December 31, 2002
Where There's a Will, There's an Ad ... Let's take five with Moira Gunn. This is "Five Minutes".
As soon as the Internet came on strong, we heard about the wonders of one-to-one marketing and "have-it-your-way" purchasing. Yet the advertising dollars spent on the Internet remain miniscule compared with the dollars spent on broadcast television and radio. It's not surprising that the actual effectiveness of mass advertising continues to be questioned.
Given the ubiquitous presence of the remote control, I'm not sure anyone chooses to watch a television commercial in its entirety any more - the plethora of channels lures the remote into service and immediately dilutes the advertising punch. And as for radio, many listeners think a commercial is actually a prompt to hit another button.
Today's advertisers are keener than ever to know their ads are being watched or listened to, that they're reaching the right audience and that they aren't wasting their money.
That's where a new technology, which tracks the station your car radio is tuned to, has presented an interesting opportunity.
--
Let me back up a bit and say that I recently began to notice a new kind of billboard on our local freeways. Just smaller than a standard billboard, they're electronic, and I was surprised when one changed before my very eyes into a different ad. How do they figure out the advertising rates? And why did they change ads? I couldn't really take in both ads in the time I spent zipping by.
Then I came upon another tech story which brought it all into focus. It's called MobilTrak, and it stands by the side of the freeway and deciphers the radio frequencies that the passing cars are tuned into. Although unable to measure every car, especially when multiple cars are passing, it still provides far more information than was ever available before.
Classically every-day/all-day propositions, static billboards are textbook mass marketing. But radio listening is a changing dynamic. Afternoon commuters in Silicon Valley love All Things Considered, but if the 49-er's are playing Monday Night Football, you can bet there's a major shift in listening behavior.
--
So, the concept is pretty simple: electronic billboards can change their advertisements every 8 seconds, and roadside sensors can pretty much tell how the radio audience is shaping up. Match these up, and you've got an advertising winner.
Even better, since we do some 60% of our radio listening in the car, there's a target-rich environment: Drive in now! Take the family for dinner tonight! Make an appointment for tomorrow! The advertiser already knows you have wheels, and you're on the move.
To be sure, these technologies pose some very real social issues, and the most serious one proposes that this is an invasion of our privacy. But even the ACLU agrees that if the data collected can't be connected to an individual, it's free for the taking.
Still, I don't feel quite right about this. Here I am, driving along, listening to public radio, where no ads are welcome or allowed. And because I'm listening to public radio, a well-known and substantially affluent demographic, specific electronic billboard advertisements will be directed toward me, whether I like it or not.
I say, if we have to suffer these ads, why don't we make them give a cut to public radio? ... Yeah, that's the ticket.
I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.
