Westwood One’s Pierre Bouvard revealed some impressive statistics regarding radio in an interview with Inside Radio.
Radio ‘Increases Retail’ At Holidays
As retailers prep their holiday advertising blitz, radio should be a must-buy, according to one leading industry executive. Pierre Bouvard, chief marketing officer for Cumulus Media and Westwood One, says radio offers advertisers unparalleled access, reaching 180 million Americans on Black Friday and 63% of adults 25-54, according to Nielsen.
Equally important, Bouvard notes, is that radio stations connect with consumers at critical points on the path to purchasing—at work and on the go. “Radio’s stellar ability to increase retail sales is due to the mobile nature of [its] audience,” Bouvard says in a new blog post. Radio ads are effective for both traditional stores and online retailers, Bouvard adds. For instance, radio is the most-used media from 6am to 7pm—when brick-and-mortar stores are open and consumers are out of home, providing opportunities to hit them with retail ads. That same exposure helps digital retailers too, as consumers listening at work can go online during the workday or later in the evening. And, with mobile sales steadily growing, consumers can be inspired by a radio ad to make a virtual purchase anytime.
This holiday season, industry forecasts are predicting strong retail sales and brands are eager to capture their share of the dollars. Both Deloitte and the National Retail Federation say retail sales will increase this season, with growth estimates between 3.5%-4%, and some forecasts call for consumers to spend more this year. Even before Black Friday and Cyber Monday—two of the biggest shopping days of the year—consumers are already making purchases, with 57% of Americans shopping in November, up from 54% last year, according to the NRF.
Online shopping is steadily growing as well, with two-thirds of Americans planning to do some holiday buying online, up 12% from 2014, according to the NRF.
While radio has a history of driving physical sales—radio stations frequently offer the last word a shopper hears before going into a store—Bouvard says broadcast radio is proving its worthiness for online retailers. Last summer, when Amazon staged its one-day Prime event, radio was credited with the highest conversion of advertising awareness to purchase, surpassing online and TV ads, according to Ipsos research. Similarly, Ipsos found consumers who heard radio ads for Amazon competitor jet.com were more likely to use the new site than other media users.
The intel all confirms radio’s power, Bouvard says: “Radio excels at driving store traffic and sales.”
Inside Radio
November 24th, 2015
