MRC To Test Voltair Impact.

INSIDERADIO
July 21, 2015

The Media Rating Council (MRC) is performing its own tests of the Voltair unit, independent of Nielsen-conducted trials set to be revealed to clients today, Inside Radio has learned. Unlike the Nielsen tests, which were largely confined to a laboratory and thus limited in their real-world conclusions, the MRC tests are being done with radio stations that are using the controversial audio processor. "Voltair is relevant to MRC, despite not having been introduced by Nielsen, because of its specific design to impact encoding processes," George Ivie, executive director of the ratings watchdog, told Inside Radio. While Nielsen’s attempts to gain the cooperation of broadcasters using the box were largely unsuccessful, some radio groups shared information with the MRC about their experiences with Voltair on a confidential basis. "We are using this information to facilitate our own testing, but by agreement this station information cannot be shared with Nielsen or anyone else," Ivie said. The tests, which will continue through August, are being performed by CPAs commissioned by the MRC. Once they’re complete, the MRC and its CPAs plan to review ratings data for stations before and after installation of Voltair and to evaluate the audio processor’s impact on the editing rules that Nielsen uses in the PPM system to ensure stations receive proper listening credit. MRC says it will report the finding to its Radio Committee, which is made up of broadcasters, agencies and advertisers. The MRC’s CPA firm is also "walking through" the Nielsen test results and plans to summarize them to the MRC and its Radio Committee. But Ivie stopped short of calling that process a "validation" of the Nielsen tests. However, once the MRC completes its own lab and field testing, Ivie says it will "have the ability to corroborate Nielsen’s testing in many areas, which would be a form of validation."

Radio Swings For Hyper-Local Fences. Radio, with its thousands of local stations, has long had an understandable rep for targeting prowess. Now geo-fencing technology is helping it hyper-target to even narrower areas and tap into the ad budgets of local businesses that typically aren’t big radio spenders. Digity and Delmarva Broadcasting, among others, have added geo-targeted mobile display ads to their client offerings. The growing practice involves drawing a virtual circle of 100 meters or more around a client’s location and serving mobile ads to anyone that enters that fenced area with a GPS-enabled mobile device. The goal is to drive foot traffic into the store with special offers. Delmarva, which owns about a dozen stations in the mid-Atlantic region, has executed dozens of geo-targeted campaigns during the last year. The company now attributes 13% of its total digital revenue to location-based advertising. In West Palm Beach, where Digity operates seven radio stations, digital sales manager Marco Mottola says they’ve experienced a 90% retention rate among clients using the service, many of whom are local advertisers that weren’t previously big radio users. Location-based advertising makes up roughly 20% of the station’s digital revenue. Mottola says the campaigns produce average click rates from 0.3-0.5% compared to 0.1%, which is considered the national average. But results are measured beyond the click. A veterinarian in West Palm Beach nearly tripled the number of new customers compared to that of a typical month, according to Mottola. Both companies, along with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Cumulus Media, Beasley Media, Radio One and Saga Communications are using a product developed by ad management provider Marketron, which works with online ad networks to place the ads.

Hyper-Target Tech Scores Client Bulls-eye. Car dealers are seen by broadcasters as the obvious first line of clients when it comes to selling geo-fenced digital campaigns. The typical MO is to serve ads to potential buyers while they’re on the lot or in the showroom of a competitor and lure them across the street with a better offer. Dealerships like location-based ads, broadcasters say, because they often see an immediate impact on leads. But clients using location-based campaigns run the gamut from insurance companies to veterinarians to hurricane windows retailers to recruitment advertisers. The trend is expected to grow with U.S. mobile advertising forecasted at $28.7B in 2015 and on track to more than triple over the next 5 years. Mark Weidel, general manager at Delmarva’s DBC Interactive, says the geo-fenced ads are getting three to six times higher click rates than those usually seen in online display advertising and that one client, a trucking company looking to recruit drivers, received a 16% click rate. Those ads were sent to a geo-fence around a medical facility that specializes in physicals for truck drivers. "It’s really important to make sure the fences are unique to the client and where their prospects are going to be and that the message has a strong call to action," Weidel says. Delmarva has used fencing to help clients attract booth traffic at trade shows and to reach attendees at the Firefly Festival at Dover International Speedway in June. "Events have become something that we increasingly look at," Weidel says.