Study: Radio Shines

The dentsu Attention Economy team today announced findings from three new studies measuring attention in audio advertising for the first time.  dentsu conducted these studies in partnership with Lumen Research to measure attention in audio across formats and environments. 

The podcast study was conducted with participating partners Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeart Radio, Spotify and SXM Media. The radio study was conducted with Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeart Radio . Separately, Amazon Ads conducted a study with Amazon Music for advertising on the music streaming service.

Doug Rozen

“Dentsu has been pioneering research in attention via our Attention Economy for the past five years, and we are thrilled to unlock insights on attention in audio—a meaningful first as we innovate dentsu's Attention Economy research across formats,”  said Doug Rozen, CEO dentsu Media Americas. “This data enables us to better serve clients by further proving the value of their investments based on real human-based metrics that can drive better outcomes.”

As dentsu expands its Attention Economy research, the study measured attention to audio ads across Podcasts, Radio and with music streaming.

The study found that audio advertising (including podcasts, radio and music streaming) drove significant attention compared to other ad platforms:

• Average attentive seconds per (000) APM for audio advertising was 10,126 compared to dentsu norms of 6,501 APM
• On average, 41% of audio ads generated correct brand recall (vs. 38% of dentsu norms)
• Brand choice uplift for audio ads was 10% (vs. 6% for dentsu norms)

The study also found that each audio destination has its own unique strength in driving attention and brand impact.

• Podcasts (measured across Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeart Radio, Spotify and SXM Media) drove the highest attentive seconds per thousand impressions compared to other digital, social and TV benchmarks. In addition, we saw that brand choice uplift was higher for host reads compared to traditional audio ads within podcasts.

• Radio (measured across Audacy, Cumulus Media and iHeart Radio) is the most cost-efficient media platform in driving attention per thousand impressions (aCPM). Compared to the average online video ads measured through dentsu’s Attention Economy, the aCPM for radio is 10X more efficient.
• Music Streaming (measured on Amazon Music across voice with Alexa and on mobile or desktop) drove key branding metrics. Brand recall was highest for ad-supported streaming music played on Alexa-enabled devices, and drove even higher brand choice uplift for :30 ads compared to those same ads listened to through a desktop/mobile device.

”Our audio team understands that radio advertising is a cost-efficient way to build reach, that podcast listeners have great affinity not only to the programming but also podcast hosts, and that smart speakers are a compelling new destination for audio ads on streaming services. It was nice to see each of these unique strengths of different audio destinations validated by our audio Attention Economy Study,” said Diana Anderson, SVP, Group Director, National Audio Activation, Carat USA.

Expanding dentsu’s Attention Economy research into audio advertising for the first time, the media agency network worked with research partner Lumen, to devise a methodology to measure attention in audio that is equivalent with measurement across visual media destinations. To conduct the study, respondents were exposed to listening environments similar to their native audio experiences (e.g., selecting a podcast, radio station or genre of music on a streaming service). Post-listening, they were administered dentsu's Attention Economy Survey to gauge ad recall and brand choice uplift compared to a similarly recruited control group. Lumen modeled an attention score which is equivalent to that based on visual attention using the factors collected (including passively collected audio listening data, survey results and type of ad exposure).

“Dentsu has been a valued partner of Lumen Research as we’ve chartered new territory in understanding attention and building new norms and metrics in the space,” said Mike Follett, CEO of f Lumen. “We’re excited to have a new way to look at attention in audio and eager to continue testing with their clients.”

The study is the latest to be released by dentsu’s Attention Economy which was established in 2018 and is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. The Attention Economy was the industry’s first attention-focused study and is the world’s largest in scale and scope of its kind. The program has defined the true value of attention across channels and formats and revolutionized the way the advertising industry plans, measures, and buys media. Visit the Attention Economy website to learn more.