Bid4Spots, an online reverse auction for last-minute radio airtime, has launched post-auction SpotFill™ – a new, patent-pending feature that enables advertisers to supplement their auction results by picking up remaining spots in their target markets after the close of the auction. For stations that didn’t sell all of their inventory in the auction itself, it offers another opportunity to win business and sell last-minute airtime that otherwise would have gone unsold. SpotFill debuts December 20.

Bid4Spots created SpotFill in response to requests from large advertising agencies that need to achieve certain rating point goals in specific markets. They’ll continue to get the value of the reverse auction format, letting stations compete in real time for their business by bidding the rates down – ideal for large, national direct response buys. But SpotFill now gives them an added tool for supplementing regular network buys with extremely low-cost gross rating points (GRPs) – especially suited to those who need to achieve a guaranteed audience reach.

“SpotFill gives agencies, franchisers and other multiple-market advertisers a better chance of securing all the prime radio airtime they need to achieve the audience reach they want in all the markets they’re targeting,” said Dave Newmark, Bid4Spots founder and CEO. “It’s our answer to the question, ‘What if I’m still short at the end of the auction?’ And it’s a boon for stations, as well, since they’ll have another opportunity to sell airtime.”

Bid4Spots’ reverse auctions for last-minute radio airtime occur every Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon Pacific time. The SpotFill program runs for 15 minutes immediately after the official close of the auction. During that window, advertisers hurry to select remaining airtime from the broadcasters whose bids were not quite low enough to win in the auction.

At this moment, advertisers see only certain information: market, format and the number of spots available for specific costs per thousand listeners (CPMs or CPPs). At 1 p.m. Pacific time, all winning stations are revealed. Rates always remain confidential, masked behind the system’s CPM ranking index.

Here’s how an advertiser with a multi-city buy and a goal of 100 ratings points in each market would use the Bid4Spots reverse auction:

Step 1 – Auction. When identifying auction parameters up front, set the market cap to no more than 100 ratings points for each market. If, after the auction, the advertiser ends up with less than 100 points in each market, then the advertiser can use SpotFill to buy up to – or even beyond – the 100-point goal.

Step 2 – SpotFill. For 15 minutes after the auction, advertisers can buy spots to fill in the gaps in their schedules. They see market, number of spots, daypart and the rating points (calculated according to Arbitron data). They can shop by ratings points or by budget. They grab what they want, then the computer groups those plucked points with their overall auction results. One hour later, the report will show both together.

The Bid4Spots platform offers guaranteed local inventory in prime dayparts in all top 300 markets at substantial discounts from standard rates. It employs a reverse auction, so stations bid the rates down. It only deals with last-minute inventory – airtime available for the following broadcast week. Unlike most last-minute solutions, Bid4Spots advertisers can specify market, daypart, demographic and station format. Spots are guaranteed to run according to advertiser specifications – no pre-empting.

Auctions are online, fast, easy and flexible. Advertisers gain access to inventory from more than 2,460 participating radio stations – all from one place. Auctions are weekly and optional at all times.

For more information visit:SPOTS

This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 4:36 pm and is filed under Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.