SUSTAINED IDENTITY MARKETING

SIM is different from the typical approach to radio
advertising, where a single spot or creative concept is
delivered in a high-frequency blitz of, say as many as 200 spots per week in a single market.  In that approach, the goal is repeat impressions of the same message over-and-over on the audience by flooding the market with a brief "blitz".  While a blitz can spike awareness of the client's product or service, a new offer or a special price, many listeners tune-out the message or even switch stations when listening to "hard-sell" ads. Many listeners don't change the channel, but tune out mentally due to the repetition and/or the the perception that the message has no value to them. And when the blitz is over, the message goes away and the advertiser
is left with a "vacuum" where a competing brand can
advertise and steal back consumer awareness and sales.

In contrast, SIM is more like drip irrigation, delivering
the message in an efficient, consistent manner to a carefully targeted segment of the audience.  For example, the Omnipoint Business Minute airs one to four times daily on each station in a market, five days a week, all year long.  We place it adjacent to stock market reports, with a sponsor-ship billboard that gives the client a marquee position in the minds of the people we want to influence most.  From Omnipoint's point-of-view, this means that the message is in front of the audience every week of the year, providing less opportunity for competitors to steal awareness and customers.

This SIM benefit is also called "recency".  Unless an
advertiser can afford to blitz the market continuously, and
few can, sales will almost always drop when the advertiser is inactive.  With SIM, we plan to be on the air every day, or at least maintain a regular and predictable presence.  We create "appointment listening" by placing the spots in the same time periods each day to create a "destination" that listeners will look forward to reaching.  For example, commuters who are stuck in traffic every day at 5:55pm can expect to hear another Omnipoint Business Minute containing tips and information for the mobile executive .  And, when one of those commuters is ready to buy a wireless phone, they will have recently heard our spots. 

The Business Minute itself contains about 40 seconds of
content, usually a feature story aimed at businesspeople.  While the intro acknowledges that it's a commercial, ("This is today's Omnipoint Business Minute..."), anchor Peter Laufer is an excellent story teller who engages the listener immediately with news or information that is likely to interest them.  He segues smoothly from the story to a 15-second, soft-sell commercial message from the sponsor, ("Omnipoint reminds you to drive carefully while using your mobile phone") then wraps it with an invitation to "visit the Omnipoint website at Omnipoint.com".  The seamless connection between content and advertising is enhanced because the same announcer delivers both.

The benefits are clear.  The client's brand name is
mentioned 7 or 8times, and is closely associated with information of value to the targeted listener.  The listeners perceive it as an exchange that may benefit them, and pay attention to the follow-up call-to-action instead of switching stations or "tuning-out" the entire ad.  By listening to the content, they are qualifying themselves for the commercial that follows.

Radio management also loves SIM.  On the sales side, our
sponsored features bring new revenues to radio.  And on the programming side, they are seen as the commercials people tune IN to.  Mark Mason, the News and Program Director of New York's 1010 WINS, says the Omnipoint Business Minute is "the perfect use of the radio medium.  It's interesting, fresh daily, and it's a commercial that you look forward to hearing.  It builds brand awareness the old fashioned way: with repeat impressions of compelling creative."