A deep, heavy voice makes its way to your ears, followed by a short thread of coercion and disruption due to an unstable network. What comes next has brought chills down your spine…
It’s 4 AM, you’ve just finished your night shift, and all you can think about is rushing back home. Since it’s a long way back, you decide to turn on the Radio to get out of the monotony and refresh after a tiring shift.
The deep scary voice coming out of the Radio entails out a story, puts suspense into it, and builds climax with an old bent woman in white attires standing in the middle of the lonely road at an unusual hour only to find her say at the end,
“ye melody itni chocolaty kyu hai?“
This is radio marketing for you. The economy is getting back on track now that Covid-19 has been pushed on the edge thanks to the increased vaccination counts. The same goes for the radio advertising industry. Radio Ad volumes saw a decline of 33% in 2020 as compared to 2017. With the normalcy prevailing as people travel back to offices and children attend physical classes again, it leads to increased Drive-Time Listenership. As a result, in 2021, Radio Ads claim their hold back with the revival in Ad volumes by 29%. What’s even more surprising is the second half of 2021 that witnessed more ad volumes than that of the last five years.
Well, there is a slight change in the definition of Radio Marketing. It is no longer restricted to audio broadcasts. Since there has been a tremendous rise in the audio content mediums, including traditional Radio, music streaming services, algorithm-based audio streaming platforms, intelligent speakers, podcasts, and more, it is the use of short-duration ads throughout such mediums. Thanks to that, audio consumption is at an all-time high; as stated in the 2020 Neilsen survey, “Radio remains one of the centrepieces of the media universe.” And yet the question remains, “Why so?”. What about Radio Advertising that makes it imperative for the brands? Let’s dig deeper…
Why should brands keep using Radio Advertising?
1. Exposure
Did you know that around 99% of the Indian population and 92% of the country’s areas are exposed to All India Radio’s home services with 420 channels? As per the reports, Indians are likely to listen to the Radio for more than an hour a day. Every age group is, one way or another, exposed to what Radio must convey. Isn’t it interesting? Catering to a mass audience, including the untapped groups, while hooking them to the stories, brands must tell is like hitting the jackpot. And many brands are hitting it every day.
2. Ubiquitous
With Radio as a constant companion and go-to-partner for wherever you go, it is evident that Radio is omnipresent. Not only the mass media, but it has also evolved as the local advertising media. It is characterised by an exceptional programming that caters to the population’s narrow segment and covers the deepest corners of the world, where even TV is yet to reach.
3. Economical
There is no denying that TV is by far the most used and popular medium to advertise as it turns out to be an ideal way with the elements of glamour and excitement. But also, there is no need to say that billions are spent on this. Here comes the underestimated star, Radio, with two-fold benefits. Not only does it has comprehensive coverage, but also, it is cost-effective. Even though radio ads cost differently based on timeslots and durations of ads, they are less than TV ads. Even brands spend around 3-4% of their advertising budget and reach tons.
4. Memorability
Radio Advertisements’ memory encoding is measured as 220% higher than TV ads. What else as a marketer would you need? Since the primary goal of a sales funnel is to spread awareness about the product, Radio as a medium sound about right, making it an apt source for companies looking to enhance brand recognition, and attain and retain a customer base. Listen to this ad by Tide and wonder if you can ever forget it.
5. Flexible
The most intriguing thing about such ads is that they are easier to produce than TVs. Once strategised about theme and structure, creatives and messages can be easily scripted and even altered with relatively short notice. Moreover, it takes two days to get a radio ad to air. Is there any other effective medium that provides solutions to such spontaneity? Well, I doubt it.
Now picture this:
You’re driving to the office while listening to one of your favourite morning shows and getting to know about what’s going on around the world. You see an intriguing radio ad between the episodes, or at least you notice it. Then, during the lunch break, you find a video ad with the same audio while scrolling down the Instagram feeds. Well, you notice it again. And then, while travelling back home, you listen to your Spotify’s go-to podcast and find yourself listening to that ad again. Hard to forget, right? Mind you; this might be repetitive but not intrusive.
This is precisely where the seed of marketing has the potential to blossom.