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Radio stations, listeners chat through Vibes Media’s iRadio
October 11, 2005
If you’ve sent a text message to “Kiss” or “Diss” a new song on Clear Channel’s Kiss-103.5 FM in Chicago, you’re using the iRadio platform created by Vibes Media.
Jack Philbin and Alex Campbell, both 29, co-founders of Vibes Media, saw the coming wave of text messaging and started their company seven years ago to create interactive opportunities for their clients.
IRadio, launched earlier this year, is being recognized with a 2005 Chicago Innovation Award.
The platform is one of several Vibes Media developed to tap into the power of text messaging, especially popular among teens and young adults. Today, 5 billion text messages a month are sent in the United States, up from the 30 million a month sent in June 2003 when cellular companies allowed text messages to pass to competitors.
Philbin, who is working on an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said iRadio software automates listener-response lines. He said iRadio aids radio stations in communicating one-to-one with their listeners, thereby building loyalty.
“With iRadio, if 500 people send a message at once, nobody gets a busy signal like they do with phones,” he said. “Text messaging is another access point for radio listeners. We think this is going to be huge for the [traditional] radio industry, which is struggling against iPods and satellite radio. We’re helping radio transform itself from being a static, one-way medium.”
DJs or other staffers can use iRadio -- Vibes Media has a patent pending on the service -- to create polls or contests on the fly. The software keeps track of the order of respondents, determining winners and notifying them via text messages. This spares studio staff from keeping tabs with pencil and paper. The system also sends additional messages, automated or written by staff, to encourage listeners to keep responding.
The software builds lists of people who respond to contests. Philbin said a station staffer could note a loyal listener who has mentioned personal information and answer accordingly. “The DJ might send a note and ask how the listener’s vacation went, or might send the listener a reward for being loyal,” he said.
The system provides real-time, online information on messages, such as creating a map displaying the number of respondents from an area code. Philbin said a station could use this information to pinpoint areas where appearances by DJs might boost listenership.
Hot-99.5 in Washington, D.C., runs a text message-based program from Vibes Media that enables listeners to request the names of the last three songs played.
Philbin said Vibes Media also prepares scripts that encourage listeners to initiate and maintain a conversation with the station. Philbin said the fit is natural because more than three-quarters of calls made to radio stations are made from cell phones.
Radio station executives also are attracted to iRadio because it has the potential to boost revenue, he said. For example, advertisers could pay to sponsor instant polls, or ads could be written with text messaging numbers to build a dialogue with listeners.
IRadio also can be tied in with Vibes Media’s Text-2-Screen technology, which displays on large screens in real time at concerts. Vibes Media just finished a program with a Back Street Boys tour.
Philbin, a native of suburban New York City, said Chicago has worked well as a base for Vibes Media. “Chicago has great strength as a media hub. It’s also easier and less expensive to set up a business here than in New York,” he said. “We started in the tech park in Evanston, and were able to draw on talent at Northwestern to build our tech team. Now we have 23 employees and have been downtown [in Chicago] since April.”
In addition to radio, Vibes Media, which has been profitable for the past four years, has worked on interactive campaigns incorporating interactive messaging in ads appearing in newspapers, magazines, TV and billboards. The company has been involved in more than 5,000 campaigns since it started.
“We’re like the direct-mail industry was to the postal service,” he said. “We’re out in front in a new area, creating branded entertainment.”
