This is one in a series about how technology solutions can support expanded revenue for radio broadcasters.
Quu’s platform gives stations the ability to publish visual programming and sales messages on vehicle dashboards.
You can list Keith Barton as a big fan.
Barton is vice president/general manager of Max Media of Hampton Roads, which has five terrestrial radio signals in Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Va., Nielsen market 45.
“We were doing song and title on RDS like everybody else. But about five years ago I saw an ad for Quu and contacted Steve Newberry,” he told Radio World.
“Although it’s hard to sell a salesperson, I was sold when Steve told me that using Quu increases recall on an ad by 60 or more percent.”
His sales team presents Quu as an option to clients, typically with a 10% upcharge on their schedules, and has added hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.
“It’s a valuable product. We pay a monthly fee for it, but the cost is nominal for the return we get. I’ve rarely seen anything that has impacted radio the way Quu has. The ‘memorability’ of ‘seeing while you’re hearing’ has been tremendously impactful. I’m a believer.”
Barton tells clients that the more touch points they have with the consumer, the better. “Radio works great with digital; and digital works better if you’re using radio.”
Barton says marketers already know that radio works great with traditional billboard campaigns because consumers are in the car listening as they pass those signs.
“But now the billboard is in your car all the time. In essence, we’ve got 500,000 billboards traveling around Hampton Roads every week, listening to the radio and seeing our messages,” he said.
“When your ad plays, the billboard is on your dash, displaying 32 characters on each of two lines, a message related to the ad. And if cars have HD Radio, as more and more do, you’ve got the opportunity to put a graphic up there too.”
When the salespeople enter their orders, they use vCreative to enter the image and verbiage for the client, and it integrates with the WideOrbit automation.
Barton said his team is still learning about how to use the feature best.
“You could sell a sponsor of a daypart, or a sponsor of the station itself. We also use it for imaging for our stations. If there’s a weather advisory, we’ll put it up.”
And they use it for traffic alerts because, like many urban areas, Hampton Roads has a lot of traffic.
“Our bread and butter is the car. Yes, we push smart speakers and try to make it as easy as possible for people to listen at home. But I send the Virginia Department of Transportation Christmas cards every year because I love traffic. And when 89 out of 100 cars in traffic are listening to local broadcast radio, there’s a good chance you’re listening to one of my stations.”
Barton said that counting commercials, DJ info, live liners and promotions, his cluster has approximately 36,000 Quu messages coming out of its stations each month.
Now other Max Media properties are adopting Quu. “I’m excited for the revenue possibilities for them and the listener experience. It’s incredibly impactful.”
He adds that the technology helps support the local sales mentality that he treasures.
“Twenty-seven years into my time in radio, that’s still the jazz to me: bumping into an advertiser who introduces me to their kid and says, ‘Joe, this is Mr. Barton. He’s the one helping you go to college.’ We’re all in the same community, all trying to achieve the same thing, and it’s neat to be able to be part of somebody’s success.”
