Articulon Insights

Krispy Kreme Challenge

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In today’s News & Observer article – what a great article about connecting a cause with donuts and hurling (http://bit.ly/ePhemd).
The Krispy Kreme Challenge returns tomorrow with a record 7,500   runners taking part. If you don’t know about the Challenge, runners go 2  miles, eat a dozen doughnuts, then turn around and run the two  miles  back. It starts and stops at the N.C. State Bell Tower, with the Krispy  Kreme shop on Person Street the midway point. Last year, the event  raised $55,000 for the NC Children’s Hospital and Articulon has been a  proud sponsor for two years.

Though students started the race that began in 2004 with just 24  runners, the challenge gained a foothold  thanks to some national press.   Perhaps most notably, Sports Illustrated  in 2005 put it on its “102  Things you Gotta Do Before You Graduate”  list.

After years of connecting causes with corporate partners, I have seen a huge gap in that corporate giving and cause  marketing is used interchangeably. Know that communication is the key in   fundraising, but a marketing relationship is not based on a donation. Here in lies the issue.
Of course, we always focus on cultivating the  relationship and financial stewardship with donors (i.e. don’t fail to  explain how the money impacts people, not just what the money will be  used for.) Cause marketing, also referred to as corporate  responsibility, corporate philanthropy, and corporate social  responsibility, is a public relations practice that links for-profits  with not-for-profits for mutual benefit. The non-profits benefit from  cause awareness and media relations, while the company receives  visibility that results in goodwill, associate morale, positive employee   relations, customer loyalty – and, yes, sales.

Cause-related marketing can become a cornerstone of your marketing  plan – it’s more than a check donation, it’s a marketing relationship.  Nonprofit professionals often find themselves pressured to create  programs that not only profoundly impact their communities but also have   a measurable impact on the companies’ bottom lines.

Your cause-related marketing activities should highlight your  reputation within your target market. Cause marketing can positively  differentiate you from your competitors and provide an edge that  delivers other tangible benefits, and help a great cause along the way.

Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand  devotion among today’s increasingly hard-to-please consumers and  employees like a company’s proven commitment to a worthy cause. In fact,   most people prefer to do business with a company that stands for  something beyond profits.

By selecting N.C. Children’s Hospital, the college kids at NCSU have connected people both emotionally and economically with the rewards  going to the hospital. It is a way to build business that parallels your   personal and corporate values and beliefs. If your cause also resonates  with your target audience, your activities will create tremendous  goodwill and media attention.

Fact: Cause-related Marketing Builds Customer Loyalty and Good Will.

And, that’s what we mean when we say Never Stop Giving.

Cindy Stranad Speaks at Raleigh Chamber Event

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RALEIGH, N.C. (November 2, 2010) ― Branding and PR firm Articulon (www.articulon.com) announces today that Cindy Stranad, APR, founder and principal, will be the featured speaker at the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce’s Central AM Network event on November 4, 2010. Stranad will discuss important lessons of personal branding and share tactics for building brand productivity.

Ratings System Change has Radio Execs in Guessing Mode

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Read the TBJ Article

RALEIGH – Changes to the method used to collect radio ratings data are expected to significantly alter the ratings of some Triangle stations, which will influence both formats and advertising prices for years to come. “The way they’re gathering is totally different than before,” says Dick Harlow, general manager for Clear Channel Communications Inc.’s local stations. “We don’t know what to expect.”

It’s the biggest transformation in decades for the local radio business, as Columbia, Md.-based Arbitron abandons the diary method it’s used for about a half-century. Under that system, the company recruited people in the area who promised to write down what stations they listened to for a week, then send that information to Arbitron.

Arbitron is replacing that pencil-and-paper data gathering method with a electronic system called the Portable People Meter, or PPM for short. The PPM, a device about the size of a cell phone, automatically detects terrestrial radio signals that are playing within range of the person wearing the device. At the end of the day, the wearer docks the device – much like one would do with an iPod – and it transmits the data back to Arbitron.

Arbitron spokeswoman Jessica Benbow says the firm is recruiting 733 panelists for the initial data-gathering period in the Triangle – and more than 80 percent of those have already signed up. Arbitron already has rolled the technology out in more than 30 markets around the country. While the old diary method was used to develop quarterly reports, the PPM data will come out 13 times a year. That’s a report for each month and an extra one for the holiday period at the end of the year.

The Triangle has already had its last diary data reported. The PPM technology will go live later this month. There will be a test run, and then the first official PPM data, which will be for the month of September, will be released in October.

PPM is supposed to be a more accurate measure of people’s true listening habits. While the diary method kept track of the stations that a person remembered listening to, PPM will record all the stations they really hear and for what amount of time.

“People listen to more stations than they actually think they do,” says Carol Lewis, a media buyer who works at Raleigh advertising agency Articulon. Some diary participants also tend to report listening to a favorite station longer than they actually do.”

There’s no consensus of exactly how the change will impact the Triangle, as markets sometimes react differently to the switch based on their demographics. But based on data from some other markets, Phil Zachary says that stations with a passionate following – such as some talk shows, urban music-centered stations, gospel and Hispanic stations – don’t tend to do as well in PPM as when they were reported by loyal diary trackers.

Zachary, president and chief operating officer for Raleigh-based Curtis Media Group, says the price that radio groups pay for PPM will be in the high six to low seven figures range annually – about 60 percent higher than the costs for diary information.

Limbaugh Gone, WPTF Ratings Dive. Articulon Chimes in.

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RALEIGH – Rush Limbaugh long has been capable of altering a politician’s future, for good or ill. Now he’s demonstrating similar power in business – at least in the short term – at two Triangle radio stations.

Curtis Media Group’s WPTF 680 AM plummeted in the latest radio ratings after competitor Clear Channel Communications Inc. launched a conservative talk format on WRDU 106.1 FM at the beginning of 2010.

While there have been many repercussions of the move, the highest-profile change involved Limbaugh’s syndicated show moving from WPTF – where it had anchored that station’s afternoon offerings for more than two decades – over to WRDU.

Conservatives, as a rule, aren’t seen to be big on that change thing. But they didn’t have much trouble flipping stations to find their main man Rush. And their liberal “friends” may have joined them there as well.

“People just can’t get enough of him – even if they can’t stand him,” says Carol Lewis, a media buyer with Raleigh-based Articulon.

The butcher’s bill for WPTF came in Arbitron’s winter ratings book, the first since the format flip, and it wasn’t pretty. WPTF’s top-line rating fell by 58 percent, from a 6.2 share in the fall to a 2.6 in the winter.

WRDU, whose ratings had languished in its previous incarnation as a country station branded “The Rooster,” saw its ratings rise by 124 percent, from a 1.7 share in the fall to a 3.8 in the winter.

That gave local Clear Channel General Manager Dick Harlow plenty to crow about. “We’re very happy with the way things have turned out so far,” he says. “The ratings impact of that change was significant.”

In addition to Limbaugh, WRDU’s new lineup includes right-wing firebrands Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. Hannity, like Limbaugh, previously had been a staple at WPTF.

The folks who run WPTF clearly didn’t want to lose Limbaugh and Hannity, but in the end they had no choice. The decision to shift the talent to a different station was made by executives at Premiere Radio Networks, a Clear Channel subsidiary that syndicates Limbaugh and Hannity.

The move forced WPTF to overhaul its entire lineup, and executives decided to go with a harder news format with a greater emphasis on local issues.

“We’re about where we thought we would be,” Curtis Media Chairman and CEO Don Curtis says of the latest ratings.

What will be the financial impact of losing Rush and having to rejigger the format? Curtis Media President and COO Phil Zachary says WPTF typically generates around $6 million per year in revenue. He projects that, at worst, the station will be down by 10 percent in 2010.

Zachary says he’s been encouraged by first quarter sales, which he says were actually higher than a year ago. There are several possible reasons for that, including an improved economy and the fact that some advertisers avoid Limbaugh’s show because of its polarizing nature.

Despite the stark differences in this first ratings report card, the truth is that both stations have work to do. While it’s obvious that WPTF is in rebuilding mode, Clear Channel also will want to see even higher ratings out of a 100,000-watt station like WRDU – and the station also will have to show consistency in reaching those ratings.

The ratings news wasn’t all bad for Curtis, whose country station, WQDR 94.7 FM, scored the top spot in the market with an 8.5 share. Clear Channel also scored a Top 5 station with WDCG G105 FM, which landed in fourth place with a 7.1 share.

Top station honors have to go to Lanham, Md.-based Radio One, which landed three stations in the Top 5: WQOK K97.5 FM (No. 2), WFXC Foxy 107.1 FM (No. 3) and WNNL103.9 FM (No. 5).

“We always do well, and we should do well,” says Gary Weiss, the local Radio One general manager.

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