Marketers Understate Creative and Overestimate Targeting

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, April 22, 2024

Cumulus Media and Westwood One

Over the last five years, the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group has commissioned Advertiser Perceptions annually to survey brands and media agencies on the sales contribution of five advertising effectiveness factors: brand, creative, reach, recency, and targeting. This week's company blog examines the brand/media agency perception of these sales drivers and compares them to the reality as reported by NCSolutions.

• Creative: Marketers and media agencies massively understate the immense sales effect power of creative.

• System1 Chief Customer Officer Jon Evans says, "Creative is the number one factor in explaining the performance of your advertising and yet most marketers still don't realize it. That means that those who focus on getting the creative right have a huge competitive advantage."

• Andrew Tindall, System1's SVP Global Creative & Media Partnerships, asserts, "We need to be bold, unapologetically say 'no' to things to get time to make better ads, and partner with the right agencies that bring the talent, tools and knowledge to make work that works."

• Targeting: Marketers and media agencies overestimate the impact of targeting by 2X.

• Les Binet and Sarah Carter caution, "Don't target too narrowly. It may be efficient, but it's rarely effective. Tight targeting means low sales and profits."