ARN’s neurolab has released research that explores the power of podcasts and how brands can leverage this.
Titled “Intimacy Never Sounded So Good”, the study was led by ARN’s Research & Neuroscience Specialist, Dr Tribikram Thapa (Rana), and ARN’s Director of Research & Insights, Justin Stone. The study uses neuroscience and sensor technology to understand what happens to our brains when we listen to podcasts, and how these changes influence behaviour.
The results show podcasts garner 44% more mental availability than other digital channels, with advertising also viewed to be 30% more trustworthy when heard on podcasts rather than when seen on social platforms.
Overall, podcast listening was found to develop better recall than other digital channels tested, with the study highlighting three key recommendations for associated brands and advertisers:
- Be Intimate – businesses should consistently implement a human voice as part of their digital strategy to get closer to audiences. This is amplified if the voice is familiar to them, allowing advertisers to capitalise on emotional triggers elicited by the familiarity of a talent’s voice.
- Be Heard – businesses can benefit from the high levels of memory encoding and retrieval during podcasts, while maximising engagement and attention cut through with post-roll advertising.
- Be Seen – campaigns that use audio priming improve the attention people pay to ads on social media by +82%. This opens the door to the total campaign being remembered and connected.
Dr Thapa said:
“This latest research demonstrates that podcasts provide an exceptional audio space for uninterrupted cut-through with the added advantage of nurturing existing consumer relations and fostering new connections. This is evidenced by increased attention, high quality memories, and strong levels of trust for what listeners hear in podcasts compared to what is seen in other digital media platforms. Businesses should consider podcasts in the mix at a creative and campaign level to further brand image, increase brand connectivity, ensure brand safety, and improve brand salience.”
Dr Thapa’s joined ARN in December 2022 with this his first research release.
ARN’s neurolab is the first in-house media research initiative of its kind in Australia. It was launched in late 2020 to provide commercial clients and the audio industry with insights into audio for clients to evaluate and optimise impact across radio, music streaming, and podcasts.
More information can be found at https://arn.com.au/neurolab/.
Consumers of podcasts can not take notice of the advertising in three ways.
One way is to download the podcast, use an editor and remove the ads. There is a pattern in placement of the ads at the beginning, middle and end. There are music cues and announcements such as "....we'll be back after this break...." which serve as editing points.
Another way is during playback of content with knowledge of patterns of cues of when commercials occur, the consumer can zap past the commercial by continually pressing the ">>" button.
The analagy is when zapping with a VCR or a PVR.
A final way of the consumer bypassing advertisements is when ads are served from a server rather than within the podcast.
Consumers can use browsers such as NewPipe or browsers can include ad-bypassing addins.
The effect is that the consumer does not see the ad at all.
Perhaps the developers at the podcast server can develop techniques to thwart ad-defeaters.
You have to ask that when ads are bypassed through editing, zapping or bypassing will the advertiser be wasting money which affects the business model of the podcast provider.
History does repeat and like the zapping and editing with VCRs and PVRs, it can apply with today's podcasts.
Thank you
Anthony, history repeats, Strathfield South, in the land of the Wangal and Darug Peoples of the Eora Nation