A response tool built to replace hard-to-remember phone numbers in radio spots is no longer exclusive to iHeartMedia. Operator MDR Group is opening Dial #250 to every station and advertiser, adding Voice AI that finds the brand when a listener has forgotten it.
MDR Group LLC announced that the deal that kept Dial #250 solely on iHeartMedia stations for more than a decade has expired, and it is already ramping up with Audacy, Cumulus Media, Bonneville International, and other radio groups.
#250 is a mobile speed dial that works on virtually every US and Canadian mobile phone. A spot tells listeners to “dial #250 and say [BRAND].” The caller speaks the brand name, category, or slogan and is connected by live call to a number the advertiser chooses, and #250 can also text the caller a campaign-specific link.
Advertisers can assign a different spoken keyword to each campaign, creative, station, or market, which MDR Group says gives source-level tracking comparable to a unique 800 number. Stations can also get their own keyword, such as their call letters or brand name, and promote it on air to listeners who missed a sponsor’s contact information.
The Voice AI addition lets the service connect a caller who has forgotten the advertiser’s name. Listeners describe what they heard, such as “the roofing company with the free inspection” or “that Medicare plan from this morning,” or name the type of product or service, and an AI agent identifies the advertiser and completes the connection.
MDR Group Chief Marketing Officer Dave Robinett said, “Radio has always had an attribution problem, because ‘you can’t click on a radio ad’. Unique phone numbers were the only solution, but the problem was nobody can remember them. Three-quarters of radio listening happens in the car, where nobody can write down ten digits or type a URL. So listeners mean to respond ‘later,’ and later usually means a Google search, where the credit goes to search instead of the radio buy that created the demand, and the listener runs into a page full of competitors’ ads. #250 lets them act while the spot is still playing. This connects the prospect while they are hot, provides perfect attribution to Radio, and never let’s them see competitors on Google.”
Robinett commented, “A QR code only works while it’s on the screen. The moment the spot ends, it’s gone. And a viewer relaxing in front of a show isn’t going to memorize a phone number or stop to type a web address. ‘Dial #250 and say [BRAND]’ stays in their head after the ad is over, and they can act on it whenever they’re ready.”
