For many Americans, pets are important members of the family. As such, consumers are willing to spend a substantial amount of money to care for them yearly. According to the American Pet Products Association, in 2017 pet industry expenditures totaled $69.51 billion. In 2018, that number is estimated to have risen to $72.13 billion. If this upward trend continues, 2019 could prove to be another multi-billion dollar opportunity for pet product advertisers.

Pet product brands have many media options available to them for advertising. As a mass reach medium that dominates in-car share and drives ROI, AM/FM radio makes the most sense. Here’s why.

Massive reach: AM/FM radio is number one in dog owner media reach at 93%

AM/FM radio is effective in reaching advanced audience segments, described by Nielsen as “an audience that is defined with a buyer target, with the majority including an underlying age/gender qualifier.” That might be parents, car enthusiasts, or in the case of pet products, dog owners. Targeting an advanced audience ensures delivering relevant messaging to the appropriate audience.

Nielsen used their media planning platform Nielsen Media Impact to examine the dog owner segment and study the monthly reach of each media. AM/FM radio reached 93% of dog owners monthly, more than TV, mobile, desktop/print, and digital.

Sales growth: Pet product advertisers need AM/FM radio’s mass reach to drive ROI

Pet product advertisers can use AM/FM radio’s 93% reach among this target audience to drive sales. A study of nearly 500 cross-media campaigns by Nielsen evaluated media factors driving sales lift. Of the three media factors, reach represents 61% of sales growth.

Erwin Ephron, father of modern media planning, explains, “Most advertising usually works by reminding people about brands they know, when they happen to need that product. Ads work best when the consumer is ready to buy. Remind the many. Don’t lecture the few.” Pet product advertisers can use AM/FM radio to build their brands and remind the masses of dog owners.

Just add radio for incremental impact: Among dog owners, AM/FM radio adds unique additional audiences to other media

Nielsen reports AM/FM radio is effective at driving incremental reach for other media.

For example, reallocating a small portion of a TV media plan to AM/FM radio will increase reach and amplify brand impact in the purchase funnel. Nielsen has reported that AM/FM radio solves the common advertiser challenge of reaching light TV viewers by reaching nearly all of those who are exposed only lightly or not at all to TV advertising.

Nielsen’s latest data reinforces this fact among dog owners: “Light TV viewers can be very effectively reached by radio, thereby extending the impact of the campaign.” AM/FM radio adds +8% incremental reach to TV and +12% to mobile among dog owners.

It’s not TV alone, either. Nielsen Media Impact also found that adding AM/FM radio to the media plan can grow incremental reach across media options among the important segment of dog owners on tablets, digital, print, desktops, and mobile.

Americans love their pets. They also love media, consuming more than 11 hours of content per day, according to Nielsen. By using a mass reach machine like AM/FM radio, pet product advertisers can reach huge portions of the pet category consumers and add incremental impact to their media plans.

Key takeaways:

• Massive reach: AM/FM radio is number one in dog owner media reach at 93%
  
• Sales growth: Pet product advertisers need AM/FM radio’s mass reach to drive ROI
• Just add radio for incremental impact: Among dog owners, AM/FM radio adds unique additional audiences to other media
  

Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer at CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.