“If we’re to expect our clients to invest with us, it’s our responsibility to prove how effectively we can build campaigns for them and the results presented today showcase just how effective we can be.”
That quote by Brian McCarthy, Urban Media’s National Sales Director, sums up the challenges faced by traditional media companies in 2017.
If radio is to harness its best qualities, while making advertisers and marketers feel good about their ROI, integration is the key. And at the heart of this process is the ability of a media company (that is, a radio station) to “connect the dots,” a popular phrase in our company since the hiring of Seth Resler, our Digital Dot Connector.
The interesting twist in this post is that the success of a campaign for a small company called Boutique Bake is a purely Irish tale. It’s based on an integrated campaign – featuring radio – that took place this past September. Urban Media, Amárach Research, and the client – Boutique Bake – are all based in Ireland.
So, pour yourself a Guinness (it’s 5 o’clock somewhere) and let us bring you the story of how this Irish troika used the power of radio, along with the measurable qualities of digital, to create a powerful example of how traditional and new media can work together successfully to create results.
Written up in AdWorld last month, the effort for Boutique Bake combined radio, digital, and social tools to create this integrated campaign for a young client seeking awareness and sales. Boutique Bake is just three years old, started by baker Catherine Buggy. The brand specializes in gourmet baking mixes available online, as well as in stores throughout Ireland, the UK, and now other countries (sadly, not in North America).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5soXN9infwY
Radio was at the center and the campaign, and the results – detailed by Amárach Research – showed that more than six in ten people had gone online after hearing a radio ad. Awareness of Boutique Bake grew considerably, as did sales for their products.
The infographic (right) details some of the key metrics generated by the campaign, a great story for radio – but also for the idea that traditional on-air ads can provide brand amplification with strategic use of digital and social assets.
I caught up with Brian McCarthy who told me the key to the Boutique Bake integration success was proving that the sum of the parts outweighed the individual contribution of any one medium used in this initiative.
Jacobs: Do you believe radio was the main driver for the campaign’s success?
McCarthy: “What we wanted to show with the campaign was the effectiveness of all our assets combined. We know from previous studies that radio builds brand awareness, purchase intent and supermarket sales, and we believe in this case it did it again.
“We also believe it did a huge job on telling the brand story and delivering credibility and trust for the brand both for customers and suppliers. There were a lot of comments from customers at events and from buyers that they heard the advert, no one mentioned seeing it online.
“It also helped us express our insights on baking being a lost family tradition due to families being time poor and having the product help recreate those moments easily. What online did do for us was drive click-through and add a visible element to the campaign. Social then gave it a quick spike and allowed us to get involved in a conversation that was happening around The Great British Bake Off where we felt the brand would benefit.”
Jacobs: What is the importance of the online component – mobile ads, social media giveaway, etc. Did they enhance the radio buy or play an equal role?
McCarthy: “We’re not afraid to have digital first campaigns with radio support but in this case I think the online element played an enhancement role. They drove click-through from every site they ran on and as mentioned social gave us the opportunity to get involved in a trending conversation but without building the brand, and telling its story, on radio I don’t think this would have been as effective.”
Jacobs: What are your thoughts about integration for future campaigns? Must all media campaigns bring together multiple media in order to be successful?
McCarthy: “Yes, I think that digital and radio work very well together and we need to integrate them for future campaigns. All the investment we’re putting into our business is in the area of cross-platform solutions as this is where we see the future of the business. I think the lead medium will be decided by the brief and what the campaign wants to achieve.
“Social when used correctly can drive a quick short-term spike but radio seems to deliver a longer lasting effect on a brand and drive in-store sale. What we need to do is understand the client’s needs and desires and match up the elements that will deliver most effectively so we can execute a successful campaign.
By way of example, on radio we take very little money on woman’s cosmetics because it’s very visual, but recently we created a video/ social campaign that ran across our radio station social assets and it was huge, far bigger than the campaigns in the areas in which they traditionally advertise (are able to) deliver. So, using multiple media gives us much more opportunities to be creative and effective in lots of sectors.”
Jacobs: How did Urban Media determine ahead of time the specific media and platforms you’d use in the Boutique Bake campaign?
McCarthy: “We used the assets we represent which are radio stations and their social digital assets. The whole campaign was about proving how they work together so the only decision was the order we used them in and we felt a brand build with radio, followed by a lift with display and finally a social peak was the way to go.
We also wanted to be flexible, something else I think is key for future campaigns, and this was seen in changing the radio to make it more call to action in the 15 seconds while reducing the brand story as people were beginning to understand it. Social and how we targeted it was also based on what we saw through the analytics and the insight that there was going to be a buzz around baking due to the TV scheduled show when we ran it.”
So, the takeaways:
- It’s about integration – Combining assets to create a more powerful, accountable campaign that still leads to traditional outcomes like awareness and sales is stronger than one medium going it alone.
- It’s about being platform agnostic – Sometimes radio plays the lead, while other times it has a supporting role. In all cases, it’s the combination of various marketing assets that produces results.
- It’s about metrics – The key is showing results in areas that are most important to advertisers and businesses. Note that in the infographic, there are no ratings stats about the radio stations. It’s all about the metrics that matter to the client – awareness and sales.
- It’s about cataloging success stories – Too often, even the biggest and best radio stations fail to build that arsenal of their greatest hits, making each new pitch a long climb. It’s important to show past results in order to notch future sales.
- It’s about marketing success – Urban Media didn’t just put out a bunch of sales pieces following the Boutique Bake campaign. They invested in creating a PR/media story.
Radio’s DOS’s and sales managers should pay attention to these types of success stories. Even though this one is thousands of miles away, it is a brilliant example of how integrated campaigns can help launch and build local and regional businesses, using the assets that stations are building over time.
And the next round’s on me.
Urban Media’s Boutique Bake deck is available here:
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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