Exclusive Scheduler Increases Ad Effectiveness by Matching Commercial Spots to Highly Relevant Programming or Ads; VISA, GEICO, Wal-Mart Among First to Reap Benefits Previously Limited to Internet and Mobile Browser Advertising
Broadcast Radio Now Competes in Area Credited with Internet’s Strong Growth
SAN ANTONIO – Clear Channel Radio announced the ability to automatically and reliably insert any length of audio spot immediately after specific programming or commercial spots based entirely on content. Called “contextual advertising” or “semantic advertising,” the ability has previously been available only to Internet advertisers based on text content and is credited as a major driver of the Internet growth and success. In preliminary operation for the past year, the proprietary Clear Channel Radio service is now available to all national advertisers. Test campaigns for major national advertisers VISA, GEICO and Wal-Mart, produced outstanding results for the advertisers.
“This goes to show that not all advertising innovation is happening online,” said advertising technology analyst Andrew Frank, vice president at Gartner. “Well-established channels such as radio are also fully capable of using technology creatively to improve the value and relevance of their content to advertisers and consumers.”
“We just leveled a very lucrative playing field,” said John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. “This system took months to perfect, Clear Channel Radio is the only one who has it, and our thanks go to the agencies and advertisers who collaborated with us to achieve this important milestone: OMD for VISA, Horizon Media for GEICO, and MediaVest for Wal-Mart.”
One of the campaigns paired ads with programming content. To support Wal-Mart’s exclusive retail sales contract for AC/DC’s highly anticipated Black Ice album last Fall, MediaVest and Clear Channel Radio devised a program where a Wal-Mart ad for the album would run immediately after an AC/DC song was played on a selection of 106 Rock AC and Album-Oriented Rock stations in 91 markets. If no AC/DC song was currently on the station’s playlist, the 30-second spot appeared after a song by a similar artist.
Wal-Mart moved 784,000 copies of the album during its first week in stores: the second-largest debut week for a new album to date in 2009, according to Billboard magazine.
Two other programs paired ads with the content of other ads.
Horizon Media’s contextual campaign for GEICO played strongly on the company’s “save 15%” theme in three ways. First, the campaign dynamically placed custom 15-second ads for the insurer after ads from vehicle makers (including autos, motorcycles, RVs and others) and auto dealers. Second, the ads were run at :15 past the hour during each hour of the coveted morning drive (6:15am, 7:15am, 8:15am, 9:15am). And third, the contextual reference carried through in the creative, reminding listeners that “since it’s now 15 after the hour, there’s no better time than now to spend the next 15 minutes saving 15% with GEICO.” For added impact, Clear Channel stations aired a paid 60-second GEICO commercial after the custom :15.
“The ability to place ads in context within a live broadcast significantly increased the value of this GEICO campaign,” said Lauren Russo, SVP and Managing Director for Local Audio & Promotions at Horizon Media. “The willingness to embrace change and drive innovation is crucial in our choice of media partners, and it’s why we return to Clear Channel Radio for crucial campaigns.”
A turnkey campaign developed by Clear Channel Radio and OMD for VISA paired quick-hitting, 15-second spots with appropriate merchant messages – for VISA that meant more than 25,000 merchant messages in more than 120 markets. The result was five times the number of gross ratings points as VISA had been seeing with its morning television advertising (television dollars were diverted to radio to fund the campaign); and a 10% rise in short-term volume through VISA’s network compared to the same period the previous year. VISA ultimately singled out the campaign as a company-wide best practice.
About Clear Channel Radio
Clear Channel Radio is a leading radio company focused on serving local communities across the U.S. with an audience of more than 110 million choosing Clear Channel Radio programming each week. The company’s content can be heard on AM/FM stations, HD digital radio channels, on the Internet, at iheartradio.com and on the iheartradio mobile application on iPods and smart phones, and used via navigation systems from TomTom, Garmin and others. The company’s operations include radio broadcasting, syndication and independent media representation. Clear Channel Radio is a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (OTCBB:CCMO), a leading global media and entertainment company. More information on the company can be found at www.clearchannel.com.
