Special Columnist Mike Raphone talks Recency, Reach & Call-to-Action  

"I’ve never really liked David Bowie (apart from his role as Jareth, King of The Goblins in The Labryinth, that was awesome). But he sings that song that goes ‘Ch-ch-ch-changes’, which could be the theme song for this article. Why, you ask? Because the article (and the song) is about changes. Clever ah?

As we all know, time’s they are a-changing (OK that’s Bob Dylan, but work with me here). Consumers have been hit with rising costs and interest rates, and it’s safe to say a lot of people are changing their spending habits accordingly. But as an advertiser, you’ve got to make sure you’re still reaching the right people, at the right time, in the right place, with the right message. Is your current strategy ticking all of these boxes?

Radio’s good at a lot of things, and one of them is its ability to drive sales responses. One of the reasons it’s so good at this is ‘recency’, which is a concept that “suggests advertising messages received close to the time of purchase generate strong influence over that purchasing decision”
[1]. In fact, in a recent study it was found that 57% of Adults 18+ who heard an advertising message less than 1 hour before their main purchase of the day heard it on the radio [2].

This is because radio is consumed in so many different environments, right throughout the day; first thing in the morning when you’re getting ready for work, in the car, at work, in the car again, while you’re cooking dinner…it’s everywhere! And it’s pretty simple to see how being exposed to an ad when you’re thinking about/on your way to make a purchase will have an impact…and that’s exactly what Radio can do.

Another one of Radio’s strengths is its ability to deliver a direct call to action. Radio is a dynamic, interactive medium, and people listen to stations they feel personally involved with; they trust their radio station to deliver them the music, news and information that they want and need. This includes your ads! Audio triggers are a great way of generating foot traffic by stimulating that ‘Gosh, I really need one of those’ moments in consumers. You can’t turn your ears off, but you sure can decide not to look at the ads in the newspaper or magazine you’re reading, or the Billboard whizzing past your car window.

Another thing to consider is that people listen to the Radio a lot during the day; more than they watch T.V in fact. So if you’re running sales ads, or product launches on Television during the day, chances are you’re probably missing a whole bunch of the very people you’re trying so hard (and paying so much) to reach. Radio offers the chance to supplement activity on other media, by reaching them where/when other media can’t. Print ads suffer from the same affliction; just think about what you do when you’re scanning the paper in the morning. Do you latch onto that full page colour ad for a large retail sale, or are you more interested in the actual news?

So with everything getting more expensive, and consumers changing their purchasing habits accordingly, maybe it’s time to examine what you’re doing to reach your audience, and prompt them into the behaviour you need from them. Radio isn’t going to solve all of your problems on its own, but chances are there are ways that you can use it better, in order to supplement or improve upon your existing strategies. TRB has a great team of Account Directors who can help you decide how best to use Radio, so don’t be afraid to ask for help (they’re not as scary as Jareth, King of The Goblins!)."