Sound Answers

If a picture is worth a thousand words - how much is 3 seconds (or less) of audio worth?

Audio measurement company, Veritonic, explores that very idea with their annual Audio Logo Index. Analyzing 56 total audio logos, including over 30 from top U.S. consumer brands, Veritonic found that even in the briefest of moments, brands can convey a lasting impact in terms of memorability, emotion and brand association. 

Audio logos come in all shapes and sizes; this Index includes clips from as short as :01, to as long as :06 - with and without melodies, with and without vocals, and even with and without brand name mentions. Veritonic tracked performance based on recall, correct brand ID, conveyance of brand attributes, emotional triggers - all individually, and as part of an overall Veritonic Audio Score. 

One differentiator Veritonic found in performance is melody. If you can sing it - chances are you're going to remember it - 24% more, in fact, than a non-melodic logo. They also scored nearly 15% higher Veritonic Audio Scores on average. 

Name mention, unsurprisingly, was also a big performance driver - audio logos that mention the brand name were 5x more likely to be correctly identified. In fact, State Farm improved their rank by 14 spots, and earned the highest brand association score of 81%, since they swapped out a non-vocal logo for one that included their name. In contrast, Nationwide's choice to go wordless coincided with a 28 point decrease in brand association.

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge.

EVEN ICONIC AUDIO LOGOS ADAPT TO NEW NORMAL

As many advertisers adopted new tones of empathy and support in their messaging during the COVID crisis, several, including State Farm, Home Depot, and Liberty Mutual, modified their branding sounds as well - softening, or slowing them down to create a more sensitive tone. Veritonic found that these changes increased positive perception of the brand for nearly half of respondents.

Veritonic proves that sound is important in creating connection with consumers. The power of effectively conveying your brand identity to consumers in under 3 seconds opens up a world of creative opportunities for audio advertising. With a strong sonic identifier in a radio ad, the storytelling and messaging possibilities for the remaining real estate of that ad are endless. 

For more information from Veritonic

The country's COVID-19 recovery is very much a local issue as areas face different regulations and timing for easing restrictions. Consumer foot traffic is one way to monitor of progress for an area's recovery - evidence that brick-and-mortar stores are open, and consumers are once again able and willing to visit in person. Foursquare has been monitoring levels at business locations all across the country, developing rolling statewide foot traffic averages in comparison to a pre-COVID base week in February.

As of  Monday, June 15th, all but 7 states have recovered or surpassed overall foot traffic averages from before the COVID-19 pandemic. But recovery is still a work in progress for areas like Nevada, Florida, Louisiana, California and Vermont - all still down from pre-COVID levels, but seeing positive growth, week-over-week.

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge.

While many categories have strong foot traffic across the country, others are thriving more in specific states, due to differing regulations and seasonality influences. Hotels in South Carolina are heating up more than other states, Kentuckians are heading to salons, and liquor stores in Delaware are seeing lots of action in June. 

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge.

As areas progress through recovery phases, and consumers have more freedom to return to activities they had to put on hold, local media will play an important role for brands looking to reach the right consumers at the right time with the right messaging.

For more information from Foursquare

New sales report highlights growth for categories that were hard hit during the peak of quarantine restrictions.

May 2020's Retail Sales report from the Department of Commerce (data from U.S. Census Bureau) shows a healthy improvement in retail sales in May. Overall, retail sales have topped $500M, for the first time since the pandemic hit the U.S. - translating to a record breaking +18% increase over April.

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge.

Some categories are not only increasing April's sales but also from last year:

• Leisure products (sporting goods, hobby, musical instruments, book stores) are +88% over April and also +6% over last year.
• General merchandise stores (Target, Walmart, Costco) are up +6% from April and +2% over last year.
• Grocery stores (which have consistently been at peak sales levels), added +1% over April, and +14% over last year. 

These overall sales increases are evidence of the power of local economies - that even with only partial, regional reopening sales were able to recover +18% from April lows. 

For more information from Census.gov

Recovery is on the horizon, according to Magna Global. Their newly released June forecast predicts ad spend to start stabilizing in Q3 (-5% vs. Q3'19), and recover in Q4 (flat vs. Q4'19). Overall, 2020 U.S. ad spend will be down -4.3% to $213B - the decline would have been larger if not offset by this year's massive political spending. Looking into 2021, Magna expects U.S. ad sales to gain +4% (including cyclical events). 

Radio ad spend is predicted to be down -16% in 2020, gaining 0.6% back in 2021. 

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge. 

For more information from Magna Global

June 24th - eMarketer Tech-Talk presented by Merkle - Planning for a New Reality—Leveraging Data & Insights to Inform Your COVID-19 Rebound Strategy. Webinar will discuss how a J&J brand is planning to rebound and connect with its customers in the current climate, and outline three “must-do’s” for brands to prioritize and incorporate into re-emergence strategies. Register here. 

June 25th - The CMO Survey - How Will COVID-19 Affect Marketing? Jointly presented by The American Marketing Association and the Marketing Science Institute, this webinar will share what senior executives are doing to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and how this will affect marketing in the months ahead.  Register here. 

June 25th - GfK - Taking brands to the next level: Activism, anxiety, and the new consumer marketplace. Webinar will present fresh insights from GfK’s ongoing Consumer Pulse and Consumer Insights covering brand messaging, activism, and how the retail experience and brand loyalty were affected by the pandemic. Register here. 

Every state has now taken steps to lift stay-at-home regulations and ease business restrictions to varying degrees. Marketers need to carry on reassessing and adapting their actions in response to local regulations. Keep updated on state-by-state and category-specific actions with the links below. 

For more information on reopening and regulations by state, from the New York Times

For more information on updated marketer actions, from AdAge

For more information on updated retailer actions, from Retail Dive

For more information on tracking Network TV ad counts by category, from Kantar

Click here for previous releases of Katz's Sound Answers.

For more insights from Katz Radio Group, visit our Insights Hub.