Digital Radio Set To Cause Shift In Media Planning
The growth of digital radio could cause a shift in media planning as it transforms the way advertisers and agencies communicate with audiences, according to Steve Parker, Starcom Motive’s radio and outdoor co-ordinator.
Speaking at Emap’s digital radio seminar earlier today, Parker claimed the increasing proliferation of new digital radio stations would drive the growth of the industry by offering advertisers access to a more fragmented, but better defined audience.
Digital radio stations such as Emap’s rock-focused Kerrang! and the speech-based oneword attract relatively small audiences in comparison to their analogue counterparts, but Parker claims they are potentially more valuable to advertisers.
He said: “Digital listeners go out of their way to find the station that suits them best. They are a compelling proposition as they are passionate, affluent and traditionally hard to reach.”
Digital radio is available via a range of platforms and its growth looks set to boom over the coming months. Listening via Freeview is expected to surge as set top receivers fall in price, DAB digital radios are also becoming more affordable and the penetration of specially enabled 3G phones is on the increase.
Parker predicts this growth will attract a range of new advertisers to commercial radio, boosting revenue and increasing the sector’s share of the advertising market. He claims that media planning habits could also change, as agencies divert their spend away from TV and press and into radio.
However, he warned: “This success absolutely depends on the industry’s commitment to scrutinising the trends in audience data and on the ability to produce compelling, high-quality advertising.”
The latest RAJAR data for the first quarter of 2003 shows that the handful of digital radio stations reporting for the first time, helped all national commercial radio to increase its weekly reach by 8.4% period on period to almost 11.3 million (see RAJAR Results Q1 2003 – National Commercial Radio Improves Reach).
Figures from the RAB also show that commercial radio has seen advertising expenditure rise to record levels, with £138.9 million being spent on the medium in the first three months of this year (see Commercial Radio Sees Highest Ever First Quarter Adspend).
Starcom Motive: 020 7453 4444 www.starcommotive.com
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