Media fragmentation has created problems across industries, including Retail, and CPG is the same. Decisions regarding strategic planning are becoming increasingly tricky as brands seek an effective solution to the crisis in the cost of living, the rapid growth of online shopping, the changing expectations of consumers, customers’ demand for personalized experiences, and the fragmentation of the advertising environment.
There are numerous opportunities for retailers and companies to use the advantages of digital audio to adapt to the ever-changing purchase path, as per studies conducted by WARC, an expert in efficiency in marketing, and Spotify, The streaming audio platform.
Sonic Boom: how digital audio could aid Retail and CPG Companies Win on the Journey to Purchase provides the results from a study that surveyed more than 350 CPG and retail marketing executives in countries like the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The book includes the following:
- Deep-dive interviews that explore new ideas about the role of music in media.
- A look at the trends and spending patterns in the media industry.
- A focus on digital audio.
Aditya Kishore, Director, Insights, WARC, said: “The challenge in determining the most effective mix of media has gotten more difficult since the past few years, making it increasingly difficult for marketers. This study, developed together with Spotify offers valuable insights into the landscape of media across two continents as well as the potential importance of digital audio in the midst of a period of unprecedented dispersion of media.”
John Gregory, Global Category Development Officer Retail, Spotify, commented: “For advertisers, it’s vital to build brand recognition and increase loyalty by providing the customer with the expectation that brands with a strong reputation know their customers and are able to provide pertinent merchandise and highly customized services that are tailored to their individual requirements. Our desire to gain a better understanding of the relationship between advertising and interaction with media led Spotify to conduct this study together with WARC.”
Justin Faiber, Category Development Officer CPG, Spotify, added, “As consumers are ‘always on’ and the ways consumers engage with advertising from brands is in constant change, we found it essential to highlight digital audio’s place as a marketing lever within the media mix that brands can’t overlook.”
The most important findings in the report include:
- Ninety-five percent of Retail and CPG marketers are rethinking their strategies for marketing. Their primary goal is to deploy a more comprehensive array of media platforms.
With the changing path from purchase to purchase and brands seeking to increase their ROI and higher ROI, 96% of Retail and CPG companies have rethought their strategies for advertising in the past five years. About three-quarters (59 percent) have invested in innovative platforms that can increase reach for campaigns and reach, and 50 percent have greater importance on channels that can be purchased, such as retail media and social commerce.
Rene Lassauzet, Head of Brand and Creative Excellence and The LEAD – Content Studio, Nestle USA, stated: “Fundamentally, the landscape is becoming increasingly complex and multi-dimensional. It was a few years ago that there was a lull of the three or four contact points. Digital technology was exploding and opened up possibilities to create content and brands communications. This became increasingly complicated as generational shifts. There are now Gen X, Millenials and Gen Z and brands must have the ability to reach these people.”
The research suggests that in most cases, Retail and CPG companies spread their investments throughout 3.4 channels. Social media use is nearly all-encompassing (85 percent of the respondents) and is followed by online video and display (60 percent) and printed (44 percent). Podcast advertising (30 percent) and music streaming services (26 percent) did well.
About two-thirds (62 percent) of Retail and CPG marketers that promoted streaming services for music in the past 12 months consider these an integral part of the overall mix of advertising.
- North American and European consumers consume 20 percent of all their time listening to digital audio. Yet, retail brands invest only 1.4 percent, and CPG companies 1.1 percent of their advertising budgets in audio.
Digital audio is a popular choice for consumers. It is rising, yet there’s a noticeable gap between the share of investment and consumption.
In the 16 to 64 age group, Digital audio systems are now a significant part of the time they spend using media. This figure increases to 25% among younger viewers. People aged 16-24 in the US spend more time per day using digital audio than all types of social media.
The share of investments is still relatively low compared to the share of consumption. The US digital audio platforms are attracting 1.4 percent of Retail and 1.1 percent of CPG budgets. The investment in Europe is much lower and ranges between 0.8 percent to 0.2 percent.
- Sixty-four percent of Retail and CPG marketers plan to boost the amount they spend on podcast advertising, while 55 percent will invest more in streaming music services.
By 2022, the volume of downloads for podcasts doubled in Spain and nearly doubled in France. Listeners are joining from all age ranges and a variety of demographics. Marketers are striving to gain the advantage of the digital music explosion, and investment in digital audio is rising.
Most Retail and CPG marketers anticipate their budgets to grow in 2023. Sixty-four percent of them will increase spending on advertising for podcasts, and 55% spending more on music streaming services.
- Digital audio is exceptionally efficient in the purchase path.
Digital audio’s popularity is generally positive, particularly within North America, and most Retail and CPG marketing professionals know the advantages of digital audio in both challenging and soft metrics.
Digital audio’s main strengths that surveyors have praised include its extensive first-party information and its high receptivity to advertising, which can assist Retail and CPG companies in increasing their impact while improving targeting accuracy.
The research conducted by Neuro-Insight discovered that the average digital audio listening levels are fourteen percent more than television as well as 18 percent more than social media, and 23 percent more than terrestrial radio. CPG companies are especially favorable to podcasting, with 81% of them citing a high level of engagement from listeners.
Link:- https://advanced-television.com/2023/05/03/report-digital-audio-can-help-win-path-to-purchase/