No one believes that only one medium is enough to reach today’s consumer. And as much time as the industry discusses the value and contributions from digital and mobile, many advertisers are taking a page from their former playbooks to reevaluate traditional platforms in this fragmented marketplace.
And to that point, Rich Tunkel, SVP of business development at Nielsen Audio, revealed at this year’s Consumer 360 event that the prevalence of channels and devices is inspiring U.S. consumers to spend more time with audio—essentially boosting its popularity.
The amount of time Americans spend with music has increased 37% in just two years
And while audio comprises a wide array of content variety, music is a cornerstone of the audio universe and is experiencing significant growth as consumers embrace everything from satellite radio to digital radio to music streaming services to traditional AM/FM. Notably, the time that Americans spend with music, has grown 37% in just two years.
It’s this type of engagement that has some large FMCG advertisers increasing their investments in radio as a result. They’ve found that combining audio ads with their TV spots helps reach people that TV can’t reach alone. As detailed in the Nielsen CMO Report 2018, high reach media—such as television and radio—fit nicely with brand awareness campaign objectives.
Even when campaigns are heavily scheduled with TV ads, portions of the population won’t see them. That’s where audio comes in. According to Nielsen data, radio usage is higher than TV usage between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m., and television viewing peaks between 5 p.m. and 12 a.m. So when you look at radio and TV combined, a campaign has a much greater likelihood of reaching a wider audience.
Additionally, radio can boost the memorability of TV advertising. In a recent study, Nielsen found that people who heard a radio commercial had 35% higher awareness of the corresponding TV ad than those who only saw the ad on TV.
In addition to the information that Rich presented at Consumer 360, we had a panel with Roger Adams, former CMO of USAA/The Home Depot/Lord & Taylor, Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer, Cumulus/Westwood One, and David Shiffman, SVP, National Research, iHeart Media.
The video below includes some highlights.
