Radio drives results – for auto dealers

Radio drives results – for auto dealers Auto dealerships have enjoyed a successful partnership with radio advertising for decades. And based on a recent study involving one of the largest dealer groups in the U.S., radio’s effectiveness in reaching potential car buyers is as strong as ever.

Working with the Utah Broadcasters Association, Ken Garff Automotive agreed to a six-week radio and TV campaign that ran in conjunction with the company’s print, digital and billboard advertising during 2015. Nielsen conducted a survey among Salt Lake City adults to measure the overall impact of the local marketing efforts for Ken Garff Automotive, ranked as the country’s eighth largest auto retail group by Automotive News. Two groups within the survey were identified – one exposed to the radio and TV ads and one that was not.

To understand the impact of ad recall, opinion of the ads and purchase consideration by the survey respondents, Nielsen analyzed the differences. Here are just some of the results:

• Radio’s ad recall (36%) was nearly as strong as television (39%), despite the fact that twice as much money was spent in TV.
o Recall was significantly lower on digital ads.
• Purchase consideration was higher among those respondents exposed to either radio or TV ads (36%) and even greater among those exposed to both (44%).
• Radio ads earned the highest consumer association for being the most informative (53%) and believable (83%).
• Radio’s “cost per awareness” was nearly two times as efficient as television.

For more about this case study, click here for a brief overview. Downloadable slides can be found here.