Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

Article • WARC Category Intelligence, September 2019

Global strategies, campaign updates and trends in radio and audio.

Article • Tony Regan, WARC Best Practice, September 2016

This article explores how to formulate an effective advertising strategy on radio, a medium with a historical link to both public broadcasting and branding, and one of the most widely used.

How to use radio effectively in the media mix

Article • Mark Barber, WARC Best Practice, June 2016

This article looks at the uses of the broad reaching, emotionally charged medium of radio that can enhance engagement and increase brand recognition.

What's working in audio

Article • WARC Category Intelligence, July 2020

Global strategies, campaign updates and trends in audio.

A beginner’s guide to messaging, media and measurement in podcast advertising

Article • Giles Martin, WARC Exclusive, July 2020

Covers the basics of advertising in podcasts, looking at considerations for messaging, media and measurement.

Joining the dots at Times Radio

News • 01 July 2020

Times Radio is an ongoing brand campaign, according to Times Newspapers’ general manager, and one which ties in with the title’s pricing strategy.

Brand safety: A playbook for marketers

Article • GroupM, Research on WARC, June 2020

Gives an overview of political, social and technological shifts impacting brand safety at a high level and looks tospecific challenges in five categories currently undergoing rapid transformation: Connected TV, Digital Out-of-Home, Location Data, Audio and Gaming.

Radio ad avoidance may be lower than assumed

News • 01 May 2020

Advertising avoidance may be lower on radio than is often assumed, according to a study focused on Canada that was published in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR).

How audio is responding to the challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown

Article • Brian Carruthers, WARC COVID-19 Series, Mediatel Future of Audio virtual conference, April 2020

The audio medium is rising to the challenge of new ways of working during lockdown and adapting to changing listening habits.

The COVID-19 crisis is shifting how Australian marketers think about media

Article • Josie Tutty, WARC COVID-19 Series, April 2020

A guide to how the outbreak of coronavirus is impacting advertising spend in channels including TV, radio, outdoor and digital media.

A new benchmark for mechanical avoidance of radio advertising: Why radio advertising is a sound investment

Research Paper • Aaron Michelon, Steven Bellman, Margaret Faulkner, Justin Cohen, and Johan Bruwer, Journal of Advertising Research, Digital First, March 2020

Radio remains popular, delivering an audience reach of over 90 percent, but radio ratings may overestimate real advertising exposure.

The impact of COVID-19 on media strategy

Article • MediaSense, WARC COVID-19 Series, March 2020

An exploration of how the global coronavirus outbreak might impact ad spend across paid media channels.

How speech delivery speed impacts audio ads

News • 28 February 2020

Audio ads would benefit from slowing down the delivery of speech instead of attempting to fit in as much information as possible at a rapid rate, according to a paper in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR).

Media close-up: Australian Radio Network

Article • WARC Exclusive, February 2020

Part of a Q&A interview series looking at media owners across the globe, this media close-up looks at the Australian Radio Network (ARN).

We need to talk about brand accretion

Opinion • Alex Brownsell, January 2020

Global’s newly-revealed plan for its audio and OOH businesses hints at a bigger change in the roles that brand-building and performance advertising will play in delivering marketing outcomes.

Media owner profile: Global sets out its plans to combine audio and OOH media

Article • Alex Brownsell, WARC Exclusive, January 2020

Global’s director of commercial digital, Ollie Deane, explains the company’s integration of its radio, digital audio and newly-acquired OOH media assets.

Local radio strategy works wonders for brand lift

Article • Tammy Greenberg, ANA Magazine, Forward, December 2019

Understanding local cultural nuances, tapping into current events, and helping to shape local trends makes a difference in establishing long-term relationships with consumers, and no medium is better for this than radio.

Reimagining radio as a tech brand

Opinion • Lucy Barrett, November 2019

Lucy Barrett explains the motivations behind Radiocentre’s latest ad campaign, calling for advertisers to see radio differently by imagining it as a new technology.

Do your ads talk too fast to your audio audience? How speech rates of audio commercials influence cognitive and physiological outcomes

Research Paper • Emma Rodero, Journal of Advertising Research, Digital First, October 2019

Speech rate plays a critical role in understanding speech and therefore in advertising messages. Announcers tend to speak fast in radio and television commercials.

Dialing up creative strategies for radio ads: Melding storytelling with solid data

Article • Tammy Greenberg, ANA Magazine, Forward, September 2019

In today's increasingly fragmented media world, appealing to a person's ears is more important than ever and radio, with its massive scale and significant time broadcasting to most every target demographic, wins share of ear.

Programmatic audio: Using sound to create emotion and drive action

Article • Alex Brownsell, Event Reports, IAB Interact, June 2019

Though digital audio content consumption is rising, research by Xaxis and IAB Europe reveals brands are yet to capitalise on the full benefits offered by the medium.

Does Highly-Awarded Audio Creative Sell?

Research Paper • Pierre Bouvard, ARF Experiential Learning, AUDIENCExSCIENCE, April 2019

Cumulus Media, a radio broadcasting stations company, completed a creative study conducted in partnership with audio testing experts VERITONIC, to examine ads from the most prestigious advertising and creative award shows.

Education needed in programmatic audio

News • 18 July 2019

While marketers are conservative in their approach to allocating significant budgets to audio, there is an opportunity to increase programmatic audio spend if the sector can address concerns around measurement.

Digital audio picks up momentum

News • 04 July 2019

Advertiser confidence in digital audio is growing, according to new research, with 86% of agencies and 66% of brands in the UK viewing the channel as an important part of their media strategies.

Oversaturated visual world sparks demand for audio advertising

Article • Justin Merickel, ANA Magazine, Forward, June 2019

Explains why marketers need to take a much closer look at the growing popularity of digital audio such as streaming music and on-demand podcasts and the opportunity they offer for their brand's cross-channel advertising strategy.

Radio & audio