16 / 20
Page 16
with demand and we let investment volume be an
important part of discount levels in negotiations.
egta:
What advice would you give to any markets
considering a switch to electronic measurement?
MO:
Don’t be too afraid of the expected drop in
gross contacts: a higher contact cost will compen-
sate for this, but be prepared to make the argu-
ment for it. Make sure you have a well-balanced
panel of sufficient size and then be sure to have
a long enough test period and prepare the market
and your sales staff well before the switch. Elec-
tronic measurement is normally more expensive,
but it will attract more professional buyers and
radio will retain more attention from broadcast
buyers.
It is worth to pay for more accuracy.
egta:
In which ways did radio gain advantages from
PPM, and in which areas have you experienced chal-
lenges?
MO:
Both public and commercial radio have better
tools for content research, and it is now possible
to evaluate programs and even music much faster
and with more accuracy. PPM has become a great
complement to other content based research, but
carefulness is needed when it comes to analysis
of single days or other very short time periods. It
is also a great system for media agencies, as they
can plan radio in much the same way as TV, with
precise optimisation and then daily updates on
their campaigns, everything with full transpar-
ency.
However, this system also has some challenges.
Primarily since inventory management becomes
more complicated and we need to constantly es-
timate the future ratings in order to know how
many GRPs we can sell. On a daily basis we do
experience volatility and zero ratings, which mean
free spots for the advertiser. It is also more com-
plicated now to compare regional and national
campaigns, since we still use CATI for local radio
and the two systems measure reach and listening
time differently.
egta:
How did the change in measurement affect
your sales operation, in terms of pricing, sales activi-
ties, etc.?
MO:
Now we sell an exact amount of GRPs 12-79
(and TRPs 25-59 for that matter). Every spot is
counted and compared to the exact minute-by-
minute rating. We talk more about Cost-Per-Point
(CPP) than Cost-Per-Thousand (CPT) nowadays,
and we have been able to raise price levels sig-
nificantly. First we converted the price levels ac-
cording to the drop in gross contacts in a neutral
way (with no increase in the campaign cost), and
then we have managed to raise price levels as
demand has increased for national radio. We use
a seasonal index in order to find a better balance