4 reasons to advertise on radio over TV

Remember Working Girl? Yes, Working Girl. The 80s movie to end all 80s movies. Where Melanie Griffith busted the poofy red hair, Harrison Ford was still Han Solo to most people and Alec Baldwin was a newer actor on the scene.

There’s a scene in that movie where Griffith’s character Tess McGill comes to the realization that radio makes more sense than TV for the corporate mogul Trask Industries. We don’t really hear a reason why. It sort of just came to her. But if she had given a reason why she recommended radio more than TV, it would have been one of these four:

1. Consumers are more focused when listening to the radio. Think about it. Most people listen to the radio when they are driving or riding in the car. Most people watch TV while they are cooking, on the computer, looking at their phone, playing with their kids. When you’re driving, you’re focused on the road and the radio. That’s it.

2. Fast forward. You can’t fast forward radio ads. But since we got DVR, the only time I ever actually watch TV commercials is during a sporting event.

3. Trusted endorsement. Nielsen came out with new trust research recently. The most trusted source for consumers was recommendations from people I know. Read more into the data and it shows that “people I know” doesn’t necessarily mean people I know “well.” I bring this up because radio shows have hosts. And regular listeners. And those regular listeners come to feel like they know the hosts, whether they really do or not. Therefore, when radio hosts endorse a product, it is much more trusted than some TV ad that shows a bunch of people I’ve never seen before doing X.

4. Money. TV ads are exponentially more expensive than radio. I’m not breaking any news there. But TV ads have exponentially more reach, right. Well, they do. No one’s arguing that. But if we talk about reach that people actually see or hear…the numbers might be closer than you think.

You personally…Do radio or TV ads resonate more with you? Have any experience with radio ad campaigns? How did it go?