The Attention Economy team at Dentsu has revealed findings from three groundbreaking studies on attention in audio advertising, a first in the field. The studies were undertaken in collaboration with Lumen Research and included prominent radio broadcasters Audacy, Cumulus Media, and iHeartRadio as well as audio platforms such as Amazon Ads, Spotify, and SXM Media.
Dentsu’s ongoing five-year Attention Economy Research focuses on understanding and quantifying audience attention across different media formats. The inclusion of audio advertising in this research marks a significant expansion of its coverage.
The studies looked at attention in audio across podcasts, radio, and music streaming services. They discovered that audio advertising significantly captured audience attention compared to other advertising platforms. Moreover, each audio destination demonstrated unique strengths in grabbing attention and influencing brand impact.
According to the findings, audio advertising drove higher attentive seconds per thousand impressions, better brand recall, and stronger brand choice uplift compared to other advertising platforms.
Radio, featuring Audacy, Cumulus Media, and iHeart Radio, was found to be the most cost-efficient media platform in driving attention per thousand impressions.
Podcasts hosted by Audacy, Cumulus Media, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and SXM Media drove the most attentive seconds per thousand impressions compared to digital, social, and TV benchmarks. Music streaming, measured on Amazon Music across voice with Alexa and on mobile or desktop, excelled in key branding metrics.
The study outcomes validate Dentsu’s commitment to the Attention Economy Research and prove beneficial to clients seeking a data-backed rationale for their investments.
To gather the data, Dentsu worked with Lumen to devise a methodology equivalent to visual media measurements. The procedure involved exposing respondents to listening environments similar to their native audio experiences and assessing their recall and brand choice uplift through a post-listening survey.
Audacy will host an AdAge webcast on August 15 for a deeper discussion on the media platforms that drive the most attention, featuring leaders from Audacy, Dentsu, iHeart, and Cumulus.
