By Sanjeev Kotnala
Why can’t they play some nice music instead of RJ talk and these repetitive silly ads?
We all have complained while playing the radio. The problem has magnified with time. I know people who now carry their favourite music on USBs. On the other hand, advertisers keep complaining about the decreased effectiveness and efficiency of the medium.
Radio stations bank on advertising money. They must balance advertising on radio and entertainment and audience engagement through songs and other programmes. The advertisers have also decreased budgets for creating and running radio commercials, which has driven the returns on a downward spiral.
Radio
One still believes that radio, with its wide reach and local connections, is a potent medium, only if it can play a lot more music and keep the audience engaged, from switching to other modes and channels. Until it happens, advertisers using the medium must work to enhance the effectiveness of their communication.
Nothing has changed, and the more we seek changes, the more things remain the same.
The basics of advertising and advertising on radio do not change. A recent research report published in ‘Listen Up!’ revalidates the thinking.
Listen Up!
Listen Up! is a publication dedicated to the power of radio advertising. It explores how audio advertising can compete in an ever-evolving media landscape.
The research report published by Listen Up! points towards ways to create effective radio advertising. It is based on effectiveness and emotional data of 131 spots across 13 categories from over 50K radio listeners. The research looked at broad categories of creative devices appealing to the right and the left brain. The research is UK-based, but I don’t think the results would be any different if it was carried out in India.
The ads were measured using System1’s ‘Test Your Ad’ platform and Radiocentre’s ‘Radiogauge’ campaign effectiveness measurement service.
The report findings are not new. A revisit can help advertisers unlock the power of radio advertising and inspire a new generation of memorable, effective radio advertising with enhanced brand recognition and a long-term impact in a visually and screens-dominated world.
System1 and Radioguage – The more people feel, the more they buy
Feeling or a positive emotional response to an ad is the most crucial element determining its long-term impact on brand growth. System1’s ‘Test Your Ad’ measures the intensity of the advertisement, the key takeaway, words and phrases association, and the reason for the emotion felt.
Radiocentre’s Radiogauge helps understand the effectiveness of the radio campaigns, compares results against relevant category benchmarks, and access guidance on improving effectiveness through creative development. It compares the differences in ad awareness, brand perceptions, purchase consideration, and claimed response between a sample of commercial radio listeners and a matched sample of non-listeners to commercial radio to understand the impact of the radio activity. The scores are delivered on Radiocentre’s 5i parameters of Involvement, Identity (memorable), Impression ( positivity association), Information and Integration through consistent and recognisable use of voice, music, slogan and/ or catchphrase. It has been coding radio advertisements and campaign data through 23 individual creative characteristics, such as music, voice, humour, etc. – for enhanced understanding. Today, after measuring the effects of over 1,000 UK radio advertising campaigns, it comfortably claims to be the world’s most extensive radio advertising/creative effectiveness database.
Listen Up! The report is directional
The Listen Up! report and its insights can help advertisers and creative teams refocus on crafting more effective audio ads that emotionally resonate with the listeners, thus creating stronger short-term impact and longer-lasting brand effects.
The SIX key take-outs
Radio advertising can produce long-term brand effects (help Brand Building) on par with, or greater than TV advertising.
Audio ads that make listeners feel more positive (or less negative) dramatically change consumer behaviour and deliver longer-lasting brand effects, including brand purchase and use.
Well-branded (engaging and with strong brand association) radio advertising helps create trust-building.
Audio ads with more right-brain features have long-term effectiveness.
Radio is as likely to cause long-lasting effects through an emotional response as TV advertising. Feel-good audio ads make advertising campaigns more famous. They also see high Word-of-Mouth mentions and social sharing.
Optimised audio advertisements attract attention and form strong memories, increasing short-term effects.
Action Lines
Incorporate More Right-Brained Creative Features in Radio Ads: Right-brain features (Not only the ‘Buying mode’) make radio ads interesting and enjoyable. Audio advertising that uses features like character, story unfolding, sense of place, and dramatic intimacy creates more positive emotions and attracts the attention of broader audiences, something that is key for lasting brand effects.
Keep The Listener in Focus: Listeners prefer to know which and what the brand is speaking. To make an advertisement relatable, start with a creative strategy that solves a consumer problem or goal or focuses on consumer insight. Focus on the narrative and branding to stimulate a stronger emotional response whilst limiting excessive details like terms and conditions. It may not be legally possible in some places, but the aim should be to decrease such things.
Don’t Zig, Zag Zag Zag: Audio ads must be distinctive. They need to sound different from other brands but consistently sound like themselves. Maybe not following the category norm is a way out. Create and consistently follow the brand’s cross-media distinctive style for higher attention and emotional intensity.
Embrace the Power of Music: Music is an essential part of radio, and it is something that keeps on keeping radio advertising alive and true to the medium. It can help increase engagement and emotional intensity.
Use melodious music to the pace of the advertisement. Music should not be an afterthought but a critical part of the creative process. Brands with exclusive identifiable melodic audio assets score higher on emotional connect and are known to have long-term impact and memorability. Thus, brands consistent with the cross-medium audio property stand to gain.
Brand Early and Often: Introducing the brand’s distinctive audio assets early in the ad can help listeners process the wider ad content/message more effortlessly. It can help enhance both short-term and long-term ad effects.
Net-net
Many people have said ‘radio is a highly visual medium’. Unfortunately, most forget this truth while creating radio/audio advertising.
Radio advertising can help build brand and brand trust. It can create a long-term impact with enhanced association and involvement with the audience.
The Listen Up! research reports point towards what one would consider obvious. However, the users of the medium seem to forget it. The difference is that the report identifies the right brain elements that can further enhance the impact.
In the end, I quote Matt Payton, CEO, Radiocentre: ‘In terms of creative impact, audio-only advertising can be just as effective as audio-visual advertising when the creative content of the ad is executed in an optimal way’. He adds, ‘It’s the perfect time for advertisers to take it on board and harness the true power of sound, engage listeners more deeply, and deliver better brand effects’.
Maybe brands which integrate and leverage digital data to better plan the creative strategy, developing and implementing radio advertising as per the programme mix, time of the day, programmes and regions will have an extra advantage.
It is time to relook and focus on the highly visual medium and create brand-associated positive images in the listeners’ minds.
Note: This is my take on the LISTEN UP! Research report shared by System1. You can access the report here.
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