The HD Digital Radio Alliance has partnered with marketing and ad agency GSD&M’s Idea City on a radio campaign to drive consumer adoption of HD Radio.
Idea City will develop the creative and produce commercials for the yearlong campaign set to begin this month on alliance members’ stations in the top 100 markets. The participants value the campaign at $230 million.
“Over the last two years, we have raised consumer awareness of HD Radio to 77 percent, and we’ve worked alongside automakers and retailers to ensure broad consumer awareness and access,” stated alliance President/CEO Peter Ferrara.
Idea City earlier launched a national campaign for BMW’s rollout of HD Radio that, the alliance said, “resulted in a measurable increase in HD Radio adoption by BMW buyers and enhanced partnerships with other auto manufacturers, including Volvo, Ford, Hyundai, Mini, and Jaguar.”
The marketing strategy for the new campaign will highlight HD Radio’s ability to deliver higher quality and increased choice without a monthly fee.
The ads feature “desperate voice messages to a guy from his old analog radio,” urging its owner to ignore the features and benefits of HD Radio.
Some programmers believe the ads go too far in positioning analog radio as bad. Diane Warren, newly upped to EVP at HD Digital Radio Alliance, told Radio World the new ads are not making fun of analog, but rather are meant to get consumers’ attention so they will replace their radios.
