Radio advertising may be three fifths as effective as advertising on ITV, while costing one seventh of the price, according to research published today by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).
In a collaboration called RadioLab between RAB, buying agency Universal McCann and researchers Millward Brown, radio campaigns from 17 Universal McCann brands including Nescafé, Coke and UPS were evaluated over a 6½ month period using test and control regions. Effectiveness was expressed in terms of the Awareness Index, which gave an average Awareness Index for radio activity of 3, and 5 for TV. This means that radio was, on average, three-fifths as effective at driving advertising awareness among 16-44 year olds.
John Blakemore, UK advertising director for Smithkline Beecham, pointed out how ubiquitous the issue of media cost inflation was on advertisers agendas and commented: “When I saw the RadioLab findings my first reaction was one of scepticism regarding the results and methodology. Having examined the research in more detail I am confident that this was a robust study undertaken at the highest level…[it] has raised the debate regarding commercial radio’s effectiveness to a higher level and radio has earned the right to be considered by every advertiser.”
The radio campaigns in the study which scored highest were said to be “characterised by good branding”. Enjoyability was also a positive characteristic, although it could not overcome weak brand linkage, and branding devices such as theme music were also found to be effective, although these may have originally been established on TV.
Justin Sampson, managing director of RAB, pointed out that the Bureau’s case study database was already seen as tactical evidence for the effectiveness of radio advertising. “RadioLab takes the game on in two respects,” he continued. “Firstly, it provides a benchmark for the comparative effectiveness of radio against television. Secondly it provides a currency against which radio advertisers can measure the effect of their own radio campaigns.”
The full RadioLab report will be published on the RAB website from today.
Radio Advertising Bureau: 020 7306 2500
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