Are boomers NOT a good ad target?

[OldiesCat]

Respectfully

If some of you aren't interested in the truth and what is instead of what you think should be, there isn't a lot anybody can do about that. But I'll repeat: you are griping to the wrong people. The Oldies format daying isn't radio's fault, it's because the audience is aging past where most major advertisers target demographically.

I suggest you take the issue up with them and stop shooting the messengers.

 

[TheFonz]

Re: boomers

+

Another problem today for print is the fact that folks don't have the time to sit and read a paper. Commutes are longer, there are more two-person working families, and Americans work more hours than in the 60's. All this detracts from newspaper page reads and total circulation.

You see major papers like the LA Times for sale because it is barely profitable and where hundreds of jobs have been cut or have been announced... and total lines of advertising are way down along with circulation. Cities that had two or three papers have one and nearly no city has an afternoon paper any more.

The fact is that most of the same people that were reading newspapers in the '60s are still reading them today. And if newspapers were the advertisers' choice in the '60s then newspapers should be the advertisers' choice for that same group today. THAT'S why radio can't sell ads for 55+. As for the demise of the LA Times, I'm guessing that the percentage of people in LA who can read English has been dropping every year.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Re: boomers

The fact is that most of the same people that were reading newspapers in the '60s are still reading them today.

Nope. Many of the reasons people read newspapers in the 60's are gone now... like classifieds. Or are done better on the web or on dedicated cable nets. Readership is down even in the 45+ demo, although that is where most readership is concentrated.

In 1967, 40 years ago, I used to buy both morning papers and the evening one. Now, unless they put it at my door at a hotel, I do not buy a paper. There is seldom anything in it that I can not get quicker or better on the web.

And if newspapers were the advertisers' choice in the '60s then newspapers should be the advertisers' choice for that same group today.

The problem is that, like radio, there is very little advertising for 55+. While what 55+ ads there are tend to go to print, there still is not much.

THAT'S why radio can't sell ads for 55+.

Nope. Advertisers have very little budget for 55+, except for very specific items like Depends, Del webb retirement communities, Fixodent, pharmaceuticals, etc. You can not sustain a paper on that kind of accounts, which is why most major metros had two or three papers in the early 60's and have one today.

As for the demise of the LA Times, I'm guessing that the percentage of people in LA who can read English has been dropping every year.

The non-Hispanic population of LA in 1960 was vastly smaller than it is today because the total population was much smaller. However, despite the growth of the English dominant population, and the elimination of the second morning paper, the LA Times circulation has consistently declined, just like that of the Detroit Free Press, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Atlanta Constitution, or any other metro area paper... they are all off and it has nothing to do with ethnic groups or races.

You should read the article at http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/narrative_newspapers_audience.asp which shows how circulation has been ceclining as apercentage of Americans since the 40's, but the baby boom population growth masked this; by the 1990's, many papers had closed and circulation all over the nation was plummeting.

 

[TheFonz]

Re: boomers

Advertisers have very little budget for 55+, except for very specific items like Depends, Del webb retirement communities, Fixodent, pharmaceuticals, etc.

Well, folks, it took us a long time to get there but we FINALLY got our answer. Radio sales people don't have the ability to break the sterotype outlined above. I won't even begin to list the advertisers that radio SHOULD be targeting for the 55+ group.......that's their job. I'll just grab my newspaper inserts and go out to do some shopping. And I'll take my satellite radio along for the ride.

 

[OldiesCat]

boomers

I'll just grab my newspaper inserts and go out to do some shopping. And I'll take my satellite radio along for the ride.

Please! Please go do just that.

Just quit boring us with the "corporate radio hates the Oldies format" diatribe. You guys are blaming radio for something controlled by advertisers. Why don't you go re-educate them and let them know the millions they spend on market research to identify their customer base is all wrong.

 

[gregwilliamslighthouse]

I've enter into this stream a bit late, but I've got a question.

If advertisers don't believe there's a market in the Classic Top 40 listener (and let's give Tom Kent cuddos on that branding; it fits the format perfectly), why do we hear Target, Hummer, Cadillac, and nearly every other stop-set on TV using that music in its advertising? The agencies know there's a relate-ability factor in the music, so why aren't they buying time on the stations that play it?

 

[DavidEduardo]

I've enter into this stream a bit late, but I've got a question.

If advertisers don't believe there's a market in the Classic Top 40 listener (and let's give Tom Kent cuddos on that branding; it fits the format perfectly), why do we hear Target, Hummer, Cadillac, and nearly every other stop-set on TV using that music in its advertising? The agencies know there's a relate-ability factor in the music, so why aren't they buying time on the stations that play it?

Hint: TV has PICTURES and radio does not. Perhaps certain account types or specific products have found that the classic 2appetite appeal" approach on TV does get a good ROI on TV against older demos in shows that have a big 55+ audience subset.

The fact is that TV is a different medium. Advertisers... the large, agency handled ones, generally do not find radio is cost effective for 55+.

On the other hand, making the leap of faith that "oldies" are used to appeal to 60 year olds is a dangerous assumption. Oldies are often used because they are cheap to licence and catchy. Remember "Build me up buttercup" in "Something About MAry" which was a movie targeted at young adults (like nearly every movie)? They picked the tune because it was "campy" even if most of the audience had never heard it.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Re: boomers

Advertisers have very little budget for 55+, except for very specific items like Depends, Del webb retirement communities, Fixodent, pharmaceuticals, etc.

Well, folks, it took us a long time to get there but we FINALLY got our answer. Radio sales people don't have the ability to break the sterotype outlined above. I won't even begin to list the advertisers that radio SHOULD be targeting for the 55+ group.......that's their job. I'll just grab my newspaper inserts and go out to do some shopping. And I'll take my satellite radio along for the ride.

Stop already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The advertisers we are talking about go through ad agencies. Most campaigns cover multiple markets. Radio stations have no access to the planning stages.

When the buy is announced, it is in the form of a call for rates against CPP goals in the established demo for the campaign. The advertiser has no interest in formats or stations, just reach and frequency: buy a bunch of stations in every market that get me a reach of 60 and a frequency of 3 weekly and a decent CPP. That's it.

Agency clients don't care about formats and stations. It's about costs and demos. Period. I said it again for emphasis.

 

[skippertthomas]

Yep, David... The Agency Buys are exactly based on your statement.. Local buyers in small and medium/regional markets are the ones with the format bias.... But the majors are agency driven..

 

[TheFonz]

Re: boomers

The advertisers we are talking about go through ad agencies. Most campaigns cover multiple markets. Radio stations have no access to the planning stages.

If MY ship was sinking, I'd want to be involved in the bailout process.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Yep, David... The Agency Buys are exactly based on your statement.. Local buyers in small and medium/regional markets are the ones with the format bias.... But the majors are agency driven..

Yah, that is why in markets where agency business is less, and thus not the determination of success, we have traditional oldies stations making good money because they can successfully sell to direct accounts who are more retail and local service based, and try to appeal to the broadest sector of the market. We even have a number of successful standards stations still going in such markets. Both of these formats are often good options in suburban settings... no competiton, and a definite sales appeal to local accounts.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Re: boomers

The advertisers we are talking about go through ad agencies. Most campaigns cover multiple markets. Radio stations have no access to the planning stages.

If MY ship was sinking, I'd want to be involved in the bailout process.

A single oldies station in a single market does not have access to the agency accounts. In fact, in most cases, calling on accounts and going around the agency is pretty much a guarantee that you will not do business with the agency ever again.

It would take a coalition of media that is 55+ based, including non-radio, to make and take a case to agencies and advertisers... and such has never been done. For radio, it is a lot simple, quicker and more profitable to change format if the current one does not have the sales appeal it once had. The shift of many oldies stations to classic hits based on 70's material is an example of adapting to the advertising market.

Remember, radio has a bimodal marketing model... first to listeners, and then to advertisers. A successful station must have appeal among both contituencies.

 

[FRR]

This is the best discussion on this subject that I have ever read. Lots of great ideas and different viewpoints. I just wish all the discussions on these boards were this informative. You folks should all be proud