Industry News

WWO: Visual AM/FM Ads Generate Lift

This week’s blog from Cumulus Media | Westwood One’s Audio Active Group presents data from a Quantilope study that shows Quu in-dash visual ads on vehicle screens “drive significant awareness, consideration, and purchase intent.” The blog post adds that a new study from System1 and major out-ofimg-home media company JCDecaux reveals creative best practices for billboard advertising that the AM/FM radio industry can utilize to improve visual ad impact. Some of the key findings include: 1) Quu visual AM/FM radio ads on auto dashboards increase purchase intent by +89%; 2) You’ve got two seconds so brand fast: Visual logos placed at top of the frame deliver 4X higher brand recognition; 3) Beware the cost of dull: Failure to engage emotionally is the cost of creative mediocrity; 4) Be consistent with a brand’s colors, logos, slogans, and fonts that appear in other advertising; 5) Keep it short: The fewer the words, the greater the brand recognition; and 6) Create happiness: Ads that create positive emotions with happiness, surprise, or humor generate much stronger memorability, brand association, store visits, and website visits. See the blog post here.

Industry News

Nielsen: Radio Can Grow Reach of Political Campaigns

Audacy SVP and head of research & insights Idil Cakim dives into a new political study by Nielsen (commissioned by iHeartMedia, Audacy and Cumulus) that suggests advertising on radio can provide political campaigns with an edge and help “connect with key voter groups and amplify other political advertising.” The Nielsen study – Optimizing Political Campaigns in November – concludes that “if a campaign reallocated 20% of existing ad dollars to radio, it couldim reach 17% more voters.” The study references Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s 2022 campaign, noting that it deployed radio to reach voters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In doing so, it allocated 20% of media dollars to radio and generated a 10% lift from radio above the local TV campaign, amounting to 676,000 additional voters at no extra cost. Audacy SVP of strategy, partnerships and analytics Jon Blum says, “When campaigns activate a TV plan, they should activate a corresponding radio plan and incorporate it into the mix with TV. The portion of the population that isn’t reachable via TV could be the swing vote and what throws it over the top for a candidate.” Nielsen’s study noted that if a campaign moved 20% of ad spending to radio, the optimized media plan would connect with 15% more Democratic and Republican voters and 23% more unaffiliated voters. See more about the study here.