Paul Dervan, CMO of The National Lottery highlighted that they had used audio for very short information ads telling people details about the jackpot amount. The National Lottery decided to spend time focussing on how to use audio differently – how could they use audio to deliver an emotional response, to get people excited about the potential that they could win - “it could be you”. They changed their approach and instead of making lots of audio comms every few weeks, instead, they focused on making a small number of very effective ads that could run over a number of months, that wouldn’t have wear out – in same way they approached their TV and video comms. These audio ads would still be supported by tactical audio communicating jackpot amounts.

Paul explained that they really invested time in the writing and didn’t place a condition on the length of the ad. They studied orthodoxies –audio ads often had very similar sound effects, they produced “radio” acting, rather than real acting and the ads often appeared rushed, lacking craft. The National Lottery brought in a director to create their audio ads, few brands do this, they used real actors, and spent time casting and crafting their story. They made a conscious decision that they wouldn’t be rushed into the cycle of making short term ads. They invested time effort and money to make great audio that could be aired on an ongoing basis. And it worked, with their audio comms receiving extremely high System 1 effectiveness scores, embedding their story into people’s memories, eliciting an emotional response which delivers results in the short and long term.

Ralph van Dijk, founder of the award-winning agency Eardrum said that, although it is widely accepted that brands need a strong mix of long-term brand building comms and short-term activation, radio is dominated by short term tactics.  And yet, radio is uniquely placed to build long term brand equity – brands can be with listeners in a most intimate one on one environment, they can show up at the most relevant times of day and most importantly, they can put the listener at the centre of their comms.  Commercials on TV, video, out of home, online usually show other people interacting with a brand, with audio, you can easily make the listener the central character to intrigue and involve the listener. Ralph played an example of an Australian smoking cessation audio campaign called Quit that helped people stop smoking by making the listener the centre of the comms. The TV, digital and out of home elements of the campaign built awareness but it was the audio campaign that made it directly relevant to people. Interactions with the campaign through calls/search increased by 112% once the radio element of the campaign began.

Ralph also spoke about the power of music to activate limbic systems, accessing people’s emotions and memories and explained that no visual stimulus affects us quite as strongly. Radio advertisers can play ads in amongst the most powerful music and can include music in their audio comms. Ipsos’ Power of You research concluded that featuring audio assets like a sonic logo, brand anthem, and brand voice are likely to be 8 times more effective. Ralph also spoke about trust and how humans trust their ears more than eyes. Tone, tempo, inflection of someone’s voice to judge their authenticity is hugely important and the currency of authenticity has never been more valuable. The current generation spot a fake a mile off. If you want your brand to be liked, it must be trusted. And to be trusted, it must be authentic.

Ralph concluded with 5 key learnings for creating effective audio:

Allow room for the listener to be involved.

Add emotions using music and storytelling.

Built trust using authentic voices.

Unite comms with consistent sonic brand assets.

Create long term campaign platforms.

‍

You can watch the full webinar by clicking the link below.

‍

‍