Mobile Marketing Leaders Since 1998
Press
CBS Radio Embraces Texting
June 5, 2006
Startup Vibes Media corrects radio’s Internet mismatch by marrying one of the oldest media with one of the newest.
CBS Radio, the second-largest radio conglomerate in the United States, announced a 41-station text-messaging deal on Wednesday with Vibes Media that CBS hopes will stem the exodus of young listeners and rekindle advertisers’ flagging interest in the struggling medium.
The deal links two very mobile devices—the radio and the cell phone—in a mutually beneficial arrangement. The Internet has proven to be something of a listener-communications mismatch for radio as radio listeners are usually in their cars, out jogging, or doing something else that takes them away from their computers.
Vibes, a seven-year-old, self-funded startup based in Chicago, attempts to correct that mismatch by offering radio stations its iRadio Instant Response technology, which allows DJs to keep text-messaging communications going with listeners.
The technology also gives marketers an additional means to add impact to their overall radio advertising campaigns.
“Ringtones did $600 million last year and radio got none of that.’
-Jack Philbin, Vibes Media
“This is not like email,” said Jack Philbin, president of Vibes. “It’s not about collecting people’s numbers and sending out ads. It’s more about adding incremental dollars to any campaign that the stations run for a marketing client.”
Text Contests
Radio stations can hold listener text-messaging contests as part of their ad clients’ campaigns in much the same way they do with call-in contests today. They offer a prize, such as free tanning for a year at a local tanning salon for the hundredth person to text the word “tan.” A Chicago station recently ran such a campaign.
The automated system then chooses the winner, to whom the system sends an acknowledgment. Unlike call-in mechanisms, the text system does not require staff members to receive the calls.
“There are no busy signals, but the power is not in the one person who wins, but in the 500 people who took part in the competition,” said Mr. Philbin. “They then get a text response offering them a consolation prize of one free tanning session.”
Vibes customers include several major radio conglomerates along with many sports teams and broadcast media outlets.
No Radio Ringtones
The mismatch between the radio and the Internet has kept the radio industry from effectively entering the booming ringtone and wallpaper markets. According to Mr. Philbin, the mobile connection corrects that problem.
“Ringtones did $600 million last year and radio got none of that,” he said. “We are getting radio stations to embrace mobile and become a content distribution channel as well as to create valuable conversations for their advertisers.”
The radio industry has experienced trouble attracting and keeping advertisers, in part because many consider its 40-year-old method of counting listeners and maintaining ratings to be outdated and unreliable.
As a result the industry has embarked on a coordinated search for a more reliable system. Three firms have survived a year-long vetting process that included two dozen bidders.
“Mobile provides digital real-time tracking that has been absent in traditional radio,” said Mr. Philbin. “You have a conversation with your listeners. You can send them directly to the store in their neighborhood, where they can redeem their coupons.”
Stations can also add advertising tag lines at the end of their text responses and promote upcoming programs.
