John Fix, Sr Manager/Media Analyst at Procter & Gamble, known as ‘The Radio Guy’, at the company, revealed why the company jumped back into audio after a hiatus. Brad Kelly, Managing Director for Nielson Audio spoke with Fix during day one of Radio Ink Forecast LIVE.
John Fix came to Proctor and Gamble with an engineering background, and he wanted to learn all he could about marketing the vast array of products produced by the Cincinnati based company.
“Coming in from an engineering standpoint I listened, I did research. I was told that the key indicator is reach, If reach were the golden egg so to speak I started looking where reach came from. I’m a reach guy.”
His research found radio at the top of the reach ladder, yet P&G had stopped using it. He went about changing that.
“I saw that data point and I looked at the other numbers and compared, to see the reach of radio and then I looked at our brands and saw we weren’t investing in radio. We sell products that are in use in 90 percent of American homes. That’s where reach comes in.”
Nielsen is all about metrics, Brad Kelly asked Fix if he was getting the metrics he needs.
“I have not encountered enough tools yet that allows me to account for my historical radio buys,” said Fix. “A planning tool that is based on aggregation or intent is nice, but what you want to know when the game is over is what did you get. The ability to look at the actual schedule that I bought and compare it to say the TV and digital schedule, with an eye to cross media planning; it’s very difficult to do.”
What can radio do better? Fix says the industry talks to itself way to much.
“I don’t advocate every sales person out there trying to find every manager of these brands. But somewhere between no presence or aggressive presence has to be happening in the medium. I’m not begging you to sell harder, but I’m begging you to sell better. Like if you have something that you know I want; then help me get it. Help me sweeten my mix. It’s not insulting to suggest how we can do it better.”
Radio Ink Forecast LIVE continues today. Find out more about the industry’s most prestigious forecast event Here. You CAN register for today’s sessions. And you won’t miss yesterday’s sessions. They are included thanks to on demand replay!
