The Retail Market Today
We are in a growth period post-pandemic as brands respond to the new normal. “The retail market is absolutely rebounding,” stated Biemolt, “We work with brands that have reimagined their overall operation within the pandemic and are starting to thrive.” This has resulted in increased demand, “specifically for reaching audiences in digital audio.”
Business as usual isn’t cutting it. “The impact of the pandemic was seen early on,” he explained, “Those retailers that, through the pandemic, added Ecommerce, really changed their consumer journey.” They improved convenience and safety as consumers could shop digitally at brick and mortar stores and then pick up their merchandise with curbside pickup at the store itself. “It was forced evolution in a significant way,” he concluded.
Brick and Mortar stores are adapting to a new shopping experience. “The convenience of shopping online or curbside pickup is nice,” Capuano began, “but there is still a future for brick and mortar. For sure, a lot of habits have changed, but for retailers, they are looking at the experiences for shopping in their brick and mortar location. Some retailers have really focused in on experience. Walmart even coined the term retailtainment where there's a reason for going to the store. Some stores have a bar or restaurant or a giant fish tank or bands playing and entertainment, so your retail shopping experience has changed a little bit.”
Audio’s Capabilities and Value
“People are ready to get back out and shop,” Capuano noted. “And for advertisers, their spending is now starting to pick up as demand gets back.” Radio plays an important role to drive in-store traffic, according to Capuano. “You will see retailers that use radio, in particular, around sales events - Memorial Day, weekend sales, or even up into holidays - and now it's even a little bit more year round.” She added that advertising in addition to radio, additional platforms as digital audio streaming podcast integrations help brands get a little bit deeper. “Data is extremely important in targeting and in attribution as well, so that's that plays really nicely into what digital audio can provide,” she noted.
Audio adds reach and engagement. Much of that, according to Biemolt, “is being driven by podcasting and steaming audio.” With all of the teleconferencing in the past year, “Audio is an engagement experience and in many cases, is the new screen. As my client said, the new screen is no screen. Audio’s ability to reach the consumer not only from an engagement standpoint but to truly drive mid funnel and lower funnel activity, is what many brands have seen with the use of audio holistically in the last 14 months of the pandemic.”
Audio’s Pivot to Address Marketplace Changes
Data reigns supreme in the Audio’s world. “Not only are we providing research illustrating the engagement that audio provides, but, as people are running their audio campaigns with us, we're establishing set KPIs, whether it is brand awareness or sales activity or wherever in the funnel you want the outcome to be,” Biemolt stated. Measurement of these KPIs is part of the partnerships Audacy has with key measurement companies who data and metrics can be applied to clients’ campaign management. “Did they go to the store? Did they go to the client site? Did they make a purchase? That kind of lean forward is where we've helped these brands … and illustrate in so many categories how audio can be effective use in their marketing plans.”
Cakim showcased a study that Audacy is doing on return on audio spend. “Specifically in the Retail category looking at all these national advertisers’ media mix plans from the past three years, we can see that the retail industry is currently 22% under investing in audio,” she explained. “There is much room for growth, not only from a growth perspective, but also in efficiency and effectiveness. We know that coupling over the air and digital in these plans is critical. There is tremendous opportunity in the marketplace for retailers looking to attract more audiences into more customers into stores - physical stores, online stores, curb side pickup - whichever channel works best for them. Audio can be a great way to bring the customer lead the customer and convert the shopper from a looker to a buyer.”
The Future of Audio and Retail
When customers go into a brick and mortar store, audio can provide, “a theater of the mind,” noted Biemolt. “You don't have to always see the product, but be able to describe the experience you may get by going into the store.”
Cakim added that Nielsen just released a consumer insight survey in June, “where we saw, perhaps counter-intuitively, that all forms of shopping increased in-store, online, curbside picking. What that means is that shopping is the new entertainment as people are getting ready to go back to normal. Also, 90%+ of audiences across the board and 91% of Radio audience said they're ready to go back to normal. With this enthusiasm and optimism comes this quest to shop and that's a tremendous opportunity. We are not seeing a drop in curb side pickup. We're not seeing a drop in online shopping. We're seeing an increase across the board in all forms of shopping. That's what the Nielsen data showed.”
For Audacy specifically, Cakim shared that, “We also look into how valuable these shoppers are from an audio perspective. Streamers, for instance, are really valuable shoppers across every single category. They spend more than average according to MRI Simmons.”
The future is bright for audio. “I'm really excited about where audio is right now in terms of many conversations that we're having with brands directly retailers and their advertising agencies,” Capuano said. “There's a lot of interest in audio because of all the innovations. Expansion into the digital audio space will only continue to grow.”
For Biemolt, voice and smart speakers are contributing to, “The audio Renaissance that's happening right now. Brands are rediscovering audio. For consumers, audio provides an escape and it’s also an engaging medium. Over the next two years, I think that's we're just going to continue to see many, many more brands use it to a higher level.”
This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
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