In the past, consumer packaged goods (CPG) ROI case studies for AM/FM radio were focused on snacks or food products. Now, for the first time, in partnership with NCSolutions, Westwood One is unveiling results from a men’s personal care brand sales effect study.

Suzanne Grimes, President, Westwood One and EVP Marketing of Cumulus Media states, “Westwood One has been very vocal that AM/FM radio delivers an impressive return on investment for brand marketers. Today, we back that statement up with a NCS study for a major personal care brand, which shows a $12 return on advertising spend for every dollar of AM/FM radio advertising. NCS is the gold standard for CPG sales measurement, and these findings show that a personal care brand can use radio to realize impressive sales lift and a powerful return on ad spend.”

To determine sales lift, NCSolutions matches Portable People Meter panel data and shopper card data from NCS and Nielsen Homescan. This creates a household match of actual AM/FM radio listening and their purchase habits.

Matt O’Grady, CEO of NCSolutions, explains, “The most effective way to measure the sales driven by advertising is by connecting purchase data with media exposures to understand how advertising impacts sales at the register.” NCS calibrates the largest shopper dataset of over 90 million unique households, from Catalina, with Nielsen’s retail sales and consumer panel data, to represent nearly 100% of total US all-outlet CPG spend. Using an advanced methodology, NCS can connect Nielsen’s gold-standard Radio Ratings data with shopper data to understand what advertising households were exposed to and how it impacted their purchasing.

Using this information, NCS can give a clear picture of sales impact driven by the AM/FM radio campaign and those who were not.

The men’s personal care brand AM/FM radio campaign ran from March 2017 through September 2017.

Here’s what NCSolutions found:

Sales driver: AM/FM radio drove major sales lift. Households where men were exposed to the AM/FM radio campaign saw an 8% lift in sales for the parent brand. The growth in sales was driven by more spending per trip.

Positive return on advertising spend: For every $1 spent on AM/FM radio, the men’s personal care brand saw $1.23 in return on advertising spend among target male consumers exposed to the campaign. Even more significant, for every $1 invested in AM/FM radio, the parent brand saw an $11.96 in return on advertising spend across all households.

Market share growth: The parent brand saw a +.8% increase in category share. Most notably, the increase in purchasing came at the expense of key competitors in the category.

The AM/FM radio campaign worked for the men’s care brand. Exposure led to dollars. 36% of the audience was reached by the AM/FM radio campaign, generating 45% of total sales for the parent brand.

Westwood One is committed to proving ROI
As an AM/FM radio industry leader in attribution measurement, the personal care study is the latest in a series of firsts from Westwood One in data driven targeting, measurement and accountability.

• January 2017: Westwood One released a Nielsen ROI study that found radio delivered a stunning $21 to $1 return on advertising spend for a major auto aftermarket retailer
• June 2017: Nielsen launched their first-ever audio data management platform with Westwood One as its charter client
• June 2017: Westwood One become the first radio network to launch the NextRadio smartphone-based attribution platform for over-the-air FM radio advertising campaigns
• October 2017: Westwood One introduces the first industry wide ROI Guarantee for the audio industry

Click here to read coverage of this story on Adweek.

Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus | Westwood One.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.