As the brand works to raise perception for its new electric vehicle lineup, Lexus is relying on audio to engage potential buyers in an immersive environment. Data from the campaign, shared by Audacy and Nielsen, shows sizeable lifts in key brand metrics.
Lexus’s podcast campaign featured host-read advertisements on several series tailored to each specific show. By placing ads across a diverse range of podcast content and using trusted voices, the automaker reached potential buyers in highly engaged settings, ensuring the message was both authentic and relevant.
Partnering with Nielsen, the campaign included extensive testing and surveys to assess the impact on brand perception and optimize performance.
Post-campaign, Lexus experienced a 14-point increase in brand familiarity.
The ads exceeded Nielsen benchmarks, delivering high scores across all brand metrics. Listeners exposed to the ads became more acquainted with Lexus’s EV models and began associating the brand with trust and luxury. Notably, there was a 31-point increase in brand favorability among women aged 35-54, with many agreeing that Lexus’s electric vehicles felt truly luxurious.
Nielsen VP Commercial Strategy & Insights Arica McKinnon stated, “With such an engaged audience tuning in, podcast ads excel at boosting upper funnel metrics like recall and awareness, which drive conversions and sales. By advertising on Audacy’s platform, Lexus’s EV campaign yielded significant lifts across all tested brand metrics and attributes, particularly in familiarity and favorability, effectively nurturing consumers along the path to purchase.”
According to previous Nielsen research, 63% of consumers believe podcast ads strike the right balance, compared to just 29% for television ads. Nearly half of podcast listeners visit a website for more information after hearing an ad, and over a quarter proceed to purchase the advertised product. This comes as the medium’s audience base continues to grow.
Radio audiences aged 18-49 now outpace traditional TV by 12%, and podcasts are catching up as well. According to Edison Research’s Infinite Dial study, podcasts reach 48% of weekly listeners aged 18-34, close to TV’s 50% share. Podcasting’s monthly reach has expanded to 135 million Americans, or 47% of those 12 and up, with over 60% reach among 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 demographics.
