Bridge Ratings/University of Massachusetts released a study this week about radio, its influence as a media, and its future. Primarily it is about Influencers or Influentials, a term for a group of very active consumers involved in "conversation marketing" (where word-of-mouth is significant in spreading dialog with customers ). It's a great read for anyone who cares about radio advertising or local advertising in general.
Among their findings:
Conversation marketing which keys in on these New Influentials requires a completely different set of skills ... It means throwing out the spreadsheets and mailing lists. It means that "reach", "frequency", "cume", "average quarter hour" and "impressions" no longer relate to the real world's consumer structure.
But it was MarketingBlurb that picked up on a data point that is especially interesting to marketers: People Don't Trust Advertisers. This, actually does surprise me. I always figure, "Why lie?" and except for skin creams and anything advertised as "New", "Better", or "Easier" I pretty much believe ads.
