0:03

This is the RBR tvbr in Focus podcast. Here's your host, Radio and

0:09

Television Business Report Editor in Chief Adam R. Jacobsen. Hello, Bim Benidos,

0:15

and welcome to our podcast which is presented by dot fm streaming, social

0:19

podcast or broadcast. To get a dot fm domain name of heading over to

0:22

get dot fm today. Financial Curveball sent many American families reeling in twenty twenty

0:28

three. Household budgets were squeezed by rising interest rates, surging prices on everyday

0:33

goods, and a stagnating housing market. Consumers were feeling strapped. That sentiment,

0:38

however, appears to be weaning in particular with certain groups of media consumers

0:45

that might be worth extra attention. In twenty twenty four, to learn a

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little bit more, we reached out to Mario Javier Carrasco, who is with

0:55

think Now, a cross cultural research firm based in the San Fernando Value,

1:00

Los Angeles. He is here on the podcast to share more about what was

1:03

found in a recent survey and how this could impact marketers media spend in twenty

1:10

twenty four. Welcome Mario to the podcast. It's great to be speaking with

1:12

you. Thank you, and thanks for inviting me on adam happy to be

1:17

here. Well, as we just mentioned, Think Now recently released the findings

1:21

of a nationally representative qualitative study that took the pulse of consumers feelings about their

1:26

financial wellbeing, and there's some welcome news regarding what's anticipated for twenty twenty four

1:32

when it comes to personal and family finances. Correct, that's right. Yeah,

1:36

So this is we've been doing this study yearly now almost a decade,

1:41

and so you're right, finances were hit hard in twenty twenty three, but

1:47

it sounds like from our data here, people are optimistic in general about twenty

1:53

twenty four, which is I think welcome news for marketers in corporate America.

2:00

African Americans and baby boomers lead in this category, while gen Z lags behind.

2:07

Yet for marketers, it could be said that we continue to see hyper

2:10

focus on the eighteen to thirty four adults. So what is the message here

2:15

for marketers when it comes to their media strategies and advertising campaigns in the year

2:21

head, Yeah, I mean, I think one to your point, it's

2:24

and this is a trend that we've been seeing year over year. It's specificity,

2:31

there is no longer a one size fits all campaign, there's no especially

2:37

when you start to dive into multicultural I think this idea of total market I

2:43

mean, when's the last time you've heard that, Right, it's really out

2:47

the window, and it's not just specific to race or ethnicity. Right,

2:53

we're looking at age cohorts every single category as you start to double click,

3:02

feel a little bit different about the economy. So to your point, women,

3:08

non Hispanic whites, gen X respondents, they are much more likely to

3:14

say that they're more worried or anxious. So I think you can tailor your

3:20

marketing campaigns accordingly to that. Asians, for example, most likely to feel

3:24

that their finances will remain the same, and then African Americans are less likely

3:30

that they're to say that they're worried or anxious than their finances and non Hispanic

3:35

whites. So looking at it from a couple of different lenses, you can

3:38

start to see how you can plan marketing spend accordingly there depending on who you're

3:44

reaching. Now, let's look at Hispanics, non Hispanic whites, and millennials,

3:49

as they topped the list of those feeling financially overwhelmed. Can certain ad

3:53

categories perhaps tap into this, such as financial by increasing their educational efforts at

4:00

with radio and TV via sensitive targeted campaigns one hundred percent. And I think

4:05

I mean the stat that jumps out the most here, right is who agrees

4:13

with the statement I am concerned about my financial future. So if we look

4:17

at Hispanic non Hispanic whites and millennials, they're the most likely to report feeling

4:23

financially overwhelmed. Non Hispanic Whites are significantly more likely to state that they're worried

4:30

about not having enough money for retirement, more so than African Americans. Baby

4:35

boomers are least likely to feel financially overwhelmed. So when we look at the

4:40

finance category, education is a big component of that. If we look at

4:46

you know what's driving this, it's debt. Debt is driving a lot of

4:50

the anxiety here, specifically credit card debt. Sixty percent of the response that

5:00

we spoke to have credit card debt. And we know, right rising interest

5:03

rate that credit card debt can feel crippling. I think education is a big

5:09

component, especially for finance fintech, on helping these individuals at feeling the most

5:16

anxious about tackling credit card debt. If you can have a message of education

5:20

there. That's really a great way to connect with these consumers. And so

5:28

another thing like, so who are these consumers seeking out? When we look

5:33

at who are they, we ask them in times of financial or money stress,

5:39

do you seek support or advice? Gen Z and millennials are significantly more

5:45

likely to seek support from their older cohorts. So to your point, right,

5:49

you have the sweet spot eighteen to thirty four. There you go,

5:53

gen Z and millennials are looking for your help if you can step in with

5:58

a message and give them an advice on how to tackle some of these things

6:01

that they're stressed about, specifically debt. I think that's a great message and

6:06

a way for financial companies to reach out to these to these really important demographics.

6:13

Interesting observation. I want to shift over to the conversation about politics.

6:17

The twenty twenty four political season is very much underway, and we're wondering about

6:24

crowd out from issues oriented and downball candidates that could be seen as presidential ad

6:30

dollars may be actually fewer than originally forecasts. Where can marketers go to perhaps

6:35

best target in particularly the baby boomer and the African American consumer. We know

6:41

that they anticipate better finances this year, so they may have more discretionary income

6:46

to spend. But with political in the mix, you know, where does

6:50

that lead the marketer down a digital highway or is there a solution here with

6:58

linear media in particular when talking about African Americans who quite frankly over index when

7:02

it comes to cable and television and radio. Yeah, that's that's a great

7:06

question, and I think that you know, where do you where do you

7:10

put your ad dollars? Is already a really difficult decision for marketers to make,

7:18

especially in an election cycle. I mean from my perspective when I when

7:27

I think about how we target, I feel like online digital media really allows

7:33

you to get into these niche audiences that we're talking about, right, and

7:38

so if you want to target Hispanic millennials that are looking to purchase a home

7:44

or African American gen z that you know are looking for a new car,

7:49

you don't have those targeting options necessarily on linear or cable television. That being

7:58

said, the ideal is a combination of both, right, being able to

8:03

target really specifically online and then also have that message again resonate because to your

8:11

point, African Americans are over indexing on linear, as are Hispanic consumers,

8:18

so being able to do both, in my opinions, as a sweet spot.

8:22

Thankfully. Now there are a lot of solutions to be able to do

8:26

some of that granular targeting, targeting and purchase advice for linear online that I'm

8:33

a big proponent of that, being able to see all of your campaigns,

8:37

whether that's linear, whether that's digital, whether that's radio online. There are

8:43

some amazing data solutions that you're able to layer on top of linear that wasn't

8:48

available five years ago, So things like zero party data where you're taking things

8:56

like survey data creating audiences that are available not only online but offline, so

9:01

you're able to have a you're able to almost layer that online targeting that wasn't

9:09

possible on linear onto linear television. Before we wrap up the podcast, Mario,

9:16

I have one final question, and I'm wondering what perhaps is the other

9:20

key takeaway from the survey, given your years of experience that actually go back

9:24

to when we were competitors, believe it or not, in two thousand and

9:28

eight you over at Hispanic Business I with Hispanic Market Weekly. Given where we've

9:33

been and where we are today, what stands out to you the most.

9:39

I think what stands out to me the most is that we all share some

9:43

of the same financial concerns. Right, There are some nuances, there are

9:50

some differences and opportunities for marketers to create different messages for different cohorts. But

9:54

at the end of the day, when you look at the question, what

9:58

would you say your biggest financial concerns earness? Inflation is number one, and

10:01

that is across the board, right, number two unexpected expenses. So if

10:07

we look at the you know, the total market, everybody, fifty eight

10:11

percent of consumers are concerned about inflation and so and we tight when you dive

10:22

in, right, there are some differences. African Americans only forty eight percent

10:26

versus Asian and non Hispanic whites about that sixty one percent, But still forty

10:31

eight percent is the top concern for African Americans. So I think I think

10:37

there's there's you know, in a political season where it feels divisive, where

10:43

it feels like everybody is on a different spectrum of things, we are really

10:48

at the end of the day going through the same anxieties from a financial perspective.

10:52

So I think I think the message here is is for marketers, is

10:58

that you can have a similar topic when it comes to your branding or marketing

11:03

and Taylor specifically for each audience. But this gives you the opportunity to do

11:09

again best of both worlds right, one message tailored for each individual audience depending

11:16

on how they feel about that concern. All right, with that, we

11:20

want to thank you Mario for speaking with us on the InFocus podcast. It

11:24

really was a pleasure of having you here today. Thanks so much, adamat

11:26

great speaking with you, and thank you the listener for tuning into this Radio

11:31

and Television Business Report InFocus podcast, which was sponsored by dot fm streaming,

11:37

social podcast or broadcast. Get a dot fm domain name by heading over to

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get dot fm today and this conference reminder, The Radio Inc. Twenty twenty

11:48

four Hispanic Radio Conference is scheduled for June twelfth to thirteenth and an exciting new

11:54

location, San Antonio, Texas. For more information about this upcoming event,

11:58

visit Hispanicradioconference dot com. And from Streamline Publishing, the parent of Radio Inc.

12:05

And the Radio and Television Business Report, I'm Adam R. Jacobson er

12:09

our global headquarters in Pocraton in Florida. We'll see you next time. Thank

12:13

you for listening.