Ironing Board II Study

Today saw the unveiling of the results of the second Ironing Board Study on commercial radio, the first was conducted 15 years ago. The study, which was commissioned by MSM and Newslink, looks at how people recall radio commercials while busy concentrating on another activity.

CCC which was commissioned to conduct the study had to replicate as accurately as possible the environment and methodology of the original study. This involved 306 housewives who were invited to test a new starch on their ironing while listening to an IRL station in the background for 15 minutes. A total of 10 real advertisements were used and four commercials featured in a Conventional advertising break with the Newslink spot broadcast solus within the news.

Of the results, one of the most remarkable findings was the high level of spontaneous recall. Without any prompting 25% of respondents were able to mention some aspect of each of the commercials which had been “broadcast” in a Conventional advertising break with the advertising being remembered by brand rather than by the more generic label of product type.

These findings show that the results for average brand name recall have improved from the 8% to 21% in comparison with the original study. However the study showed that for Conventional advertising breaks, the position in the break did not have any real effect on the recall of the advertisement. In comparison, the solus positioning within the Newslink news bulletins produced significantly higher awareness levels of 31%.

In conclusion, by recreating a realistic listening experience under test conditions the study claims to substantiate further commercial radio’s effectiveness as a vehicle for FMCG and Retail advertisers. It also showed that in both brand and message communication to housewives commercials in Conventional advertising breaks work very well.

MSM: 0171 383 3000.