Last week’s Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group blog showed radio is one of the most effective ways to advertise a movie. With summer blockbuster season on the doorstep, Radio Ink talked to Cumulus Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard about how local stations can cash in by selling cinema on the radio.
Radio Ink: What is the recipe for a great radio ad for a movie?
Pierre Bouvard: Well, the best audio campaign is one that does not audio directly from the TV ad. A lot of TV ads have explosions and voices yelling and they’re super noisy. With the video, you kind of get the “oh, look, I see what’s going on.” But as a radio ad, it is disconcerting. You don’t know what’s going on and you can’t even hear the name of the movie.
There are two things radio listeners want from a movie ad: plot and who’s in it.
Plot first – give me the gist of the story. When you talk to your friends about a movie, what do you say? Well, it’s about this guy and this happens to him or this lady. And this happens to her. And here’s who’s in it. That’s how we naturally explain. The best radio ads convey both.
There are a lot of TV ads about movies that like to communicate mood; it’s freaky or it’s scary or whatever. But a better radio ad is who’s in it and what’s the story.
Radio Ink: What are some great audio campaigns for movies that you’ve heard recently?
Pierre Bouvard: Listen to any morning show in America on a Monday. “Oh, what did you do this weekend?” “I went to go see this movie and it was amazing.” You’ll hear a very natural, conversational discussion. It wasn’t even paid for. It’s just two co-hosts. To me, the best ad in the world is a personality endorsement. Somebody went to a movie, they tell you who’s in it, they tell you a little about what happened and how it made them feel. And we do that naturally every single day on our radio stations.
We’re constantly talking about TV shows and movies. That’s why radio is such a perfect environment for entertainment marketing. So much of what we focus on between the records is pop culture.
Radio Ink: Let’s tie this into local revenue. I know there are Twitch streamers, YouTubers, and podcasters that studios will send to see their movies for reviews. Is there a market for this for local air talent?
Pierre Bouvard: Absolutely. A Des Moines manager who saw the Audio Active blog post on LinkedIn asked for the deck because there’s a regional theater chain in their area they want to go pitch this exact idea too. In every market, there’s a national theater chain, but sometimes there are regional or local theater chains. They want to bring people back to the movies. So there definitely is a local opportunity.
At the core of this is the fundamental power of radio: to help an advertiser be known before they’re needed. That’s the job of advertising. So you teach me about this movie, what it is, who’s in it, and then a week or two from now when they’re looking for something to do, “oh, I heard about this movie.”
If you think of adults 18-49, which is the primary movie-going demographic, only 62% of America is reached by TV, linear TV among 18-49s. About 85% of 18-49s in a week are reached by radio. So if you want to get the word out about anything to 18 to 49-year-olds, we’re a really good place to do that.
Sing 2 spent $32 million on TV and missed 60% of America. And you can’t solve your light TV problem by buying more TV. There’s just a big chunk of America that you just can’t reach anymore on TV. They’re lost to Netflix. And remember: if radio can make a movie famous, we can make a hardware store famous.
