Omnicom Media and iHeartMedia have published a new report, Turning Volume into Value, exploring how new audio advertising innovations can drive stronger business outcomes for advertisers across the marketing funnel. The research positions audio not simply as a background medium, but as a powerful daily ritual for consumers, noting that audio now accounts for approximately one-third of daily media consumption.
The report’s central argument is that audio has evolved far beyond traditional radio spots. New advertising formats, including host-read ads, long-form storytelling, dynamic creative and interactive ad units, are enabling advertisers to build stronger emotional connection, trust, recall and purchase intent with audiences. The study tested a range of audio formats across categories including beauty, insurance and consumer packaged goods using a nationally representative US audience of more than 3,500 weekly audio listeners.
The research first examined the impact of standard 30-second audio ads and found that traditional audio advertising delivers strong brand uplift. Standard audio campaigns generated significant improvements in unaided ad recall, brand favourability, search intent and purchase intent among consumers likely to buy within the category. The report argues that audio should therefore play a more central role within modern media plans, particularly given evidence that audio exposure can amplify the performance of other channels such as social media, search and digital advertising.
One of the strongest themes throughout the report is the growing importance of host-read advertising. Ads delivered by trusted radio or podcast hosts consistently outperformed standard announcer-read ads across multiple brand metrics. Listeners exposed to host-read ads were significantly more likely to describe the messaging as personal, emotionally engaging and trustworthy.
The report suggests that hosts on radio and podcasts increasingly function as influencers, with listeners developing strong emotional relationships and trust with familiar personalities. According to the research, 80% of listeners trust audio hosts and consider them a friend. This credibility creates a “halo effect” for brands, improving both emotional connection and lower-funnel metrics such as search behaviour and purchase intent.
Importantly, the study found that trusted hosts do not simply influence purchasing decisions — they accelerate them. Consumers exposed to host-read advertising were significantly more likely to purchase products within the following week compared with those exposed to standard audio ads. The report therefore recommends that advertisers incorporate host-read formats into campaigns focused on trust-building, storytelling, product launches and conversion.
The research also explored newer interactive audio formats, particularly Motion-Activated Units (MAU ads), which prompt listeners to physically interact with their devices by shaking their phones to unlock additional content or information. These interactive formats performed especially strongly among younger audiences and consumers already close to purchase. Gen Z and Millennials were significantly more likely to engage with these ad experiences compared with older audiences.
The findings suggest that interactivity transforms audio from passive listening into active participation. Consumers who engaged with MAU ads showed higher levels of search intent and purchase intent compared with those exposed to standard ads. Many respondents also viewed the experience positively, describing it as easy, useful and fun. However, the report notes that clearer instructions and reassurance that interaction will not interrupt listening could further increase engagement levels.
Another major focus of the report is dynamic audio advertising, where ads are personalised based on contextual signals such as location, time of day or listener behaviour. The research found that personalised audio ads were perceived as more relevant and emotionally resonant than standard executions. Dynamic ads generated stronger emotional connection and significantly improved search intent when messaging reflected the listener’s immediate context or moment.
The report argues that dynamic creative allows brands to scale personalisation efficiently while increasing mid-funnel engagement and emotional relevance. Recommendations for advertisers include limiting personalisation variables to a small number of meaningful contextual triggers, such as location or daypart, while using modular scripts that can scale across campaigns.
Long-form host-read advertising also emerged as one of the most effective formats tested. Extended 120-second host-read ads generated roughly double the unaided recall achieved by shorter 30-second host-read executions. Longer formats gave brands more time to communicate benefits, tell stories and deepen audience understanding, while trusted hosts amplified both credibility and emotional connection.
The report suggests that sequential audio strategies may deliver the strongest overall impact. For example, brands can use trusted host reads to build awareness and emotional connection, followed by dynamic or interactive formats designed to reinforce relevance and drive conversion. Rather than treating audio as a single-format channel, the report recommends using multiple audio formats strategically across different stages of the customer journey.
Ultimately, Turning Volume into Value argues that innovation within audio advertising is reshaping the role audio can play within the wider media mix. Audio is no longer positioned solely as a reach medium, but increasingly as a channel capable of building brand trust, emotional connection, engagement and direct commercial outcomes. The report concludes that advertisers should align audio formats more deliberately with campaign objectives, using different forms of audio creative to support awareness, consideration and conversion across the full marketing funnel.
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