An average of 111.3 million people watched Super Bowl LI on network TV and there were 190.8 million social media interactions, according to Nielsen. The average cost to advertise was $5 million for a 30–second spot. That’s a particularly high cost – especially when the impact of Super Bowl ads to influence brand purchase is minimal.
Super Bowl is an event where everyone eats and sits around the TV to watch the commercials. According to YouGov Brand Index, 52% of U.S. Adults are very/somewhat excited to watch Super Bowl commercials. While 49% of adults stated that these commercials greatly/somewhat enhance their impression of a brand, only 6% stated that seeing the Super Bowl ad was the only reason that they purchased that particular brand. In fact, based upon this same survey, the greater majority of adults stated that it had no influence on their decision to purchase an advertised brand. Even with all the anticipation and water cooler talk the morning after, of those respondents that watched last year’s Super Bowl, only 8% remembered all of the details of those commercials.
Radio reaches 179.7 million people over the age of 12 every day. Is it fair to compare the daily listening audience to the audience viewing an event of that magnitude? Perhaps not, but it illustrates one very important point – people listen.
In the case of radio, they aren’t just listening; they are being influenced by the brands they hear on-air. Based upon data from Nielsen studies that measured the sales impact of radio advertising, radio delivered an average return of $10 for every $1 spent in advertising. Across several categories, radio advertising influenced behavior and specifically, radio 1) brought in more shoppers, 2) increased the number of shopping occasions and 3) increased the amount spent during those shopping occasions.
So how does radio do this? Perhaps it is the unique and personal connection that radio has with its listeners and the positive environment radio helps to create. It may also be the personalities on those radio stations that are trusted by the listeners and are like a friend. Radio helps to build brand and drive sales.
If you have first-hand experience of radio driving sales for you or know of an advertiser who experienced radio’s powerful ability to influence behavior, we’d love to hear it.