Audio Amplified at Media360

From punching through the performance plateau to being crowned winner of the Media360 Challenge for the third consecutive year, audio advertising was amplified at this year’s Campaign event.

At Radiocentre’s session advertising effectiveness expert and VP of Brand Strategy at Jellyfish Tom Roach addressed a packed room of advertisers and agencies about the importance of creating both long- and short-term demand. Many brands, he explained, find themselves on the performance plateau, when the efficiency of their spend on traditional performance marketing channels like paid search and social drops off. The problem comes from a misbalance between demand generation and conversion he said, and cited Binet & Field’s zig zag chart which shows 60% of sales come from long term effects, and 40% from short term. Audio, he said, is shown to deliver a mix of the two, which he calls “bothism”, effectively.

Radiocentre’s Head of Insight Donna Burns followed Tom with findings from the Performance Multiplier study, proving radio’s impact on performance and citing that it is often underestimated. She said getting the measurement right is key to getting a more accurate picture. When measured correctly, radio is proven to drive a 16% uplift in web sessions, generating additional web sessions 2.1x more cost-efficiently than other demand generation media combined.

A separate session with Rebecca Burchnall, Chief Planning Officer at PHD, Jerry Daykin, Head of International Media at Restaurant Brands International and Alex Baker, Head of Creative Strategy at Bauer Media discussed the value advertisers really place on trust and how significant a factor it should be when building a media plan. The debate showed that brands, agencies and media owners are aligned on the necessity for trust in media, the power of reach and the essential need to speak to audiences through regulated channels.

On day two, this year’s Media360 Challenge saw four industry Rising Stars compete in the ultimate contest of ideas and creativity, with each challenger given just five minutes to deliver a persuasive pitch, making a compelling case for why their chosen medium is the greatest at fostering collaboration. Bauer’s Thomas Garry took to the stage against out of home, newsbrands, and social, where he was victorious meaning audio retained its crown for the third year running.

For more on audio’s performance power, read our Radio: The Performance Multiplier study.