So obviously, the secret I’m about to tell you isn’t something that no one else knows.

But it’s something that so few people recognize that applying it definitely counts as a secret weapon for long-term brand building. 

And this ain’t theory. It’s math, hard data, and real-world results.

So stick with me and I’ll show you how the math maths for Radio as a tool for not just long-term branding but long-term growth.

Radio Efficacy vs Every Other Media:

The below chart, taken from Binet & Field’s epic publication, The Long and Short of It, plots advertising media according to Reach and Involvement.

The higher the media is on the scale, the more people see or hear it — i.e, the more it puts the “mass” in “mass media.”

As you would expect, Billboards (OOH), Radio, and Broadcast TV are at the top of the chart.

 

Then there’s involvement. Billboards are seen, but not for very long. So they have high reach, but low involvement.

TV has lots of involvement AND lots of reach, making it an ideal brand-building tool — IF you’ve got the money to make it work properly.

Radio, on the other hand, has great reach and the most involvement of any media other than TV. So it should be a powerhouse for branding.

Except it’s not traditionally seen as such. Herein, Peter Field provides an explanation [bracketed comment mine]:

“The only apparent inconsistency is radio, which Fig 39 [as shown above] suggests ought to be able to generate quite strong brand effects, but in practice appears not to. This may be due to the way radio is often used in practice: as an activation channel. Radio appears to be undervalued as a potential brand-building medium – amongst the IPA case studies 35% used radio but only 2% gave it lead status.”

– Peter Field in The Long and the Short of It.

Translation: Radio SHOULD be a brand-building powerhouse, but most businesses misuse it to run short-term sales activation ads, rather than proper long-term branding campaigns.

And this misuse by others is actually YOUR golden opportunity.

Why is that?

Radio Efficiency vs Every Other Media:

 

In the above chart, aCPM stands for average Cost Per Thousand. So the lower the better.

Nothing is more cost-effective than radio. And by a HUGE margin.

Radio will allow you to do for 40 cents what your competitors on TV have to spend $3 to achieve.

Your Radio dollar will achieve what it takes your competitor’s Digital spend 4 – 16 dollars to get.

That’s what the chart is telling you.

And radio is doing that while reaching 90% of the audience who spend more time with radio than any other media except broadcast TV.

Do you see how the math maths on this?

Do you see why Radio is the Brand Builders Secret Weapon?

And as I wrote earlier, this ain’t theory. Here’s the real-world data for companies that use this secret weapon to fuel long-term growth:

There’s only one catch:

You have to run a proper long-term brand-building campaign with ads capable of capturing the listener’s attention.

Do that and you’ll come to dominate your market.

Wanna get started? Reach out and we’ll plan your path to long-term growth.

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