Taking this integrated communication strategies course has been a wonderful experience and extremely relevant to my career in advertising at iHeartMedia.
Working at iHeart for almost four years has allowed me to plan and execute multi-platform advertising campaigns for top clients and advertising agencies in the country. First hired as a National Sales Assistant in Multi-Market Radio Sales and then promoted to a Media Planner, my focus lies on the traditional advertising sector, broadcast radio.
I know what you may think.. radio? Isn’t this advertising platform archaic? Outdated? Especially with the rise of digital advertising?
Working for the leading media company in the United States has taught me valuable lessons about the media industry and broadcast radio. Here are my top 3:
1)Working for an owned and operated, multi-platform media company is fast paced, client centric, and rewarding. iHeart has effective reach due to their powerful advertising assets.
- iHeartMedia owns 850+ broadcast radio stations across 160+ markets all across the country, with the capability to reach 275 million listeners.
- We have over 20,000 local and national tentpole events including Wango Tango, iHeartRadio Music Awards, iHeartRadio Music Festival. ( I had the opportunity to work these events and help wherever is needed, whether escorting and entertaining clients and sponsors, providing backstage tours, helping in the village at activations or doing whatever is necessary to make sure the event is flawless and clients are happy).
- 139 Million registered iHeartRadio App users. Did you know you can listen to all radio stations on this app, even non iHeartRadio stations? (i.e. If you want to listen to Urban station Power 106, you can tune in on the iHeart app)
- We recently acquired Stuff Media, making us the #1 podcaster in the US. (i.e. The Ron Burgundy podcast, How Stuff Works, The Zodiac Killer)
- 250+ platforms and connected devices (i.e. in car, on smart TV’s, in smart speakers, etc) and 146M social media followers
- #1 syndicator of Radio Programming with Premiere syndicated talent (i.e. Ryan Seacrest, Rush Limbaugh, Dan Patrick ).
- Robust Total Traffic and Weather Network including 200 markets and 203M listeners each month
iHeart works with the top advertisers, clients and top marketing agencies in the country (i.e. OMD, Group M, UM) utilizing our multi-platform assets to create strategic and unique media plans that are executed once sold. Together our local and national teams work to produce influential campaigns per flight week (i.e. Week of 7/29-8/2 is a flight week in advertising).
2) Broadcast Radio is not dead & Audio is booming
With a rise of technology and social media, broadcast radio has been considered outdated. You may be surprised to find out that broadcast radio is an effective advertising medium with 93% of Americans that listen to the radio daily.
Research indicates that the “the ear is faster than the eye.” People can process spoken words faster than written word. In addition, people remember messages 4-5x longer when heard over seen. Thus, Radio is more compelling than online and tv ads, and can influence consumer choice. Best of all, radio is live!
Power of personality- 73% of people have a deep connection with their favorite on air personality. Even before I worked at iHeart, I used to turn into 102.7 and listen to Ryan Seacrest and Ellen K during AMD (AM Drive- M-F 6:00am – 10:00AM), I looked forward to this show every morning and I felt connected to my favorite on air personalities. They were my companions entertaining me on the car ride to school and now work.
Did you know that 63% of people consider purchasing a product recommended by their favorite personality and 79% value their opinion?
Lastly, the power of sound is on the rise. Streaming, podcasts, music festival attendance and smart speakers have risen significantly every year.
3) Smart Audio is the future of broadcast radio buying
In recent years, iHeartRadio purchased and released a new media planning technology called Smart Audio powered by a programmatic platform called Jelli.
SmartAudio combines the targeting and efficiency of digital media with the scale of broadcast radio. The platform is another way for planners and radio buyers to purchase and run more efficient broadcast radio campaigns using the user friendly system.
Smart Audio can not only plan on traditional radio demo-based buying (i.e. Persons 12+ or Adults 18-49), but the program can now plan on enhanced audiences (cohorts). These enhanced audiences targets efficient audiences and customer profiles that marketers want to reach.
Some enhanced audiences or cohorts include: Auto intenders, Grocery Shoppers, Parents with children 18 and under. Smart Audio helps us target these audiences by using our first part data from the iHeartRadio app (over 120 million users) and expanding their profiles with social and third party data partners.
As a Media Planner, I create multiple media plans, including Smart Audio on either demos or enhanced audiences. These plans are self-serve on the Jelli website and can be built and tracked in real time. I also collaborate and strategize with sales colleagues to achieve negotiated client goals by creating and executing customized multimillion-dollar network, programmatic, and multi-market media plans. I analyze ratings, demos, inventory, and pricing data to build efficient media plans while meeting client objectives.
It is fascinating to see our campaigns for entertainment accounts and fortune 100 accounts come to fruition. Our teams work together to make sure all aspects of the media plan are created and executed. I am not going to lie, I still get excited when I hear an advertisement that I planned on the radio.
Looking forward to the future of broadcast radio and to see how it evolves. Now when creating your marketing plans for your final projects, don’t forget to include broadcast radio for ultimate reach and frequency!
Yours Truly,
Yvonne F.
References
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/category/popular-82/
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181119005499/en/iHeartMedia-Acquire-Jelli
Source: 04162018; Broadcast Radio: Nielsen CMR 2Q’17,P18+; Streaming Audio: Triton Top 20 Ranker Jan’16 vs. Jan’18; Podcasts, Edison “Infinate Dial 2018” Monthly Listeners 2018 vs. 2016; Music Festivals: Nielsen Music 360– Music Festival Attendance; Smart Speakers: Voicebot Smart Speaker Consumer Adoption Report 2018
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