Is creative wear out in radio a thing?
That’s the question explored by ABX Advertising Benchmark Index VP of Brand Management Angela Jeffrey in a new post on the RAB’s “Radio Matters” blog.
The short answer: No, it isn’t.
“ABX has evaluated 465,000 ads for creative effectiveness across all media types,” Jeffrey writes for the RAB blog. “With a pool of 2,452 radio ads currently in-market, ABX discovered that 12 ads had data from their first appearance in the marketplace. The ads averaged $5.2 million in average cumulative spend and an average time in market of 345 days. These ads represented the top 2% of all ads based on cumulative spending.”
Based on its analysis, ABX finds wear out is “extremely rare” — with no sign of wear out until media spend has topped the $8 million mark and days in-market has surpassed 600.
ABX also found that just two of 12 ads from the top 2% of cumulative ad spending and days in the market saw declines in some creative effectiveness metrics. However, branding and messaging show no sign of wear out. ABX also determined that reputation and likeability — the KPIs that did show declines — may have done so because of changes in the marketplace.
The bottom line, Jeffrey writes, is that “Good ads remained good, and poor ads remained poor, no matter how long an ad runs. Several of the 12 ads had high cumulative ad spend and longevity but had low creative effectiveness scores. These ads remained in the marketplace with more than $10 million spent on them. Not good.
“Forget [about] wear out and focus on creative effectiveness,” Jeffrey explained. “We have clear proof that creative effectiveness is a significant driver of sales performance, ranging from 50-75% of an ad’s success.”
Jeffrey’s post also cites best practices — via longtime Procter & Gamble veteran John Fix — to optimize campaign efficacy. Among them:
Audibility — Ads should be easy to hear and understand. Ads with no background music are, on average, 12% more impactful than those with background effects.
Ad Length — Make ads no longer than the length of time it takes to deliver your message.
Brand is Hero — Don’t forget that the brand comes first; use celebrities with caution.
ABX’s findings also offer good news for AM/FM radio. It says that of 40,000 recently tested ads in all media types, AM/FM creative effectiveness is 92% that of television — with increased use of pre-testing and continued evaluation of in-market radio ads needed for even higher performance.
“It’s in everyone’s best interest for the creative to be of high quality,” Fix says. “The radio industry benefits if what’s being aired on their product is of high quality. I’ve experienced where the broadcaster or supplier will offer pre-testing as a value-add because it’s important to them, it helps protect the broadcaster’s investment and the brand’s investment as well.”
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