Study Finds Cross-Channel Campaign Lifts Awareness, Intent.

A Nielsen study conducted with Katz Digital finds that combining digital audio and connected TV advertising can significantly increase brand recall and shift consumer awareness, sentiment and intent in issue advertising.

The study, conducted in the Washington, DC, market, surveyed 600 adults 35 and older who listen to digital audio and watch CTV and have an interest in news and politics. Participants were assigned to a control group or exposed to digital audio only, CTV only, or both formats. Results were tested for statistical significance at a 90% confidence level.

Unaided brand recall was 37% among respondents exposed to either audio or CTV alone vs. 65% among those exposed to both. Nielsen described the combined result as a nearly 30-point increase over either individual format.

Awareness of the issue also increased. Overall awareness rose 12 percentage points vs. the control group, while the combined audio-and-CTV group posted awareness of 32% vs. 16% for the control group.

The campaign also produced changes in sentiment and intent. Exposed respondents were 28 percentage points more likely to have an unfavorable view of the practices highlighted in the campaign, 9 points more likely to seek additional information and 20 points more likely to recommend that a friend or family member take action. Nielsen said those shifts were statistically significant.

Agreement with core campaign messages increased by more than 20 percentage points on some measures. Nielsen said the strongest agreement occurred among respondents exposed to both digital audio and CTV.

The study also found that two-thirds of respondents had not been familiar with the underlying policy issue before encountering the campaign. Nielsen said the results demonstrate how retargeting audiences across digital audio and CTV can reinforce messaging across different media environments.

Nielsen cautioned that the findings have limitations. The research used a controlled online-panel experiment in a single market and focused on adults 35 and older interested in news and politics. As a result, the findings may not apply to all audiences or markets.