It’s no secret that brands are facing strong economic headwinds. Fortunately, there is a wealth of data and experience, drawn from marketing savants like Ritson, Binet, Field, Wood and others, that can help the industry weather the storm.
A review of the research suggests three guiding principles that can make a significant difference in not only surviving the inevitable recession, but thriving on the other side. Let’s explore each of these, and their application, in the context of audio-first/audio only advertising.
Don’t lose your voice
Faced with an impending recession, the logical, proactive step may be to cut advertising budgets. But any short-term benefits will be erased in the long term. Share of voice (SOV) is strongly correlated to share of market (SOM), and there are benefits to spending to raise your share of voice above your share of market, namely, growth in your excess share of voice (or ESOV).
Regardless of the balance you try to strike between ESOV, SOV and SOM, the one thing you don’t want to do as an advertiser is to “go silent.” The historic data suggests that brands that maintain or increase their investment in advertising during a downturn generate higher growth than those that reduce their budgets or stop advertising altogether.
If you can grow your excess share of voice from 0% to 8%, marketing models suggest the result will be up to a 10% growth in profit over the long term. Growing your ESOV by 8% or more could yield 5 times the large business effects (profit, pricing, share, penetration, etc.) and 4.5 times the annual market share growth.
True, you may take a short-term profitability hit to maintain SOV and defend your brand, but rebuilding the market share you’ll inevitably lose by reducing your SOV will be expensive, cutting into the profits you hope to see during recovery.
During a recession, there is usually a rise in audio consumption, as consumers spend more time at home or lean into the social and emotional benefits of music consumption. Audio advertising is both an efficient and effective way to increase your “share of ears” and with them, your SOV.
Compared to other media channels, audio provides more bang for your marketing bucks, giving you an opportunity to shift some of your media dollars and expand your SOV across a range of channels.
Don’t lose your voice during a recession. Use it, and where you can, work to amplify it.
Go long
In addition to defending SOV, brands also need to consider their balance between performance and brand advertising.
In their seminal study contrasting brand marketing with performance marketing, Peter Field and Les Binet analyzed the econometric data of 700 brands, across 996 campaigns and 83 brand categories, over the course of 30 years. Their analysis confirmed that performance marketing did, in fact, produce short-term results, but brand marketing that focused on building awareness and creating emotional connections had the biggest impact, yielding twice the revenue as campaigns that focused on performance marketing alone.
It’s astounding that audio is still undervalued as a brand building tool. Most audio advertising is driven by an emphasis on short-term performance messaging and metrics, in part because performance metrics are low hanging fruit, particularly in digital advertising.
Don’t lose your voice during a recession. Use it, and where you can, work to amplify it.
However, audio is extremely well suited for long-term brand messaging that builds memory structures and emotional connections using music, voice, sound design and distinctive sonic assets.
A recession “reset” can be an opportunity to not only grow ESOV through cost-effective audio channels, but to also rethink your approach to audio marketing. This is not to suggest that brands totally abandon advertising that emphasizes price and promotions, but research consistently demonstrates that an over-reliance on short-term sales strategies will ultimately lead to dependency and profit loss.
Unless your survival as a brand depends on servicing the immediate needs of existing customers, take this opportunity to invest in building salience and emotional connection, using your audio advertising to build your brand in the long run, rather than defaulting to short term sales messaging.
Remember: The benefits of long-term brand building will be felt more in the recovery than the recession. Try not to hit the panic button. Lean into opportunities to use sound to build your brand. If you withdraw, it will be difficult to recover the ground you lose.
Get creative
While consumers may struggle with uncertainty and fear, advertising’s ability to connect with people doesn’t wane during a recession. System1 recently published research demonstrating that effective ads actually “wear-in” over time. Unless your current advertising is insensitive, you don’t need to abandon these brand campaigns, as consumers may find value and comfort in messaging that is consistent and familiar.
Creativity plays a major role in advertising effectiveness. In a recession, a commitment to creative messaging matters more than ever, as highly creative campaigns and brand messages cut through the clutter. Audio allows you to be creative not only with the content of your campaign, but with the context in which it’s delivered as well. This is particularly true for digital audio channels. You don’t have to limit your story telling (or in some instances, your call to action) to 30 or 60 seconds. You can choose multiple lengths that best suit your message and drive desired outcomes.
Dynamic audio approaches allow you to adjust the relevancy of the message based on who is listening, where they’re listening and how they’re listening. Voice activated ads, in-game audio and contests that encourage user generated content offer additional ways for consumers to engage with the medium—and foster enhanced connections to your brand. As a bonus, lower costs and speed of production allow you to explore optimizing your campaign in ways that other mediums can’t.
Finally, when it comes to grabbing attention and creating memory structures, distinctive sonic assets significantly outperform visual assets. Brands that have taken the time to create a recognizable sonic identity have an advantage when it comes to capturing the ears (and minds) of consumers. Using sonic logos, brand themes, soundscapes, sonic cues and branded functional sounds in your audio-only/audio-first marketing will build equity in both your brand and your branded assets.
And while audio is an effective tool for creative storytelling and building emotional connections with listeners, it’s imperative that you make “sound decisions” when crafting your audio messages. Work with experienced copywriters, strategists, creative directors and producers who can help you harness the power of sound to shape consumer perception and behavior.
Sound strategy wins
In “The Art of War,” Sun Tzu suggests that “tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Now more than ever, brands need a sound strategy to win. Sound plays a crucial role in highly creative and effective advertising, helping build brand salience and emotional connection with consumers, particularly when it’s amplified across multiple media channels. Even with challenging times ahead, that should be music to marketers’ ears.
