This is not your daddy’s RAB, if you are a citizen of the United States, anyway. It’s the one also called the Radio Advertising Bureau and is more likely to take tea than coffee in the morning, situated as it is across the pond in Great Britain. But it is running ads in the UK pointing out that a clever radio campaign can provide a big boost in web traffic.
According to Mad.co.uk., the British RAB has research showing that radio advertising can boost “brand browsing” by as much as 52%.
RAB’s Simon Redican said, “Since we launched the Online Multiplier research earlier this year, we’ve had great feedback from advertisers and agencies that we have presented the results to; we wanted to get the message out to a wider audience that allocating just 10% of media budget to radio can boost brand browsing by 52%.”
The study compared the likelihood of consumers to browse online for a product after radio exposure with others who did not hear a radio ad, arriving at the 52% result in that manner. It also found that radio-generated browsing was quick – 58% of those going online after hearing an ad did so within 24 hours.
RBR-TVBR observation: Some may remember that is was precisely radio’s ability to drive internet business that contributed to radio’s last boom. It came at the end of the internet bubble, when online companies were battling for their very existence. Radio was a key component in their battle for survival.
Of course, radio could only help some of these companies. Most perished, that pool of advertising dried up, recessions hit, internet advertising started to takes bites out of other media, there was a major financial meltdown – it’s just been one thing after another since the dot-com bubble burst.
But that doesn’t change the fact that the radio remains an excellent driver of internet traffic. And the British RAB just provided more evidence.
