If you are an advertiser who wants to reach today’s Millennials, audio platforms – to include old fashioned ‘terrestrial’ radio and newer streaming options and podcasts are a great place to be. As Millennials, along with other age cohorts, increasingly engage with music or other content while they’re on the move, audio has assumed a stronger role in many cross-platform media plans.
Of course, the audio environment is hugely fragmented, presenting a challenge for media buyers, yet it is far more efficient than videos to reach consumers that you’re looking to engage with your brand’s message.
However, once the audio media buy has been made, the real challenge begins. Many advertisers don’t pay enough attention to the creative content of their audio presence. Typically, the focus in producing brilliant creative is where the big dollars are – video productions. Audio content is less expensive to produce, and frequently custom-tailored to smaller audiences. As such, it often becomes the neglected stepchild when it comes to creating content that conveys the brand’s platform that will drive the brand success.
Unfortunately, as a neglected brand platform, and as one in which special rules apply (think ‘theater of the mind’), audio often underperforms in-market versus video, and even digital display ads. It starts with the fact that, with today’s multitasking listener, an audio ad that’s not immediately perceived as highly relevant and/or entertaining gets ‘tuned out’ from an attention standpoint. Then, lacking in the visual cues that frequently serve as the primary brand identifiers (‘Distinctive Brand Assets’), and often with the brand revealed only in the final seconds, the vast majority of those who do listen usually fail to connect the brand with the content they hear. You’ve bought the time but come nowhere close to achieving the benefits for the brand.
The moral: if you’re going to invest in audio ads, invest in the creative talent to bring audio to life – and not just as a visual-less video ad, but specifically and artfully created in ways that really work in this unique and potentially very compelling advertising space.
