by Gautam Banerjee

Created on: November 05, 2009   Last Updated: November 06, 2009

TV does most things well - coverage, frequency, image, persuasion, demonstration, impact etc. The downside of TV is fragmented audience, high-cost of production and advertising. Also viewers increasingly avoid ad breaks. Radio can dramatically increase the frequency of exposures, either in the same period as the TV campaign or later to extend the campaign over time.

It can be used to boost regional or local exposure, reach light viewers, to extend TV messages during key times of day when TV audience is lower or when product relevance is higher, such as, afternoon meal time for Pizza marketeer. It also allows tighter targeting against many audiences, reducing wastage.

But despite the advantages advertisers spend money in radio without giving a thought as to why or how they are doing it and not knowing whether it is effective or not. Naturally, they can not measure their advertising efforts. Two most common questions asked by the advertiser are; 'how to measure the impact of the advertising campaign in radio and whether radio advertising campaign is measurable'.

The answer to the questions lie in the nature of the advertising campaign.

Awareness advertising in radio is difficult to measure. They do not generate a response,which can be tracked. What people do as a result of hearing Sonic Brand Triggers (SBTs), for example, sound component of the Intel logo, can not be measured. Certainly the sounds which consumers recognize and associate with brands, can greatly increase the response later, from both proactive and reactive activities. They increase the chance of the brand in the prospect's 'consideration list'. Thus when they next look to purchase they consider it, as they have heard of it.

Reactive advertising can usually be measured by tracking how people obtained phone number or email address by asking them. The website monitoring system can tell the advertiser where visitors found advertiser's URL. A suitable website measurement system like Google Analytics, if incorporated, in the advertiser's website can provide this information. It is a great help in locating reactive sources that deserve a place in the next campaign.

Proactive advertising is to actively hunt for prospects. It could be done by inducing Short Message Service (SMS) or by inbound calls. It is always measurable. Whenever there is a need to generate more business or if business is slow, frequency of radio spots can be increased. If stocks are running low or if there is a problem of logistics,

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