Click here to view a 12-minute video of the key findings.

Welcome to the golden age of audio measurement and attribution. Audio now offers every outcome measurement that TV and digital provides!

That was the theme of a panel during the recent Association of National Advertisers Audio Summit presented by Dean Lamb, Head of Media at CDW, the IT services and equipment giant, and Westwood One.

Key takeaways from the “Yes, your audio campaign can be measured!” presentation:

• The stronger the emotional resonance, the greater the market share gain. System1 creative tests predict long-term brand growth from emotional response and the degree of positive reaction.

• Creative represents 50% of sales effect. Ensure audio creative is pre-tested for emotional resonance and strong branding. Eliminate 1-star ads and strive for 2-5 star creative outcomes.
• AM/FM radio creative effectiveness tests at 92% of TV at a quarter of the CPM, according to ABX.
• AM/FM radio is the media plan reach accelerator. Take it from P&G, Progressive, Indeed, CDW, and many others. Audio elevates the media plan with incremental reach.
• Audio impacts the entire purchase funnel, from brand lift to sales effect.
• AM/FM radio sales effects are surprisingly strong and return on advertising spend is excellent.
• Audio’s ability to drive search and site traffic is compelling.
• Audio punches above its weight. The degree of brand lift and sales effect is greater than audio’s share of the media plan.

Here are the case studies that were presented:

CDW’s NFL campaign impacts IT decision makers, improves brand perceptions, and elevates awareness of the entire media plan

CDW’s deep integration with Westwood One’s NFL play-by-play broadcast was measured by a Nielsen campaign effect study, revealing:

• A +38% increase in IT decision makers’ likelihood to recommend CDW
• A +23% growth in aided awareness and a +7% increase in brand favorability
• AM/FM radio elevated the media plan: Among those who recalled the AM/FM radio campaign, ad recall of all other CDW media platforms grew

CDW’s AM/FM radio campaign drives +58% greater lift in search and site traffic versus its media spend

LeadsRx, the multi-touch attribution measurement firm, studied CDW’s entire media campaign to determine search and site traffic. LeadsRx measured media conversions of CDW’s TV and AM/FM radio campaigns to the vendor pages on its website.

AM/FM radio punches above its weight. LeadsRx found that while AM/FM radio represented only 16% of the media budgets, AM/FM radio generated 25% of site and search traffic.

AM/FM radio delivered +58% greater site traffic than its share of spend. In contrast, TV delivered -11% less conversion lift than its share of the budget.

Major retailer: AM/FM radio generates triple the sales lift of TV

A Nielsen sales effect study for a major retailer matched Portable People Meter panel data with credit card data to reveal how TV and AM/FM radio impacted sales.

The AM/FM radio-only segment, those consumers only reached by the AM/FM radio campaign, had 3X the sales lift of the consumers reached by the TV ads.

• Consumers only exposed to the TV ads generated a +4.6% sales increase
• Those who saw both the TV ads and the AM/FM radio ads had a +4.8% sales lift
• The segment only exposed to the AM/FM radio ads had an outsized +13.4% increase in sales

Major consumer packaged goods brand: AM/FM radio delivers strong sales effect and ROI

To determine CPG 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 actual purchase behavior.

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. 36% of the audience was reached by the AM/FM radio campaign, generating 45% of total sales for the parent brand.

Nielsen: AM/FM radio generates excellent return on advertising spend

Nielsen has conducted dozens of sales effect studies matching advertising exposure from the Portable People Meter to consumer packaged goods purchase data via grocery shopper cards and retail spend via consumer debit and credit cards.

For every dollar invested in AM/FM radio advertising, the incremental sales generated far exceeds the investment.

• For every dollar of AM/FM radio ads, fast foot restaurants generate $3 of incremental sales.
• Twelve dollars of incremental home improvement sales are generated by a dollar of AM/FM radio ads.
• A dollar of AM/FM radio ads for auto aftermarket retailers generates $21 of incremental sales.

Nielsen: Podcast advertising drives impact up and down the purchase funnel

Nielsen has conducted 700+ brand effect studies for podcast advertising campaigns. Among those exposed to podcast ad campaigns, there are strong increases in awareness, familiarity, brand affinity, information seeking, purchase intent, and brand recommendation.

ABX: AM/FM radio creative effectiveness is 92% of TV at one-fourth of the CPM

Given than creative is 50% of sales effect, it is crucial to ensure ads test well for branding, persuasion, emotional impact and purchase intent.

To determine whether “sight, sound, and motion” trumps audio ads, ABX, the leader in syndicated advertising effectiveness, examined the largest head-to-head creative study of audio and video ads. ABX examined two years’ worth of recent testing, which totaled 40,000 ads and included 10,738 TV ads and 2,779 AM/FM radio ads.

If “sight, sound, and motion” are so impactful, one would think the TV ad creative effectiveness would be double that of AM/FM radio. In reality, TV advertising effectiveness is only 8% better than AM/FM radio at 4X the CPM.

The findings are clear. “Sight, sound, and motion” do not represent a significantly greater creative effectiveness.

Gary Getto, President of ABX, says, “Moving some TV funds to AM/FM radio produces significantly higher reach. Often the excuse for not doing this is the need for sight, sound, and motion that TV provides and, in many cases, the lack of confidence in AM/FM radio creative’s ability to move the needle. But extensive ABX data shows that AM/FM radio can be nearly as effective as television when best practices in audio creative are followed.”  

System1: The stronger the emotional resonance, the greater the market share gain

System1, a leading creative effectiveness measurement firm, finds creative tests predict long-term brand growth from emotional response and the degree of positive reaction.

Les Binet, one of the godfathers of marketing effectiveness, says advertising works “by making the brand easy to think of and easy to buy, creating positive feelings and associations via broad reach ads that people find interesting and enjoyable.”

System1 testing evaluates each ad with one to five stars, predicting long-term brand growth based on the emotional response to the creative and magnitude of the ad’s positive reaction. A brand ad that receives a three-star rating can expect a 1%-point growth in its market share. Simply put, the more you feel, the more you buy.

Les Binet: “Emotion is the most powerful selling tool we have”

Binet concludes, “In order to really build strong brands, you’ve got to start preparing consumers long before they even start thinking about the product or the purchase. That means engaging them when they’re not interested in what you have to say, when they are not thinking about the product, when they have no need to be satisfied. So you can only do that by engaging them with things that are intrinsically interesting at a human level and that will be remembered for a very long time. So emotion is the most powerful selling tool we have. And therefore, emotional media are much more powerful for building brands and generating profit.”

Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® measurement solutions

The Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® is a full-service advisory offering media planning recommendations, creative best practices, and measurement services. The Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® has partnered with hundreds of clients to measure their entire audio campaigns (not just the Cumulus Media | Westwood One investment). Email CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com to discuss how we can help determine the best measurement solution for your brand.

Key takeaways:

• The stronger the emotional resonance, the greater the market share gain. System1 creative tests predict long-term brand growth from emotional response and the degree of positive reaction.
• Creative represents 50% of sales effect. Ensure audio creative is pre-tested for emotional resonance and strong branding. Eliminate 1-star ads and strive for 2-5 star creative outcomes.
• AM/FM radio creative effectiveness tests at 92% of TV at a quarter of the CPM, according to ABX.
• AM/FM radio is the media plan reach accelerator. Take it from P&G, Progressive, Indeed, CDW, and many others. Audio elevates the media plan with incremental reach.
• Audio impacts the entire purchase funnel, from brand lift to sales effect.
• AM/FM radio sales effects are surprisingly strong and return on advertising spend is excellent.
• Audio’s ability to drive search and site traffic is compelling.
• Audio punches above its weight. The degree of brand lift and sales effect is greater than audio’s share of the media plan.

Click here to view a 12-minute video of the key findings.

Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer of the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group^®.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.