NuVoodoo Sees Opportunity in Weaponizing the Weather

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, October 22, 2018 | 10:36am CT

NuVoodoo Media Services recently completed 12th and latest Ratings Prospects Study and has revealed that severe weather events significantly increase listener tune-in, second only to commercial-free music sweeps. That's good news for radio stations, coming on the heels of a Winter Weather Outlook released Thursday by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center that revealed that Winter 2018-19 could bring above-average temperatures to the northern and western United States, with likely wetter-than-average conditions in parts of the South and East.

Leigh Jacobs, EVP, Research Analysis, NuVoodoo Media Services, noted: "When we net out the potential lift of any of these situations against the far smaller potential for tune out, severe weather is the number one change agent for both News and Talk P1's. When you view the data through the filter of those most likely to participate in the ratings, the possibilities get more enticing still."

In response to these new findings, NuVoodoo EVP/Marketing, Mike O'Connor has developed a new capability for the NuVoodoo ad tech stack: First-Alert Weather Branding that helps Spoken Word stations maximize the opportunities to build listening and brand affinity created by severe weather occurrences.

Regarding the study results and potential campaigns for spoken word stations, O'Connor said: "Severe weather ranks high on our list of catalysts for Spoken Word radio listening, but spending money on severe weather-center branding makes little sense during a string of beautiful, sunny days. With NuVoodoo First-Alert Weather Branding, we can limit client campaign exposure to Nielsen hot Zips, and deploy budget only when those Zips have a threat of severe weather in the forecast."

Carolyn Gilbert, President, NuVoodoo Media Services, said: "The addition of predictive AI to the NuVoodoo ad tech stack allows our team to execute dynamic digital campaigns for marketing clients, providing station imaging only when it's relevant to listeners. This is a powerful addition to our arsenal that helps stations drive listening and maximize opportunities to build listener engagement and brand loyalty in a meaningful and measurable way."

NuVoodoo Ratings Prospect Study XII was fielded in June to over 3,000 radio listeners between the ages of 14 and 54 across all PPM-rated markets.