The Challenge

Westwood One, the national-facing arm of Cumulus Media, is the largest audio network in America. Through personal experience, they saw that advertising decision-makers have the wrong idea about how Americans spend time with various media. Advertisers would say to them, "Well, no one listens to radio anymore. No one watches TV anymore. Everyone is listening to Spotify."

So Westwood One needed new, unbiased, research-based insights that allowed them to put the straight facts on the table with advertisers, and a way to make advertisers realize they were overestimating digital time spent with the consumers they value most.

The Solution

Westwood One needed not only data, but context, which was available through the Advertiser Intelligence Report syndicated tracking study. Advertiser Perceptions consultants took audio insights, derived directly from advertiser opinions and perceptions, and made direct comparisons to digital advertising, linear TV and the rest. Beyond that, the addition of proprietary questions through monthly omnibus studies provided specific insights on advertiser sentiments along with recommendations about messaging and targeting to help Westwood One achieve their sales objectives.

The Process

In addition to leveraging insights from the Advertiser Intelligence Report, Advertiser Perceptions helped Westwood One build an "insight calendar," asking tracking questions throughout the year to augment the syndicated work. For example, podcast spend intention and consideration questions are asked each May, voice activation questions in March, and audio streaming questions in October. This establishes a logical cadence, asking advertisers (brands and agencies) the same questions at the same time every year to show long-term trends around the perceptions and behavior of important decision-makers.

Actions Taken

  • The Westwood One "State of Audio" presentations are backed by unbiased, discreet data on consumer media use, which helps Westwood One contrast these findings against agency and advertiser perceptions.
  • Through blogs and editorial efforts, the research has helped Westwood One communicate to advertisers a better understanding of how Americans are actually consuming media today.
  • Westwood One has used a good deal of the research and insights to augment the content of their website, which is linked to by various marketing and press outreach programs.
  • Internal communication of insights has helped focus Westwood One management and others toward a more fruitful and achievable strategic marketing direction.

The Results

The program helped Westwood One solidify their leadership position in audio and influence how advertisers think about audio within the context of the entire market. The work has been particularly helpful in showing advertisers how podcasting is growing as an advertising platform, and how brands are effectively increasing their use of it. In the same way, Westwood One was able to show the growth of advertising via smart speakers, and how marketers are thinking and acting on voice activation opportunities. The work has even helped Westwood One internally, as they have created one of the largest podcast advertising networks.