The Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group has released a new analysis of two creative approaches to political ads. And they say the results show that utilizing candidate-voiced ads in political campaigns and customizing the copy with station-specific language asking for input from listeners drove greater voter intent and were more uplifting.
Ads voiced by a political candidate outperformed both Veritonic political campaign benchmarks and political ads with a professional voiceover. Candidate-voiced ads also drove higher voter intention lift (+6) compared to Veritonic political benchmarks (+5) and professional voiceover ads (+5).
“Political candidates need radio,” said Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer, Cumulus Media. “The TV landscape is always going to be cluttered leading up to elections. AM/FM radio offers candidates a way to cut through the noise. We know that one of the big reasons listeners turn to radio is to feel connected. They trust the medium. Political candidates who have ads on the radio can benefit from the halo effect of being in such a trusted environment. With the new best practices uncovered in this analysis, not only will political candidates reach listeners who are primed to receive their message, but they will be set up for success by connecting with their most important target audience – swing voters.”
Bouvard cut a 10-minute video about the new findings. Watch it HERE.
