Sound Answers

More than a month into staying at home, consumers think they have seen and heard everything there is to see and hear. But new data from Mindshare on the media consumers are spending more time using, it looks like they still want to hear more. 

Comparing consumer sentiments from the week of March 30th to the week of April 27th, Radio is one of the two media (the other is podcasts) attracting a growing share of quarantine media "super" consumers, those who have increased usage as the pandemic continues. 

Radio has a 29% increase in in these "super" consumers since the end of March. This is in stark contrast to all of the screen-based media showing declines. The most pronounced dip is for phone apps, which show a -27% decrease in users reporting more usage. Other notable decreases are binge-watching shows (-22%), social media (-19%), streaming TV (-17%) and live TV (-7%).

Mindshare also finds that half of consumers plan to decrease media usage once the pandemic is over. While the pandemic is not behind us just yet, this current trend of declining "super" consumers of screen-based media could be evidence that consumer behavior is changing sooner than anticipated, and not affecting all media. Consumers know there's always more to hear on radio. 

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge.

For more information from Mindshare

The plan is more adjustments to ad spend and messaging.

The IAB once again polled media planners, buyers and brands to see how plans have changed one month into the COVID-19 pandemic.

The waiting period appears to be over, and those decision makers who were holding out on making shifts, have now paused their ad spend. The number who have not paused, but rather adjusted or made no change remains consistent.

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge.

The effects of adjusting and pausing ad spend are felt heavily by traditional media, down a reported -44% from original plans. Digital media is faring better, down -29% (but up from -33% reported in March). Traditional radio and digital audio both performed on par with their respective media averages.  

Beyond making adjustments to ad spend, 73% of brands are modifying their creative. Of those making changes, more than half (58%) report explicitly mentioning the crisis  in the new creative, more than half (53%) are increasing cause related messaging, and one third are increasing performance messaging. 

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge.

For more more information from the IAB

Brands on-air right now are committed to maintaining meaningful connections with consumers during this crisis. Whether they fall into the 73% of brands that have made changes to their creative or not (stat via IAB) - perhaps they've chosen to make explicit references to the COVID-19 crisis, promote deals, or include cause-related messaging - the best way to gauge whether their messages are working or falling flat is to hear from listeners themselves.

Recent data from NuVoodoo shows that the most impactful ads today are not the "same old" ads: as in not the pre-COVID ads, and not the ubiquitous "We're in this together" ads. Brands' pre-COVID ads are least likely to lead to positive changes in opinion and consideration, while ads that mention the crisis in a "we're in this together" way are most likely to exasperate consumers tired of  hearing them by this point.  

Feel good messaging that supports the community helps consumers gain a more positive impression of a company, but messaging that affects a consumer personally (highlighting deals, or safety policies) are most likely to impact sales. 

Chart is interactive; click to enlarge. 

For more information from NuVoodoo

The COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. is a national, but also very much a local issue, as areas face different timing, severity, and regulations. Therefore, it is important to monitor recovery stages by region in order to better anticipate and cater to consumer needs.

Consumer foot traffic is one way to measure an area's progress towards recovery. Foursquare has been monitoring levels at locations all across the country, and recently released a Coronavirus POV comparing late April foot traffic, to a pre-COVID base week in February.

What they found is a handful of categories that are beginning to normalize in regions, and some that are thriving compared to pre-COVID levels. Foot traffic at fast food, gas stations, and auto shops is starting to increase back to pre-COVID levels, while liquor stores and home improvement stores are seeing increases even beyond that. 

Stores in the Midwest are the most likely candidates to have normalized, or increased foot level traffic, while other categories' recovery varies by region. As states and counties take steps to ease COVID-19 regulations, and consumers turn more towards brick-and-mortar stores, local media will play an important role for brands looking to reach the right consumers at the right time with the appropriate messaging. 

Chart is interactive, click to enlarge.

For more information from Foursquare

The landscape continues to evolve as more states take steps to ease stay-at-home and non-essential business restrictions. Marketers need to carry on reassessing and taking 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 state-by-state re-entry planning and timelines, from CNN

For more information on updated marketer actions, from AdAge

For more information on updated grocer actions, from Grocery Dive

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.