That's the message of a new ad campaign from KPRI in San Diego.
KPRI chief Bob Hughes tells me it was inspired by something I said or wrote some time ago:
Namely that the primary obstacle to listenership for a radio station is not awareness, but trial.
And our usual assumption that awareness must precede trial is, I believe, dead wrong.
What? You mean people can tune in a station they're not familiar with? You bet that's what I mean, and people do it all the time. That's what happens when access is universal and easy and a product is free.
That means our incessant measurement of metrics like awareness and aided-to-unaided conversion is largely a waste of time and effort.
In fact, our goal should not be recall – it should be trial.
The best way to get folks to remember they listen is for them to actually listen.
Don't put the cart before the horse.
So KPRI's campaign is obviously designed to seduce trial. Not to sell product attributes and benefits or, God forbid, awareness and recall.
You can't know whether you like something or not until you try it, so why not?
And even smarter in the world of PPM, by the way.
Kudos, KPRI.
P.S. the campaign is copyright-protected. Click here for more info.