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Radio delivers in crisis

Radio delivers in crisis – case studies of brands successfully integrating radio

EGTA, our international trade body, has pulled together a number case studies of advertisers that either decided to try out radio for the first-time during lockdown, or to creatively adapt their existing radio campaigns. The examples below illustrate the resilience of radio as a medium and the added value it brings to the media mix.

GERMANY – Motor oil – increased purchase intent and expanded customer base

German motor oil brand LIQUI MOLY  decided to include radio in its media mix for the first time ever to complement their TV, print and online campaign. The goal of the campaign, that ran in April and May, was to increase brand awareness, to develop LIQUI MOLY as a first-choice brand and to win new customers. An extensive market research analysis via the Brand effect module of the Audioeffekt research study, was used to examine and evaluate whether audio advertising was successful. To showcase the effect of audio in combination with visual media, three different groups of people were compared: a group with no campaign recall, a group that recalled exposure to visual media without audio, and a third group that recalled both visual and audio campaign. The awareness of the brand’s slogan was 15% amongst the group with no recall, 64% for the group with visual recall and 75% for both media. This clearly demonstrated the added value radio brings to a TV campaign. LIQUI MOLY was a first-choice brand for 18% of the no-recall group, 39% of the visual group and 49% of those recalling the full campaign with TV and radio. Similar results were achieved in purchase intent (19% vs 53% vs 65% with full campaign). The campaign was also particularly effective among new customers who haven’t used LIQUI MOLY before (64% of respondents). Among these new potential customers, the propensity to buy was only 9% for no recall but 41% for those who recalled the full campaign. The brand was very happy with the results and especially pleased with the new customers the campaign managed to reach.

NORWAY – Outdoor brand – trying out radio and tripling sales

Hekta På Tur is a Norwegian outdoor equipment store that saw the opportunity to reach a wide audience via radio during a time when many Norwegians were looking for outdoor equipment. It was the first time the brand tried a radio campaign and the results exceeded all expectations. April sales increased by 200% compared to the previous year, a lot of new customers also registered for newsletters and thus expanded the brand’s leads. One of the spots focused on portable cooking equipment and as a result more of these items were sold during the first four months of the year than during the last two years combined.

BELGIUM Camper vans – seizing the opportunity and driving +191% traffic to the web

The Belgian Caravan-Camping and Motorhome Association (BCCMA) has as its mission the promotion of traveling by campervans and traditionally advertises during autumn around the annual moto fair for these vehicles. With COVID-19 they saw an opportunity to create a buzz around campervan holidays as a safe alternative with a staycation in your own bubble. Traditionally BCCMA targets people over 50 years old and millennials but during the lockdown they decided to broaden their reach to the 18-64 target group. The Flemish sales house Var placed the campaign across their portfolio of stations Radio 1, Radio 2, Studio Brussels and MNM. The results show that the campaign scored high with listeners in terms of relevance and usefulness and more importantly drove +191% online traffic after the spots were broadcast. The number of page visits of the store locator (the page where people look for the nearest dealer) increased by as much as 424%. Physical traffic to dealers also increased sharply.

UK- Online marketplace – making the most of the “new normal”

The UK online marketplace Gumtree has partnered with Bauer Media on a new radio and social media campaign that ran over the summer, highlighting the abundance of services, motors and second-hand items available. The main mission of Gumtree – helping individuals and businesses to connect with their neighbourhoods to find whatever they need quickly, locally and affordably – resonated during COVID-19. Since Gumtree experienced a 24% increase in searches for second-hand cars during lockdown, the campaign wanted to demonstrate the broad variety of used cars, campervans, bikes, mopeds, and other vehicles available to buy. Gumtree has chosen radio for its resilience in reach and listening time during COVID-19. By partnering with Bauer Media Gumtree could tap into their large portfolio of stations. The ‘Lucky to be Local’ radio campaign launched on July 15th and runs until September 4th 2020. On top of that there were several special promotions and competitions on the individual stations. Absolute Radio ran a high-profile home time promotion for Gumtree Motors, ‘Play Your Cars Right’, listeners had a chance to win up to £1,000, by guessing if the price of a car, chosen from Gumtree, was higher or lower than the previous car. Magic Radio ran a bespoke breakfast promotion tapping into the importance of local communities by testing listeners knowledge of their hometown. Kiss FM ran a weeklong promotion across the KISS Network giving students the chance to win £1,000 towards the staycation of their choice.

UK – Bed brand – getting the right tone in lockdown

Bensons for Beds has a long-term partnership with UK Magic Radio in the UK, the challenge during the COVID-19 was to stay front of mind with audiences while production and deliveries were suspended. The brand decided to focus its messaging on sleep wellness, improving sleep and wellbeing, and moving away from sales driving messaging. On top of adapting the tone of voice, the brand was also featured in three new activities to support audience and community during lockdown. The first was a daily feature posted on Magic social media, featuring an author going through their own bookcase suggesting books people should read during this period. The second was Magic Book Club’s Bedtime Reading with Bensons for Beds – a social sleep tip around the merits of reading in bed, linking in a chance to win an Amazon voucher. The third was Eloise’s Lockdown Tips how to stay healthy and well in mind, body and soul, with a focus on sleep. Magic filmed social tips once a week to provide Bensons with some co-branded content that they can share on their channels.

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