DRDB Extends In-Car Radio Promotion With Ford
The Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB) and Ford have extended their ad campaign to promote in-car digital radio in an attempt to raise awareness of the medium.
The initial campaign, which was launched on 6 March, aimed to get consumers to visit a Ford dealer and test digital radio.
Commenting on the decision to extend the campaign, a spokeswoman for the DRDB said: “In-car digital radios are totally new technology and therefore our initial two-week campaign wasn’t long enough to build awareness of the medium. Therefore we have decided to extend the campaign by two weeks to build up interest.”
According to the DRDB, demand for the new technology has been in line with expectations and it plans to gradually increase the promotion of in-car digital radios throughout the year.
Ford is the first car manufacturer to fit digital radio systems in its vehicles and is offering them as a dealer-fitted accessory in the standard car radio dashboard enclosure (see Ford Shows Commitment To Digital Radio).
The DRDB is hoping that other car manufacturers will follow Ford’s initiative in adopting the new technology. According to the spokeswoman: “The DRDB has been in conversation with all the leading car companies, some are obviously more interested than others but we are quietly confident that in car digital radio will be a success.”
Digital radio has been relatively slow to make its mark on the media marketplace, however, sales of the new £99 DAB radio almost outstripped demand in the run up to Christmas (see Digital Radio Sales Boom In Pre-Christmas Period).
The medium may also be boosted by the BBC’s arrival on to the scene and earlier this month the Corporation announced plans to launch its first ever marketing campaign to promote the platform (see BBC To Promote Digital Radio Portfolio).
Digital radio is also becoming more accountable in an attempt to lure more advertisers to the medium. Late last year ABC Electronic announced that Capital Radio Group will be the first broadcaster to publish audited data on streaming (see ABC Electronic To Measure Online Radio Listening).
The Government recently announced plans to review the digital radio industry, in a move that could produce a switch off date for the analogue signal (see Government Announces Review Of Digital Radio).
DRDB: 020 7306 2630 www.drdb.org.uk
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