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Incremental advertising impact:
How digital audio enhances radio
At the latest since the Digital Audio Study 2023 we know: Digital audio works. Advertising on this channel is credible, activates and contributes to brand popularity. And it sticks in people's minds, as the figures from the study show.
In order to deepen the findings on the effects of audio advertising, we conducted our advertising impact analysis Swiss Ad Impact we accompanied various campaigns from the "Automotive", "Travel, Leisure, Tourism" and "Fashion & Sport" sectors, which used corresponding advertising budgets for radio and digital audio. From December 2023 to August 2024, over 1,500 15- to 79-year-olds from German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland were surveyed.
The results of the advertising impact studies concluded that digital audio boosts the advertising impact of radio in a variety of ways.
Key Fact 1: Digital audio effectively complements radio campaigns and increases recall.
In the campaigns analyzed, the highest advertising recall was achieved in all cases through a combination of digital audio and radio. An analysis of the advertising budgets used also shows that the higher the share of digital audio in the total advertising spend, the greater the increase in ad recognition for the entire campaign.
Ad recognition digital audio and radio (with increasing advertising budgets)
Ad recognition for the campaign in the "Automotive" segment is 14%, while for the campaign in the "Travel, Leisure, Tourism" segment it is 17%. While the two campaigns had comparable budgets, a higher proportion was invested in digital audio overall in the second case (5% vs. 14%), which led to a correspondingly higher overall advertising recall.
Key Fact 2: From a budget of CHF 30,000 for digital audio, advertising recall increases disproportionately.
A regression analysis was used to analyze ad recognition as a function of the gross investment in digital audio. The result: from a budget investment of CHF 30,000 for digital audio, the percentage ad recognition increases disproportionately, which means that the overall campaign can benefit from a significantly stronger advertising impact.
Ad recognition as a function of gross spend
Key Fact 3: By using radio together with digital audio, advertisers can also optimize the overall impact of the campaign.
If we look at other levels of impact of audio advertising in addition to ad recognition, we can see that the combination of radio and digital audio also has a clear activating effect.
For example, the purchase intention shows that 57% of people who remember the radio and digital audio advertising also intend to buy the product. A combination of radio and digital audio advertising therefore clearly achieves the greatest effectiveness.
Ad impact at different levels of effectiveness
Key Fact 4: Digital audio in the media mix significantly increases advertising recall among young people.
It is not really surprising and yet very pleasing: if digital audio is added to the media mix, this significantly increases the ad recognition of advertising among the young target group. Respondents who are in education also remembered the relevant advertising significantly more often.
Advertising recall among the younger target group
Conclusion
The nine Swiss Ad Impact studies carried out to date from a wide range of sectors show that audio is an above-average activating channel: Audio as a combination of radio and digital audio is an above-average activating channel in the media mix, especially for sales.
The campaigns analyzed used an additional advertising budget to play existing radio spots via digital audio channels as well.
Ad impact in comparison (indexed)
By combining radio and digital audio, advertisers can not only reach a broader and younger target group, but also improve the memorability and overall impact of their campaigns.