spencer, the company’s president and owner, will not only see his services promoted during the :60, but he’ll take the mic to highlight the positive results Perma-Seal has experienced with radio advertising in Chicago.
Said Spencer, “We have used radio for over 30 years because it provides intimacy, flexibility, variety, and consistency. Radio listeners develop an affinity with the stations and on-air personalities, and in turn the advertisers.”
Dennis Lyle, President/CEO of Illinois Broadcasters Association, added, “Spencer’s personal endorsement for local radio as an effective medium for advertising Perma-Seal’s unique services speak volumes about local radio. It’s always great to hear first-hand from yet another satisfied local radio customer!”
The across-the-dial endorsement of radio ads set for tomorrow comes following three similar efforts seen in Chicago during 2017.
RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: Sigh … See, this is why our Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson was perfectly happy leaving the world of Radio for a decade, in August 2006. There are so many things wrong with this “look at the ROI!” approach used by the Illinois Broadcasters Association (IBA). How can we explain? Picture yourself at a Weight Watchers meeting. Someone who has been going to meeting after meeting for seven months just made their target weight, and they’re honoring this individual. A speech is given, and the WW success story is applauded by the eight other people in the room as the individual speaks of the power of Weight Watchers — to those already actively familiar with the brand and its abilities. All of those overweight people seeking a solution that haven’t considered WW have no idea why it may work for them. Here, we have the IBA using a :60 radio interview to tout its ROI — to those who already consume radio and who use radio. Are non-advertisers to radio listening? Perhaps. Will this drive the non-advertiser to consider a run-of-spots on radio? We think the Cleveland Browns making the playoffs in 2019 is a safer bet. With all due respect, this is old thinking from old people in an industry that has to think more like a digital company strutting its stuff at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. You want advertisers, radio? Then get the hell out to Las Vegas and start talking up the power of audio — on AM and FM and on Apps and streams. Pay for big billboards along Paradise Blvd. leading to and from McCarran International Airport. Get a digital ad campaign going, and make sure the ads are seen in Vox Media’s Recode or on CBS Interactive’s CNet. Create a landing page for people to see with one click that visually demonstrates why radio advertising is better than digital, and use Spencer in this manner. Even use a kitschy headline like How Perma-Seal Locked In Great ROI to grab their attention. Look, we love radio and we strongly believe in the power of a cleverly written audio advertisement. But, don’t tell us — tell all of the local business sticking with Google, YouTube and Facebook and even the damn Yellow Pages who don’t know about Perma-Seal’s success because they don’t listen to radio and will never hear the :60 on Jan. 8 at 4:29pm Central. That requires an attack — and ads touting radio on the medium’s stealing your money.
