A boy band called Honda
The radio display is a great place to advertise—and to confuse drivers
The radio display is a great place for advertising - and for confusing driversBy Markus Knöpfli Anyone who listens to the radio via FM always receives frequencies with their device that are inaudible to the human ear. Radio broadcasters use this "frequency drop" for so-called station recognition. But it can also be used to transmit messages - and advertising.
"Have a good trip," it says for a few seconds on the radio display, which otherwise shows the name and frequency of the station tuned in. Another friendly message of the kind that radio stations have been broadcasting more and more frequently in recent years.
Radio broadcasters with digital studios are able to use the so-called Radio Data System (RDS) beyond mere station recognition; by also using and selling it for additional messages such as the name of the piece of music being played or even for advertising purposes.
The former is actually being done, the latter at least attempted. Today, most stations tell their listeners via display which piece is currently playing or will come next, or which presenter is currently yakking away. In some cases, however, editors also send friendly messages such as "Drive carefully" or "Have a nice weekend" over the airwaves.
The whole thing has one drawback: RDS is very slow. A maximum of eight characters can be shown, which roll leisurely across the display like a running advertisement. Therefore, RDS is unsuitable for sending longer messages, especially if they are to reach people during the activity during which they most often listen to the radio: driving. Contrary to a widespread opinion, however, the repurposing of RDS is not illegal according to the Federal Office of Communications.
Radio stations want to leave car-driving listeners alone
So far, sending RDS advertising messages has hardly met with demand. Radio advertising marketer Radiotele doesn't even carry RDS ads in its lineup, and managing director Bruno Oetterli doesn't know of any station where sales are flourishing. Most of the requested stations do not use RDS for advertising purposes either, partly even because they do not want to tempt their car-driving listeners to keep their eyes on the radio display rather than on the traffic.
WerbeWoche is aware of only two stations that use RDS commercially: Radio Extra Bern has been offering it for advertising messages for two years, with a 20 percent surcharge on the normal secondary rate - but so far without having sold a single second, as Michael Schüpbach, sales manager at Extra Bern marketer Conradio, assures us.
Radio 24 is a little more successful: once an hour, it broadcasts the short message "J. H. Keller - Chrysler and Honda," the slogan of a sponsor. For a year, the Keller garage is thus repeatedly brought to the attention of Radio 24 listeners, says Belcom sales manager Richi Gasser.
Incidentally, Radio 24 was one of the last local radio stations to start using RDS beyond actual station recognition only four weeks ago - at the request of listeners who wanted to know the titles of the tracks being played. Since then, the telephone operator has been noticeably relieved, but the new advertising medium has confused some listeners. In any case, one recently called and asked for more detailed information about the music track "Honda"...
Coorigendum In the front article of WerbeWoche, issue number 18, entitled "Free Swisspool in planning", there is talk of a readership study - commissioned by TA-Media and NZZ - which shows "that the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten achieves by far the best results of all Zurich newspapers". This statement is not correct. It should correctly read: "...that the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten achieves by far the best result of all Zurich newspapers in the target group of 22 to 35 year-olds".
"Have a good trip," it says for a few seconds on the radio display, which otherwise shows the name and frequency of the station tuned in. Another friendly message of the kind that radio stations have been broadcasting more and more frequently in recent years.
Radio broadcasters with digital studios are able to use the so-called Radio Data System (RDS) beyond mere station recognition; by also using and selling it for additional messages such as the name of the piece of music being played or even for advertising purposes.
The former is actually being done, the latter at least attempted. Today, most stations tell their listeners via display which piece is currently playing or will come next, or which presenter is currently yakking away. In some cases, however, editors also send friendly messages such as "Drive carefully" or "Have a nice weekend" over the airwaves.
The whole thing has one drawback: RDS is very slow. A maximum of eight characters can be shown, which roll leisurely across the display like a running advertisement. Therefore, RDS is unsuitable for sending longer messages, especially if they are to reach people during the activity during which they most often listen to the radio: driving. Contrary to a widespread opinion, however, the repurposing of RDS is not illegal according to the Federal Office of Communications.
Radio stations want to leave car-driving listeners alone
So far, sending RDS advertising messages has hardly met with demand. Radio advertising marketer Radiotele doesn't even carry RDS ads in its lineup, and managing director Bruno Oetterli doesn't know of any station where sales are flourishing. Most of the requested stations do not use RDS for advertising purposes either, partly even because they do not want to tempt their car-driving listeners to keep their eyes on the radio display rather than on the traffic.
WerbeWoche is aware of only two stations that use RDS commercially: Radio Extra Bern has been offering it for advertising messages for two years, with a 20 percent surcharge on the normal secondary rate - but so far without having sold a single second, as Michael Schüpbach, sales manager at Extra Bern marketer Conradio, assures us.
Radio 24 is a little more successful: once an hour, it broadcasts the short message "J. H. Keller - Chrysler and Honda," the slogan of a sponsor. For a year, the Keller garage is thus repeatedly brought to the attention of Radio 24 listeners, says Belcom sales manager Richi Gasser.
Incidentally, Radio 24 was one of the last local radio stations to start using RDS beyond actual station recognition only four weeks ago - at the request of listeners who wanted to know the titles of the tracks being played. Since then, the telephone operator has been noticeably relieved, but the new advertising medium has confused some listeners. In any case, one recently called and asked for more detailed information about the music track "Honda"...
Coorigendum In the front article of WerbeWoche, issue number 18, entitled "Free Swisspool in planning", there is talk of a readership study - commissioned by TA-Media and NZZ - which shows "that the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten achieves by far the best results of all Zurich newspapers". This statement is not correct. It should correctly read: "...that the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten achieves by far the best result of all Zurich newspapers in the target group of 22 to 35 year-olds".
