Audacy Unpacks Audio’s Role in the Robust Retail Renaissance

Watch It On-Demand Now -- Audacy's most recent webinar which took place on August 12, featuring Paul Suchman and Jim McCloud talking with WarnerMedia Chief Strategy Officer Josh Walker and Macy's Director of Audio Strategy and Planning, Kristy Carruba.

The Retail Market Today

We are in a post-pandemic growth period, as brands respond to the new normal. “The retail market is absolutely rebounding,” Biemolt declared. “We work with brands that have reimagined their overall operation within the pandemic and are starting to thrive.” This has resulted in increased demand, “specifically for reaching audiences in digital audio.”

Business as usual isn’t cutting it. “The impact of the pandemic was seen early on,” Biemolt continued. “Those retailers that, through the pandemic, embraced e-commerce, really changed their consumer journey.” They improved convenience and safety, as consumers could shop digitally, and then pick up their merchandise curbside at the stores themselves. “It was forced evolution in a significant way,” he said.

Brick-and-mortar stores are adapting to the new experience of shopping. “The convenience of shopping online or curbside pickup is nice,” Capuano said, “but there is still a future for brick-and-mortar. For sure, a lot of habits have changed, but for retailers, they are looking at omni-channel experiences, which include their brick-and-mortar locations. Some retailers have really focused in on experience. Walmart even coined the term 'retailtainment' where there's a reason for going to the store. Some stores have a bar or restaurant or a giant fish tank or bands playing, so your retail shopping experience has changed a little bit.”

Audio’s Capabilities and Value

“People are ready to get back out and shop,” Capuano asserted. “And for advertisers, their spending is now starting to pick up as demand increases.” Radio plays an important role in driving in-store traffic, she said. “You will see retailers that use radio, in particular, around sales events -- Labor Day, weekend sales, or even up into holidays -- and now it's even a little bit more year-round.” She added that advertising in radio, podcasts and other digital audio streaming platforms help brands engage a bit deeper. “Data is extremely important in targeting and attribution, so that plays really nicely into what digital audio can provide,” she noted.

Audio adds reach and engagement. With all of the teleconferencing in the past year, “Audio is an engagement experience and, in many cases, is the new screen," he explained. "As my client said, 'the new screen is no screen.' Audio’s ability to reach the consumer not only from an engagement standpoint, but to truly drive mid funnel and lower funnel activity, is what many brands have seen with the use of audio holistically in the last 14 months of the pandemic.”

Audio’s Pivot to Address Marketplace Changes

Data reigns supreme in audio’s world. “Not only are we providing research illustrating the engagement that audio provides, but, as people are running their audio campaigns with us, we're establishing KPIs, whether it is brand awareness or sales activity - wherever in the funnel you want the outcome to be,” Biemolt said. Measurement of these KPIs is part of the partnerships Audacy has with key measurement companies whose data and metrics can be applied to clients’ campaign management. “Did they go to the store? Did they go to the client site? Did they make a purchase? That kind of lean forward is where we've helped these brands … and illustrate in so many categories how audio can be effectively used in their marketing plans,” he added.

Cakim showcased a study that Audacy is doing on return on audio spend. “Specifically, in the retail category, looking at all these national advertisers’ media mix plans from the past three years we can see that the retail industry is currently 22% under-investing in audio,” she explained. “There is much room for growth, not only from a sales perspective, but also in efficiency and effectiveness. We know that coupling over-the-air and digital audio in these plans is critical. There is tremendous opportunity in the marketplace for retailers looking to attract more audiences into customers in stores -- physical stores, online stores, curb side pickup -- whichever channel works best for them. Audio can be a great way to turn a lead into a customer and convert the shopper from a looker to a buyer.”

The Future of Audio and Retail

When customers go into a brick-and-mortar store, audio can provide “a theater of the mind,” noted Biemolt. “You don't have to always see the product but be able to describe the experience you may get by going into the store.”

Cakim added that Nielsen just released a consumer insight survey in June “where we saw, perhaps counter-intuitively, that all forms of shopping increased in-store, online [and] curbside [pickup]. What that means is that shopping is the new entertainment, as people are getting ready to go back to normal. Also, 90%+ of audiences across the board, and 91% of the radio audience said they're ready to go back to normal. With this enthusiasm and optimism comes this quest to shop, and that's a tremendous opportunity. We're not seeing a drop in curbside pickup. We're not seeing a drop in online shopping. We're seeing an increase across the board in all forms of shopping. That's what the Nielsen data showed.”

For Audacy specifically, Cakim said, “We also look into how valuable these shoppers are from an audio perspective. Streamers, for instance, are really valuable shoppers across every single category. They spend more than average according to MRI Simmons.”

“I'm really excited about where audio is right now in terms of many conversations that we're having with brands directly, retailers and their advertising agencies,” Capuano said. “There's a lot of interest in audio because of all the innovations. Expansion into the digital audio space will only continue to grow.”

For Biemolt, voice and smart speakers are contributing to “the audio Renaissance" that's happening right now. "Brands are rediscovering audio," he concluded. "For consumers, audio provides an escape, and it’s also an engaging medium. Over the next two years, I think that we're just going to continue to see many, many more brands use it at a higher level.”

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