Study: AM/FM Radio Works For Personal Care Brands

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, January 23, 2023 | 11:03am CT

Westwood One

To understand the personal care category and the awareness and brand images of bar soap, Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group commissioned MARU/Matchbox to conduct a study from December, 2019 through January, 2020. The survey consisted of 1,000 women over the age of 40 who use bar soap and are the primary shopper for the household.

This week's Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group blog looks at the results of the study, plus findings from other category data to make the case for audio and the personal care brands.

• According to a Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) study for a men's personal care brand, AM/FM radio drove an 8% lift in sales, positive return on advertising spend, and a +.8% increase in category share.

• Heavy soap purchasers skew 40-59, are in larger households, and are employed or homemakers, according to the MARU/Matchbox study.

• AM/FM radio is an ideal platform for bar soap advertising as heavy AM/FM radio listeners are more likely to be category users. Heavy bar soap category users are +23% more likely (more than one in four) to be heavy AM/FM radio listeners.

• Bar-soap-brand ad recall is higher among AM/FM radio listeners. The study revealed there was stronger ad recall impact among heavy AM/FM radio listeners as well as in DMAs with heavy AM/FM radio GRP levels (high opportunity-to-hear markets).

• Most AM/FM radio formats over index with heavy bar-soap purchasers. However, Classic Rock, Oldies, News/Talk, Rock, Top 40, Country, Soft Rock, R&B, and Hip-Hop are more frequently listened to among heavy bar soap purchasers and offer large reach and high-purchase propensity.

• ABX personal care audio creative test: AM/FM radio ads perform very close to TV ad effectiveness for highly visual personal care categories.