New Research Offers Best Practices For Host-Read Ads.

Findings from a just-released study conducted by WPP Media and creative testing firm System1, in conjunction with social media platform TikTok, provide a how-to for audio media talent-endorsed ads, showing they generate greater impact by increasing brand awareness, especially when ad content uses both salesmanship and showmanship and utilizes right-brain elements.

“The global study found that entertainment earns emotion, and early branding gives the brand credit,” Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard says in Westwood One’s blog.

The research, which covered eight global markets and $71 million of media spend, measured creative responses for more than 1,200 paid ads among nearly 183,000 TikTok users, connecting those ads to in-market brand lift data, and found that creator or host-read ads drive a 23% greater brand memory lift – which is the combination of brand awareness and ad recall – vs. traditional brand ads.

The keys to successful creator-led ads are early branding - as in saying the name of the advertiser within the first two seconds, which the study discovered drove the strongest brand recognition – and generating positive emotion via entertainment.

“WPP Media and System1 found entertainment earns emotion, and early branding gives the brand credit,” Bouvard says. “The combination of early branding and strong positive emotion generates much higher brand awareness lift for both small brands (challengers and contenders) as well as large brand category leaders. Creator-led ads are exceptionally strong at building brand awareness lift for smaller brands. There are hundreds of small brands who have built strong businesses using talent reads on podcasts and AM/FM radio.”

Bouvard adds, “Within a few seconds, early branding and positive emotion drives significantly stronger brand effect compared to ads with poor early branding, weak entertainment, and low levels of positive emotion.”

The study notes that the most successful ads use both salesmanship and showmanship. Using emotion-based creative that is funny and entertaining builds stronger brands and generates greater business outcomes. That means using right-brained audio creative elements that enhance positive consumer emotions. 

“Utilize elements such as characters with vitality, story unfolding, clear sense of place, sounds of the living, dialogue, word play, distinctive accents and music with discernable melody,” Bouvard says. “The left-brained audio elements are commonly found in dull host reads which generate little positive emotion.”

The study found that host-read ads featuring humor are especially effective, driving five times more market share growth than ads that are the least funny. Using the elements of surprise, happiness and humor to drive emotion boosts brand memory.

WPP and System1 also discovered that funny and entertaining ads consistently generate strong brand memory regardless of the size of the host’s audience. “Ads that are the most entertaining drive exceptional levels of brand memory,” Bouvard says. “The moral of the story, regardless of the size of the podcast or AM/FM radio audience, is ensuring your host-read ads are funny and entertaining is the key to driving your brand fame.”