New research carried out by Amárach Research on behalf of Urban Media shows how radio and digital advertising can work together effectively to build a brand and deliver new sales.The research, Understanding the Relationship between Radio and Digital, drew on a campaign created by Urban Media for the Irish food company Boutique 
Bake, which was active for four weeks in September of 2016. The campaign was active across the radio, digital and social assets of the radio brands that Urban Media represents. The research demonstrated the strong relationship between radio and digital with 62% of people saying they had gone online after hearing a radio advert. Of those who went online, 89% said that they went directly to an advertisers’ website. Even more significantly, 83% of those who went online to find out more said that they followed this up by looking for the product in a shop. At the end of the campaign, through the till sales had grown by 189%, according to the research while it saw a 175% increase in brand awareness and 96% increase in purchase intent for Boutique Bake.
According to Catherine Buggy founder of Boutique Bake: “the campaign had a hugely positive impact on my business even outside of the obvious increases in sales and awareness. The first big benefit was in my relationships with my various retail buyers. The campaign has also helped to build the credibility of the Boutique Bake brand name amongst new customers. As a relatively new food business in a category with some well established brands, the value of this is key and will be a long term benefit of having been involved with such a successful campaign.”
Gerard O’Neill, Chairman of Amárach Research adds: “We run a number of tracking studies for brands to measure the impact of their marketing activities on awareness, cut through etc. The findings from the Urban Media study are some of the most impressive that we have seen in recent years when it comes to shifts in attitudes and in sales performance. What is exciting about the Urban Media study is that it shows the combined impact of multi-channel communications on consumer engagement and retail uplift at a time when most advertisers and their agencies are seeking a new way to measure the effectiveness of their omnichannel strategies”.
“If we’re to expect our clients to invest with us, it’s our responsibility to prove how effectively we can build campaigns for them and the results presented today showcase just how effective we can be. Our campaign with Boutique Bake and Amárach Research has shown dramatic increases in sales, brand awareness and online activity and more importantly helped take a brilliant small Irish business to the next level, something we’re very proud to have been a part of. It also gives our clients some real life metrics to justify their investment with us, knowing that it is providing a significant return, “says Brian McCarthy of Urban Media.
Urban Media, part of The Wireless Group is the national sales house for Dublin’s FM104 and Q102, Cork’s 96fm and C103, Limerick’s Live 95FM, Galway Bay FM, WLR and LMFM.
Source : IMJ, Dec 2016 - Jan 2017 Issue