Spring Ahead

March 24, 2021

For the past year, radio broadcasters, like most media outlets, have been playing defense. Now is the time to switch from defense to offense, and take advantage of new opportunities.

Why is this?

It appears that the economy is improving. The COVID relief package, which has been approved by Congress, will result in added dollars in most Americans’ pockets. Many will quickly spend that newfound money. Make sure your advertisers are prepared to compete for those dollars.

More importantly, most markets are opening up:

• Restaurants are allowed to increase their capacity.
• Out-of-home entertainment such as sporting events, concerts, and movies are returning.
• Vacation travel is expected to ramp up.

The combination of COVID relief money and the opening up of businesses and venues means that business is back on multiple fronts.

Simply put, there is pent-up demand that you and your advertisers need to take advantage of during this return to normalcy. Many Americans have the money to meet that demand and are ready to start spending again.

The problem for many advertisers is that they eliminated or greatly reduced their marketing dollars, causing their brand to be diminished during the shutdown. In some of our earlier blogs, we encouraged advertisers to continue to market to maintain brand awareness. Unfortunately, many did not heed that call, and now they need to rebuild their brand from scratch.

It is important to properly communicate to the potential advertiser that the playing field is evolving rapidly. They need to seize the moment quickly, adjust their thinking, and get out of the bunker mentality. They also need to recognize they have lost some brand awareness.

Soon, demand from your advertisers’ competitors will raise demand on radio and most other advertising outlets. Advertisers shouldn’t wait to reestablish their brand and make your listeners their potential customers. The cost of this reestablishment will only increase as the economy heats up.

Now is the time for advertisers to SPRING AHEAD and market themselves to both their old and potential new customers.

-Charlie Sislen, Partner

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