In a recent study aimed at understanding the point when an ad or campaign’s effectiveness declines due to repeated exposure to the message (i.e creative wearout), the Advertising Benchmark Index (ABX) found that a focus on ad creative effectiveness is much more important than worrying about wearout. Indeed, the ABX study points out that wearout really isn’t a factor for the vast majority of ad campaigns, and this is especially true for radio where spend levels are generally too low to invite wearout. 

Creative effectiveness, on the other hand, is a significant driver of sales performance, ranging from 50-75% of an ad’s success. ABX thus concludes that tapping into practices that will enhance and improve campaign efficacy should be major considerations for all marketers. 

What does that mean exactly? And how does this help make the case for marketing on public media?

Consider the following three efficacy measures, according to ABX:

1. Audibility

Ads must be easy to hear and understand. Specifically:

• Talent with a clear voice
• Simple voiceover with minimal background effects
• Ads with no background music are, on average, 12% more impactful than those with background effects.

This already bodes well for public media sponsor messages. Our credits are simple sponsor ID messages by definition, as we are legally required not to make them promotional in nature or sound.  

2. Ad Length

Length should only be as long as it takes to deliver the message. ROI comes into play here because, as ABX states, “while a :30 can be more effective than a :15, once you divide it by the amount invested, the shorter ones perform better.”

Shorter messages that perform better? Sounds familiar. Public radio messages are typically :15 seconds or shorter within an already uncluttered media environment. It follows, then, that a placement on public radio can help increase ad creative efficacy. 

3. Brand Is Hero

Ensure the brand is the hero of the storyline. You don’t want to get so lost in the story that the brand becomes secondary. And be careful of using celebrities, which can cause ad recall to be “the ad with John Legend” versus “the Pfizer ad with John Legend.” That is not the result you want. 

A brand-focused approach helps make a powerful case for public media. Not only do FCC guidelines prohibit celebrity or other endorsements, but our ability to enhance our sponsors’ brand trust and loyalty by associating with our own trusted brand (i.e. The Halo Effect) is unmatched in media. 

Finally, when we consider that public media can deliver on all three of ABX’s measures of ad efficacy, not only are we an effective medium for optimizing creative, but we become a very cost effective choice for our sponsors as well.