The Benefits and Strategies of Successful Radio Advertisements

The 13,000 AM, FM and HD radio stations broadcasted in the United States reach 93.1% of the population over 12 years old every week, according to Arbitron's American Radio Listening Trends report (data from 2009 and 2010). Therefore, with radio there is rarely a doubt about whether you will be able to reach your target audience. 

Since it reaches so many people, it is easy for radio to advertise a large variety and a growing number of products ranging from vitamins and nutritional supplements to CD's, music, and health and beauty items. Additionally, radio advertising includes categories such as household cleaning products, kitchen/cooking products, and travel offerings. Basically, almost all types of products have a target audience somewhere listening to the radio.


Another benefit of radio advertising is the low cost of a commercial. Where the most simple and inexpensive TV spot advertisements will easily cost well over $50,000 and take months to produce, you can get a radio spot for less than $1,500 in a matter of days according to http://www.strategicmediainc.com/radio-advertising.php.

http://www.gaebler.com/Radio-Ad-Rates.htm is a website that will give potential advertisers the going rates to play a radio advertisement in every state and it goes into detail about how much it would typically cost for each station in specific areas. From there you can pick a radio station, for example, 94.7 FM in the Silver Spring area, and it provides you with information about what kind of music is played/ what is being discussed on the station, the company that owns the station and finally, it goes into cost. For a 30 second spot on 94.7 Fresh FM, the average rate is about $396.00, however, seasonal factors, time slots and volume discounts should be considered.

Radio is a valuable option for advertisers because it is an affordable ad medium that can reach a mass audience, yet there are properties of radio advertising that must be included for a radio ad to be successful. The frequency of ads is very important in selling a product. Based on the "five keys to radio advertising success," "a radio commercial needs to air multiple times before it sinks in with the listener." Everyone knows the little jingles from radio ads that they have heard multiple times. Most people wouldn't remember the Empire Today tune if they only heard it played once. Since it is repeatedly played on the radio, people are going to remember it and the idea of the product will sink in. 

Just like with every ad you create, whether it is an advertisement on tv, in a magazine, newspaper, etc., you must know the audience you are targeting. Advertising children's toys on Nickelodeon would make sense, however an advertisement for the same toys on Spike TV would not. That is why it is important to find out what type of people would be listening to different stations. The specific radio station frequency and the type of station it is are provided on http://www.gaebler.com/Radio-Ad-Rates.htm and the audience/age group for each type of station is provided on http://www.strategicmediainc.com/radio-advertising.php. Together, these websites are a tool for potential advertisers to figure out what stations to try to buy an advertising spot.

Runner's World Magazine

Kinesiology is defined as "The study of mechanics of body movements." As a Kinesiology Major and a runner, Runner's World Magazine is a magazine that I find interesting, and also really informative. I found myself getting distracted from completing this assignment from all the information on the Runner's World website. Runner's World presents information on many topics involving the best ways to maximize running performance based on research of body movements. The magazine provides information about training and racing, stretching, nutrition, and injury prevention, all topics covered in Kinesiology classes, but specialized towards runners.

This magazine is advertised for being only one dollar per issue, which is below average, and therefore a selling point to anyone interested in running. Many of my friends that are also runners have many copies of this magazine laying around their houses and have monthly subscriptions to keep up with all the latest running information.

Although most people reading Runner's World Magazine are only in the category of runners, and mainly   being distance runners, the number of magazines sold has increased since 2004, where other magazines have been losing sales. In 2004, the magazine had a full redesign, which probably affected its circulation. Since then, it has been recognized as number 1 on Adweek's Hot List and has been nominated three times for National Magazine Awards.

The latest issue of Runner's World for November 2011 includes a cure for knee pain, a way to double your endurance, how to recover from a bad run, 10 healthy meals for a runner's body, exercises to increase fitness and other information related to running and keeping your body healthy.

William Randolph Hearst: A Legend in the Newspaper Business

William Randolph Hearst was born April 29, 1863 in San Francisco, California, the son of a multimillionaire, George Hearst. In 1903, Hearst married Millicent Wilson, and together the couple had 5 sons. Hearst had an open affair with Marion Davis and he lived with her in an elaborate mansion after he and his wife had separated in the 1920s. However, he remained legally married to Millicent for the entirety of his life. Today, the mansion in which he and Marion lived is a California landmark well known as the Hearst Castle.

When Hearst was twenty-four, and searching for a job, he took over management of a newspaper that his father had purchased, the San Francisco Examiner. He then hired the most talented writers of the time and acquired the best equipment for the newspaper. After just a few years, the San Francisco Examiner dominated that area in terms of newspapers. Hearst opened newspapers in other cities including Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. By the mid-1920’s he had 28 newspapers including the Boston America, the Atlanta Georgian, the Chicago Examiner, the Detroit Times, the Washington Post and the Washington Herald. Hearst also began publishing books and magazines, some of which include Good Housekeeping, Town and Country and Cosmopolitan.

Hearst once said, “News is something somebody doesn't want printed; all else is advertising.” With these words, it shows his ideals when it comes to journalism. Although the term, “yellow journalism” was created originally to describe the reporting practices of Joseph Pulitzer, Hearst demonstrated that he also had a knack for using such techniques in his writing. “Yellow journalism” is defined as the type of journalism that relies on sensationalism and lurid exaggeration to attract readers. According to the book Unreliable Sources, by Martin Lee and Norman Solomon, Hearst “routinely invented sensational stories, faked interviews, ran phony pictures and distorted real events.” Additionally, according to Upton Sinclair, Hearst’s newspaper employees were "willing by deliberate and shameful lies, made out of whole cloth, to stir nations to enmity and drive them to murderous war." Although many people criticized his work, his businesses sold and still sell many copies of magazines and newspapers. Furthermore, during the period of the Holocaust, when many newspapers downplayed the mass murders, Hearst covered it as the important news that it was.

Along with his great influence on the newspaper business, Hearst was also an active member of politics. He was elected twice as a Democrat to the House of Representatives. He unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of New York City in 1905 and 1909, for Governor of New York in 1906 and Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1910. He is also accredited with creating the Independence party.

The movie Citizen Cane was loosely based on parts of William Randolph Hearst and his life. Hearst used all of his power and influence in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the release of the movie. However, Hearst managed to limit the bookings of Citizen Kane in movie theaters. Even with his efforts, the movie was ranked number one on the list of American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Films of all Time in 1998 and 2007. Unfortunately for Hearst, his image today has been shaped largely by the film, which shows a negative view of him as a man.