Today’s radio conference on the Gold Coast will hear research from Arbitron’s Jay Guyther and Brad Bedford as part of a comprehensive program of speakers (click below for full details of program).
radioinfo has spoken to both American visitors to preview their presentations.
The pair will give two presentations, one as part of a panel, hosted by Nielsen Media Research’s Peter Cornelius on radio’s unique benefits for advertisers, and another on people meter audience measurement.
radioinfo: What are the latest developments on radio people meters that you will tell the conference about?
Guyther: We have looked at the differences between the two major methods of gathering data for people meters – encoding an inaudible signal in the audio, verses audio matching.
We found that encoding is the best method for measuring cross platform delivery and time shifting. Encoding can tell you if people are listening to a program via the radio, or the internet or some other platform. It can also tell you if they have recorded it and replayed it at another time. This is especially important for time shifting tv programs in the US, using personal video recorders.
Audio matching can’t give you that flexibility.
radioinfo: You have a trial in Philadelphia where Arbitron is measuring both radio and tv, but are there other US markets also using these methods?
Guyther: Yes. In Houston, we are using a multimedia system combined with a panel approach to measure in and out of home listening.
We are surveying 2100 people with a new sampling methodology, which combines phone calls and in-person contact, and we are getting muchy higher response rates.
The survey includes encoding the in-store audio of 16 retail locations and entertainment venues to find out more about the question of advertising effectivemness in these out-of-home locations.
radioinfo: Brad, you are doing a presentation on radio and young listeners. What have you found?
Bedford: The work we have done proves radio reaches young people more effectively than we could previously prove. It reinforces some of the messages your body, CRA, is giving here in its branding campaign.
radioinfo: Because you survey both radio and tv in the US, were you able to compare both media for their effectiveness?
Bedford: Yes, and we found that, dollar for dollar, radio can deliver as many people as television, especially young listeners. For the same money, you can also achieve more frequency on radio, of course.
We also found that radio and tv share more audience than expected, and that radio can deliver teens and males 18-34 more effectively than tv. Our PPM data fusion methodology shows this.
Portable People Meters can measure listening more effectively when people are active. When you ask people to fill in a diary for the time they were at a sports event or at the gym, they generally don’t recall it accurately but, when they are wearing their people meter at these events, we can accurately measure what they heard. That’s why we are seeing more radio usage in teens and males 18-34, because that listening has not been effectively captured before.
radioinfo: Does radio connect better with audiences?
Bedford: In a study of 662 people, we found it has more personal relevance with young listeners because of the one-to-one nature of the radio medium and the sense that it is more emotionally relevant to each listener.
This is important because many purchases are largely driven by personal emotional decisions, and radio can be the most effective medium for advertisers for those sort of decisions.
radioinfo: Advertising clutter is a current issue here because of some recent research by Nova. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Guyther : I think the personality of the station will affect people’s acceptance of clutter. In our Radio Effectiveness Lab studies, we have found listeners to some stations tolerate a cluttered environment better than others. We have also found that the creative in ads is more important than production values – the message should be targeted and suitable for the format. Our research says ads should be individually targeted to segments of the advertiser’s market. A one-size fits-all ad is less likely to be effective than one I believe is speaking to me.
Jay Guyther is responsible for the global marketing of the Portable People Meter (PPM) audience measurement system for Arbitron Inc and he is Arbitron’s liaison to radio industry groups, including the Radio Advertising Bureau and the Radio Advisory Council.
Guyther joined Arbitron in 1984 as Northeast Regional Manager, Radio Station Services. He was promoted to Southern Division Manager, and then named Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Radio Station Services. In this position, which he held for four years, he was responsible for all sales, marketing and product development activities related to Arbitron’s US radio operations.
Before joining Arbitron, Guyther was employed in Baltimore, Maryland, as an Account Executive at radio WPOC-FM and also as Sales Manager at WITH-AM.
Brad Bedford is Vice President, International PPM Marketing. He will present a paper on “Radio the Media Multiplier” at the conference today.
Today’s agenda includes:
The Cult of Celebrity- Clive James
Official Conference Opening
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie
Government Advertising and Use of Radio
Hon. Joe Hockey, Federal Minister for Tourism and Small Business
Managing Talent with an eye on the audience and the bottom line – Bruce Beresford
Intellectual Property
and How to Protect It –
Katrina Rathie
Programming a
Station for Success –
Jason Kane
Zoning and the
Consumer: latest
research –
Ralph van Dijk,
Eardrum
What to do when the
Inspector Calls –
Jennifer Patterson
Is i-Pod killing the
radio star – Nick Piggott
How we do it in the
UK and how has the
RAB changed – Douglas McArthur
Engineers Roundtable
Digital Progress Around
the World – Nick Piggott, GWR
Richard Morris, IBC
Des DeCean, WorldDAB
Electronic Measurement
Advertisers Speak – Radio’s Hyper Ad Growth and How To Make It Last (panel)
Beyond the numbers: looking for the
opportunity gaps –
Peter Cornelius