Report: Radio May Provide Highest ROI

What's the best medium for delivering eye-popping return on investment? Strangely enough, it may be radio, at least in a study of 10 brands from last year, reports Ad Age.

Despite a recent flood of studies and marketer statements validating returns from Facebook and other digital media, radio beats most of those glowing digital ROI numbers in a study of 10 brands that advertised on Clear Channel stations.

The study is from Nielsen Catalina Solutions, which combined data from Nielsen's newly acquired radio-audience measurement business with shopper-card data from Catalina.

Brands averaged a sales lift of more than $6 for every $1 spent on radio ads – an ROI double that of even the best results from many recent studies of digital or TV media, including one from France and Coca-Cola that Facebook recently touted.

One retail brand delivered an almost unheard of $23.21 in sales lift for every $1 invested, though a soft drink brand at the low end of the range delivered a more pedestrian $1.38.

The study was presented at the Advertising Research Foundation's Re:Think 2014 conference in New York on Monday. Though it was sponsored by Clear Channel, "We didn't touch the data," said Radha Subramanyam, exec VP-insights, research and analytics of Clear Channel Media & Entertainment, which sponsored the research. "We let [Nielsen Catalina] do all the analysis."

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