Audio drives profit and trust when included in marketing mix, global study finds
Campaigns that include audio deliver significantly stronger business outcomes than those without it, according to a global effectiveness study.
The research, The Secret to Profit and Trust: Audio, found uplifts in profit (+75%), trust (+81%), price insensitivity (+81%), and customer acquisition (+19%). It also found that audio improves campaign performance across major markets, generating uplifts of 23% in the UK and Ireland, 16% across Europe, and 5% in the US.
The study was commissioned jointly by Radiocentre (UK), Radiocentre Ireland, Australia’s Commercial Radio & Audio and the US-based Radio Advertising Bureau, marking the first time four global industry bodies have come together on a shared study.
Unveiled at Cannes Lions by marketing consultant Mark Ritson (pictured), the research further found that audio’s profit contribution scales with media spend at an average of +75% across all campaigns.
Ritson described the findings as “beautiful data”, arguing that audio acts as “the catalyst that makes your whole campaign work harder” and offers marketers an “unfair advantage hiding in plain sight”.
The research also highlighted audio’s role in driving emotional engagement. Campaigns built around emotion generated roughly twice as much profit when audio was included, and its effect compounds when brands pair it with distinctive brand assets and run consistently over time.
Speaking at Cannes Lions, System1 chief growth officer, Andrew Tindall, said: “Across the globe, the data consistently proves emotional audio campaigns roughly double their profit. Pair that emotion with distinctive sonic brand assets and run it consistently, and the effect compounds again.
“It’s simple, yet sound advice.”
The report drew on the Effie x System1 global databank of 1,262 campaigns spanning 17 years, from 2007 to 2023, looking at how commercial audio contributes to campaign performance.
The study originated in Australia, where CRA analysed the Advertising Council of Australia’s (ACA) Effie data with independent marketing consultant Rob Brittain and Ritson.