Utilising the digital audio to promote the brands

Dating back to the early 90s, the advertising industry of Bangladesh was always filled with colourful jingles. You turn on a TV channel and easily come across the advertisement of different products and services accompanied by a catchy, musical tune.

But before television was mainstream, radio was the primary source of entertainment. Radio used to be the centre of every family gathering and even in evening gatherings at the local tea stall. Business organisations soon realised the potential radio advertising had to promote their products. Creating jingles and short, interactive songs to promote USPs of products while engaging listeners was the key radio advertising method.

A NEW ERA IN AUDIO ADVERTISING: With the development of the internet and the availability of mobile devices, the world of advertising entered a new era. Globally we are currently living in a golden age of audio. Digital Audio is taking up a large piece of people's media consumption and thus brands are now targeting these platforms to reach their target audiences. However, in the Bangladeshi context, people are still far away from utilising these platforms. They are not habituated to using these audio platforms, neither are quite familiar with podcasts.

Nevertheless, the launch of the global audio streaming platform Spotify in Bangladesh has given advertisers a new way to reach customers. Spotify data shows that free users spend two-plus hours across devices each day. This provides advertisers a significant portion of the day to engage with the consumers. According to information from Httpool Bangladesh, even though digital audio advertising is relatively new to the market, a great deal of potential for brands and advertisers are there to reach their target audience. 

ADVANTAGES OF AUDIO ADVERTISING: It targets flexibility. Other than the general demographic such as location, age and gender targeting, audio streaming platforms such as Spotify, allows advertisers to select from different options to run their campaign based on listener's behavior such as all music genre, and playlist category. Based on these options, advertisers can target all the listeners or the type of music consumers listen to. Given as an example at Spotify, if the product is a car or car-related accessories, advertisers can target listeners who are into the "Drive" genre or playlist. Limitless Ear Time. According to "PockeTVC," a study by Nielson/Milward Brown/Facebook in 2017, Gen Z has an attention span of 2.8 seconds while on their mobile screen before they continue scrolling. On the other hand, listening to digital audio without any other media competing for their attention gives a competitive advantage for advertisers to promote their products on average for 30 seconds. This gives the advertisers opportunities to engage uninterruptedly with the listeners. Moreover, the main difference between visual and audio advertising is, the listener won't have to look at the advertisement; instead, he/she can listen to it while driving or working. Intimate experience. Many people listen to digital audio using headphones. This creates a personal bond between the brand and the audience, which makes conversion more likely. According to a Nielsen brand study, audio advertisements have shown a 24.0 per cent effectiveness in recall compared to traditional visual advertisements.

ASSISTING DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS: While the concept may be relatively new, digital audio platforms can help Bangladeshi brands in their digital marketing campaigns to improve their overall business. Local brands such as Unilever Bangladesh, BKash, Berger Paints, X Index Companies are leveraging  Spotify Advertising to: (i) drive incremental reach; (ii) improve the efficiency of traditional radio campaigns; (iii) interact with millennial in an environment they love; (iv) ensure visibility and audibility that was not there before.

Digital audio presents a huge opportunity to build your brand with an audience of engaged listeners. Used appropriately, it can complement your other advertising campaigns to help increase the reach and bring you one step closer to your desired results.

Anna Gorka is Spotify Partner Director, Httpool.

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