Major Canadian radio broadcaster Astral Radio will now guarantee gross rating points (GRPs) purchased by agencies and advertisers in all PPM-surveyed markets across Canada–specifically Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.
The radio broadcaster will guarantee GRPs to 95% across Canada, according to a release.
Dean Rutherford, vice-president and general manager, Astral Radio Plus, told Marketing that Astral Radio is now “the only radio broadcaster to guarantee our GRPs in all PPM markets.”
“We’re giving [clients] the confidence to move forward and book our stations knowing that we’ll deliver what we promised when they wanted it to run,” he said.
He added that the decision was made following two years of analysis after the industry moved to digital portable people meter (PPM) measurement in fall 2009. “We have a goal of simplifying the lives of our buyers, clients and agencies and with that change to PPM it’s given us the confidence in these markets in the performance of our radio stations… to move forward and offer this guarantee.”
Noting the current widespread economic challenges, Rutherford said business is happening short term and “clients, whether they’re advertising agencies or even our own radio stations, need to know that their dollars are working as hard as possible.”
Kandy Walker, media manger at Cossette Media, has never experienced a PPM station offering a GRP guarantee before and she’s been working exclusively with radio for 14 years. (She’s also the current vice-chair of the BBM Radio Currency Committee.)
“It’s quite the opposite these days, where buyers are sometimes left struggling to provide planners with accurate and justified market CPPs,” Walker said.
Generally buyers are offered guaranteed ratings only when there is a new station entering a market or a format change.
“Stations will offer a guarantee as an incentive to buy their inventory, prior to their first inclusion in BBM, resulting in little or no risk to the client,” she said. “This kind of GRP guarantee is usually promised retroactively, which can put the station’s inventory in jeopardy should they experience an extreme downfall from their projections.”
Another element of Astral’s new guarantee also relates to three target groups: adults 18-49; adults 25-54 and women 25-54. Its offer now includes no obligation to buy all markets, and no obligation to buy all stations (except those that will reach the intended target groups).
“Should a client only be planning Toronto, for example, we will still back up what we sell,” said Rutherford. “We are guaranteeing the performance of our clusters in each market. However, all of our stations may not fit each demo. For example, on a 18-49 only, Boom and Virgin Radio in Toronto need to be included.”
Clients are also now able to cancel a campaign with only one (rather than two) week’s notice.
