A major AM/FM radio advertiser asked, “Is there a bigger brand benefit to campaigns with multiple ads running simultaneously?” In other words, is there a multiplier effect that occurs when consumers hear a variety of AM/FM radio campaigns from the retailer at the same time?

CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One retained Nielsen to conduct a campaign effect study to measure how exposure to multiple ads and messages would impact consumer behavior and brand perceptions. At any one time, this retailer runs upwards of ten different campaigns each promoting a specific department and featured products from that department.

The more AM/FM radio ads recalled, the greater the brand awareness

The retailer’s brand recall was four times greater among consumers who could recall three or more AM/FM radio ads of the retailer (81%) compared to those who could not recall any ads (23%).

The more AM/FM radio ads recalled, the greater the brand favorability and likelihood to recommend

The retailer’s brand favorability was greater among consumers who could recall three or more AM/FM radio ads of the retailer (94%) compared to those who could not recall any ads (84%). The proportion of those who would recommend the retailer was greater among those who could recall hearing 3+ AM/FM radio ads (96%) versus those who could not recall any AM/FM radio ads (81%).

Purchase intent was greater among those who recalled 3+ AM/FM radio ads

Among those who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads from the retailer, purchase intent (95%) was +14% greater than consumers who could not recall any ads (81%). Compared to those who could not recall any AM/FM radio ads, purchase intent was stronger among those who recalled at least one ad from the retailer (85%).

Shopping trips were +41% greater among those who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads

There was a strong connection between AM/FM radio ad recall for multiple ads and retail visits. The number of shopping trips in the past three months among those who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads was 3.1, +41% greater than those who could not recall any AM/FM radio ads (2.2 trips in the past three months).

Consumers who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads were far more likely to visit and purchase in-store

Store visitation and purchase was much stronger among consumers who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads compared to those who could not recall any ads. Store visitation was +21% greater and twice as many consumers purchased in-store. AM/FM radio advertising drives retail visits and purchase.

AM/FM radio is the e-commerce accelerator: Website visitation and purchase, product research, and click through rates were much higher among those who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads

Compared to those who recalled no AM/FM radio ads, consumers who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads were +75% more likely to have visited the retailers website, +300% more likely to have made an online purchase, and +159% more likely to have clicked on an ad for the retailer. Those who recalled 3+ AM/FM radio ads were +41% more likely to have conducted product research on the item advertised in the AM/FM radio ad.

AM/FM radio elevates the media plan: Recall for ads on other media was much higher among those who recalled 3+ AM/FM radio ads

Nielsen has consistently found that consumers who can remember an advertiser’s AM/FM radio ads are far more likely to recall the TV, digital, and print ads of the advertiser. For this retailer, Nielsen found that average recall for ads in other media was triple among those could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads compared to those who could not recall any AM/FM radio ads.

Recall for the retailer’s mobile ads was +383% greater among those who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads versus those who could not recall any AM/FM radio ads. Print ad recall soared: +760% for magazine ads and +275% for newspaper ads.

Best practice: One creative message per ad; resist the temptation to “message cram”

This retailer ran as many as ten or more simultaneous AM/FM radio campaigns for different departments. One might think the retailer could run fewer campaigns and reference more of their departments in each ad. That would be a mistake.

Millward Brown Kantar, one of the giants of creative testing and advertising effectiveness, found the greater the number of messages in one ad, the lower the recall for any message. A message in an ad with four messages will have only 24% to 43% of the recall of an ad with just one message.

For this retailer, less is more. Message discipline is very powerful. An ad that focuses on one message insures greater recall and impact.

Best practice: Consistent, unified creative delivers greater impact

Each of the retailer’s AM/FM radio ads are very consistent with the same music, same copy approach, and same tagline, year after year.

Millward Brown finds that than a consistent creative approach pays positive dividends in brand effect, motivation, and advertising recall. Campaigns with a unified creative strategy generate +57% greater brand equity impact compared to campaigns with non-unified messaging.

Key takeaways:

• Multiple campaigns running at the same time are a “force multiplier.” The more AM/FM radio ads recalled, the greater the brand awareness.
• The more AM/FM radio ads recalled, the greater the brand favorability and likelihood to recommend.
• Purchase intent was greater among those who recalled 3+ AM/FM radio ads.
• Shopping trips were +41% greater among those who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads.
• Consumers who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads were far more likely to visit and purchase in-store.
• AM/FM radio is the e-commerce accelerator: Website visitation and purchase, product research, and click through rates were much higher among those who could recall 3+ AM/FM radio ads.
• AM/FM radio elevates the media plan: Recall for ads on other media was much higher among those who recalled 3+ AM/FM radio ads.
• Best practice: One creative message per ad; resist the temptation to “message cram.”
• Best practice: Consistent, unified creative delivers greater impact.

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

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.