Running radio ads? Fix your brand linkage!

Like, if someone hears your ad on the radio, can they even say what brand it’s for?

System 1 Research & Radiocentre tested 131 radio ads in the UK.

These covered 13 categories: automotive, finance, packaged goods, retail, travel, etc.

They tested brand linkage super-simply: right after the ad played, they asked people if they could name the brand it was for.

Shockingly — I mean, it’s _right_after_the_ad_played_ — 40% of the ads had poor linkage.

Only 7% had great brand linkage (>90% of people could name the brand).

Yowza!

I mean, if you’re gonna advertise, it’s kinda important that people remember what brand the ad is for, no?

Otherwise just wire the money to your competitors.

Some lessons:

1. If you’re running radio ads, make sure your ads are _unmistakably_ yours.

2. Do some pre-testing to see if you can improve the brand linkage.

3. If you’re having trouble with brand linkage, create some “distinctive assets” (aka “brand equities” aka "fluent devices" aka "ownable thingies") to use across all your advertising. Like “We Have The Meats!” or the Geico Gecko or the State Farm jingle. (Call me if you’re stumped.)

—————————————

☢️ SUBSCRIBE to the Irregular News at appliedbrandscience . com

☢️ GET MORE BRAND SCIENCE: talks, training, brandfixing