www.swfloridabusinessnews.com/storydetail.asp?storyid=2 -
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Published on: 10/1/2000
Last Visited: 10/1/2000
With newspapers and especially magazines advertisers must plan in advance, says Becky Thompson, property manager and marketing director for Bell Tower Shops.They might not be able to accommodate an ad for a short-term event, but radio is more timely.Radio is a flexible medium.They can get something on at the last minute, she says.
Thompson gears Bell Tower's advertising to women ages 18 to 60 who have a good bit of spending power, a demographic that listens to the smooth jazz on WDRR, Dream 98.5. One of the most effective promotions, she says, is the Friday Fest, which takes place the last Friday of each month.Designed as fund-raisers for a local charity, they feature live music – of the same sort that appeals to WDRR listeners – as well as beer and wine.WDRR does a remote and the Friday Fest often attracts some 600 people.it be very effective for the retailers, she says, although an ad's impact usually is much more difficult to gauge.Many times, she says, it be not immediate.They may come in three or four weeks later to check you out..
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Thompson knew that a recent sidewalk sale at Bell Tower Shops would attract not only the usual market, but bargain shoppers from a variety of demographics.We customized the ads and spread it over seven stations, she says.Besides the usual jazz station, they advertised on adult contemporary, oldies, country, and pop stations.A lot of people from a lot of walks of life heard about the sidewalk sale and turned out.
In choosing where to advertise, Thompson puts a lot of faith in the Arbitron ratings.Radio is one medium where you can target your profile customer, she says, and stations can provide advertisers with ratings and profiles of their listeners.They can prove to you that they do or do not reach that market..
Others, however, warn against leaning too heavily on the ratings.Ratings are determined by people in the market chosen randomly by Arbitron.They keep diaries detailing what they have listened to and when, and Arbitron extrapolates the ratings from those diaries according to age, gender, spending ability, and other qualifiers.