Why radio?

Why is sound the most effective bearer of messages within mass communication?

You can not see when you are not watching, but you can hear when you are not listening. How else could you hear a thief on the lower floor of your house when you are upstairs? It is hard not to react on sounds, whilst your eyes only register impressions when they are open and are focused on the message.

Sound is intrusive, hard to catch and irresistible.

The strengths of radio media

The radio media offers some unique qualities that makes it an attractive media for advertising

Reach your target group whenever you want

Since radio communicates in real time, you as an advertiser can choose when you would like your target group to be able to hear your radio spot. With a newspaper ad you can never know for sure when your ad is read. With radio, you are sure to reach your customer during the right circumstances, for example when your listener is hungry for lunch or is about to shop during the afternoon. Radio is also the media that is consumed to the greatest extent during daytime, when consumers are most active and make the most purchases. This equals active consumers, right circumstances and the best time to influence the customer.

Intrusive media

Radio is, contrary to static, an intrusive media. A newspaper is a static media. Allow us to explain: If you are in need of a bicycle, you will notice all the bike ads in a newspaper. This will occur because you are interested and are in the market for one. However, if you are not interested in purchasing a bike, you will just skim through the newspaper and not notice the bike ads. Radio, on the other hand, is an intrusive media and as a consumer you will hear the commercial ad for bikes at many occasions. Consumers can not skim through radio commercials, since they are always listening. Through repeated messages, advertisers are able to create a consumer need, and when the need for a purchase is created, the advertiser will be the one who is top-of-mind.

Cost efficient

Production and contract costs are often lower for radio than for other media when advertising. This allows for more and longer spots, and makes it possible for a higher reach and frequency compared to other media. It also allows for smaller or local actors to use the media efficiently. Also, it is easy to adjust a spot to fit a certain purpose or customer need.

High voice share

When your spot is aired, you are the only advertiser that is noticed at that moment, compared to an ad in a newspaper where there are often many advertisers on one page.

Few people avoid radio commercials

Only 16% of the radio listeners avoid radio commercials and that number is significantly lower than for other media. One explanation is that radio listeners often do something at the same time as they listen to radio and do not experience the commercials as disturbing.