Interep Targets $5.8 Billion Financial Ad Category.

Interep released a new report on financial advertising entitled, “Radio’s Role in Marketing to Financial Service Consumers.”

Financial Service marketers spent $5.8 billion in 2000 on advertising media, according to Competitive Media Reporting data. Of those total dollars, 3.8% were allocated to National Network and Spot Radio, for a total of $222 million radio dollars.

Financial advertisers tend to allocate most of their media dollars to newspaper, network television and financial genre magazines. While these media have their merits in reaching traditional financial consumers, the report points out that one key strength of radio is its ability to target consumer subsets, especially those non-traditional financial consumer segments that are becoming increasingly important in the financial marketplace. Some of the subsets outlined in the report include:

— Women: The number of women who are invested in capital markets has risen 85% in the last 15 years. (Investment &
Securities Ass. for Merrill Lynch)

— African-Americans: 54% of African-Americans bought stocks for the first time in the past 5 years vs. 41% of whites.
(Charles Schwab & Co. 2001)

— U.S. Hispanics: Hispanic buying power is $452 billion, and 43% say saving for retirement is a major concern vs. 36%
of total adults. (Selig Center for Economic Growth, Zonalatina.com Magazine Metrics Study.)

Current volatile market conditions and a pervading sense of uncertainty, as well as the tragic events of September 11th, forced many financial advertisers to temporarily suspend their ad campaigns, or to readjust their message and tone. As they resume their advertising schedules, radio could play a stronger role in the media mix.

“Financial advertisers recognize that they must continue speaking to consumers during these uncertain times. However, they also know that their messages may need to change quickly in response to changing market conditions. A radio commercial surpasses almost all other media in both the speed with which a commercial can be produced, and the relatively low cost of producing a spot,” said Debbie Durben, president of The Interep Marketing Group. Durben continued, “As financial companies seek to maintain a strong advertising presence throughout the remainder of this year, most will need to be more strategic and targeted with their media dollars. Because of this, we are confident that radio will benefit from a larger share of spending.”

For more information at http://www.interep.com.