WWO: Radio Powers ROI

Westwood One, the largest radio network in the U.S., has announced results of the first Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) sales effect study conducted for an AM/FM radio campaign in the personal care brand category.

“Westwood One has been very vocal that AM/FM radio delivers an impressive return on investment for brand marketers,” said Suzanne Grimes, EVP Marketing, Cumulus Media and President, Westwood One. “Today, we back that statement up with a NCS study for a major personal care brand, which shows a $12 return on advertising spend for every dollar of AM/FM radio advertising. NCS is the gold standard for CPG sales measurement, and these findings show that a personal care brand can use radio to realize impressive sales lift and a powerful return on ad spend.”

“As evidenced by its industry-wide ROI Guarantee, Westwood One has put sales at the center of its relationships with marketers,” said Matt O’Grady, CEO, Nielsen Catalina Solutions. “The most effective way to measure the sales driven by advertising is by connecting purchase data with media exposures to understand how advertising impacts sales at the register.”

NCS calibrates the largest shopper dataset of over 90 million unique households, from Catalina, with Nielsen's retail sales and consumer panel data, to represent nearly 100% of total US all-outlet CPG spend. Using an advanced methodology, NCS can connect Nielsen's gold-standard Radio Ratings data with shopper data to understand what advertising households were exposed to and how it impacted their purchasing.

Other key findings from the study:

• Market share growth: Increased purchasing came at the expense key competitors in the category. 
• Sales growth: The campaign drove a positive sales lift of 8% for the men’s personal care brand.
• Sales drivers: Sales growth was impacted by more spending per trip.
• Heavy category buyers were activated: Those who buy often in the category were the most responsive to the radio campaign and generated most of the incremental sales.