11 things you definitely don’t know about radio advertising in Poland

Advertising campaigns on the radio are often planned based on guidelines that are derived from habits and myths about radio consumption behavior that have been entrenched over the years. It is important to note that these habits and myths don’t necessarily stem from effectiveness. We are convinced that the 11 points about radio advertising below will be new to you:
1. Including evening time slots in a radio campaign is effective
Most radio campaigns are planned between 6 AM and 8 PM. This model is based on the widespread belief that radio is mainly listened to in the morning, losing its advertising power by the evening. But is this assumption really correct? It is certainly up for debate. First, spots aired after 8 PM are relatively cheaper than during the day (6 AM-8 PM). Second, media noise is lower in the evening, meaning there are fewer ads in evening blocks than during the day. Third, the type of listener is different. Evening listeners are more engaged in the content, and radio tends to offer more sophisticated content at this time compared to the day when it mainly provides fresh news and serves as background for work. In summary, evening campaigns can enhance message perception among consumers and extend the campaign’s reach to those who only listen to the radio after 8 PM. It’s worth considering expanding your campaign to include evening slots.
2. A radio campaign based on evening time slots is cost-effective
Continuing with the “evening planning” topic, we see that campaigns are rarely run exclusively in the evening. This approach, as mentioned earlier, stems from the belief that people don’t listen to the radio in the evening. But is this really true?
Let’s refine the answer with some numbers. Over 500,000 listeners tune in only between 8 PM and midnight daily. At the same time, over 4 million people (aged 15-75) listen to the radio in the evening every day. That’s a vast audience that can be reached in a simple and relatively inexpensive way. What’s more, effective radio campaigns after 8 PM can be carried out on a very limited budget. In an era of fierce competition for consumer attention, an evening campaign could be an opportunity to stand out in your market segment. Additionally, it’s a way to reach new consumers with different media consumption habits.
3. Including weekends is effective
For various reasons, marketers often plan radio campaigns without considering weekends or significantly reduce airtime on Saturdays and Sundays. Similar to evening time slots, there is a myth that radio isn’t listened to on weekends. But is this really the case? It’s worth noting that 17.3 million people listen to the radio on weekends (every day). While radio listenership is slightly lower on weekends compared to weekdays, it’s only by 11%. When you consider the significantly lower rates radio stations offer on weekends and the potential to expand your campaign’s reach by a few percentage points, the answer is clear – YES, it’s worth extending your campaign to include Saturdays and Sundays.
4. Saturdays have the same listenership as weekdays
In some cases, when a marketer has a significantly limited budget, it’s worth considering a campaign that only runs on weekends. On Saturdays, the radio reaches 18.4 million people, while on Sundays, 16.1 million Poles turn on the radio. Moreover, the daily reach on Saturdays is the same as on weekdays (while ad rates are significantly lower). Just like with evening campaigns, weekend campaigns experience less media noise (clutter), giving advertisers a chance to create a stronger impression with their ads. Additionally, radio programming tends to be more varied and sophisticated on weekends. And most importantly, the cost of spots on weekends is usually much lower than on weekdays. Unfortunately, the myth that we watch TV on weekends and don’t listen to the radio persists.
5. A 30-second spot is the most effective
50% of national campaigns use 30-second spots. Excluding sponsorships, which are a specific form of communication, 40% of campaigns use spots of different lengths than 30 seconds. So, where’s the problem? It lies in the pricing for different spot lengths. The most effective pricing in radio stations is for 30-second spots, which have a coefficient of 1. Most radio stations use non-proportional pricing for other spot lengths. For example, the coefficient for a 15-second spot, which is used in 25% of campaigns, is 0.8, and sometimes even 0.85. While using a 15-second spot can save 15%-20% of your budget, which can be allocated to generate additional campaign metrics, you lose 50% of the time that could be used to fully communicate your message. Ultimately, using a 15-second spot seems irrational. It’s even less effective to plan a campaign around 25-second spots, which have the same coefficient as a 30-second spot. In conclusion, the most effective radio spot length is 30 seconds, and this should be used in your campaigns.
6. The Affinity Index is irrelevant
Let’s begin our discussion of the Affinity Index by reviewing the history of radio planning. In the early 2000s, package planning became popular, as Agora and Time radio groups created the “Skyscraper Package” to compete with national stations. This package included all the stations from both groups, which had diverse content and listener profiles. The ads aired in this package reached both older consumers listening to Radio Złote Przeboje and younger listeners of Eska. Therefore, considering the Affinity Index for a product built on various networks that cater to diverse listeners is pointless. These packages are highly effective for building reach and offer low costs per contact. However, presenting the Affinity Index in such a scenario is often meaningless. It’s worth noting that the strongest stations in the package influence the Affinity Index. To summarize, these packages may include stations with profiles quite different from your target group. If you decide that the Affinity Index is important for your planning, then you should select individual stations that best fit your target audience. However, given the radio groups’ preference for package sales, this approach tends to be more expensive.
7. Local campaigns are more expensive than national ones
Many marketers operating in local markets focus their communication efforts on reaching consumers through local radio stations. This is a rather expensive form of communication and, in some cases (compared to a national campaign), even inefficient. First, in most regions, national stations tend to be the strongest. Second, to build an effective local campaign, you need to use several stations. If the communication targets multiple regions, the costs of such a campaign become comparable to activities on national stations. Therefore, if a marketer’s operations cover more than a few regions (e.g., 7 regions) and the advertising communication is not varied across regions (e.g., different promotions in each region), a national campaign is recommended. Using RMF or Radio ZET, or even Trójka or Jedynka on a tighter budget, will often be more effective than planning for local stations. National stations have high technical reach, covering over 90% of Poland’s territory. Furthermore, in larger metropolitan areas such as Mazowieckie Voivodeship, running an effective campaign with a low budget is difficult.
8. The Monday-Wednesday efficiency
It’s worth noting that radio listenership on weekdays is fairly consistent. However, radio stations significantly prefer the part of the week starting from Thursday (and sometimes even Wednesday) and ending on Friday. In practice, the ad rates for most stations are significantly lower on Mondays and Tuesdays (and sometimes on Wednesdays) compared to the rest of the weekdays. As noted earlier, this approach doesn’t stem from lower listenership. A key reason for the difference in rates during the week is higher demand for ad time later in the week. A crucial sector for radio advertising – retail – often runs promotional campaigns that focus only on the final weekdays when many consumers do their shopping. However, if your product doesn’t belong to a category characterized by fluctuating demand, it’s worth considering more efficient budget allocation across weekdays. Since listenership is relatively similar throughout the week, and the rates are higher from Thursday to Friday, why overpay? It’s worth airing a substantial portion of your ads on Monday-Wednesday, e.g., placing more expensive morning ads on these days and saving the cheaper slots for the rest of the week. Another approach could involve airing more ads during the first days of the week to generate better campaign metrics. To sum up, it’s worth paying attention to the variation in station rates on different weekdays and taking advantage of Monday-Wednesday efficiency in your campaign.
9. Efficiency of “Day on, day off” planning
A large portion of campaigns is planned to run every day of the week on every station in the media plan. However, it’s worth reconsidering this approach, especially when working with a limited budget. In this case, you might consider a campaign where stations are planned alternately, a method known as “day on, day off” planning. The weight of GRPs across the days should remain similar. For example, RMF can be planned alternately with Eurozet packages. This approach allows for the use of more stations in the campaign, increasing its reach with a limited budget. This way, you can quickly build 1+ reach while lowering the Cost Per Reach (CPR). By planning a campaign using the “day on, day off” model, you significantly increase cost efficiency.
10. A station with lower listenership can be the leading one
Stations included in a marketer’s media plan are typically chosen based on audience ratings within the target group. But should the station with the highest listenership always have the largest share in the plan? Not necessarily. Remember that, although 57% of listeners declare they listen to only one station, a large portion of consumers (43% daily) admit they listen to more than one station throughout the day. Moreover, some stations like RMF and Radio ZET exhibit high co-listenership in many target groups. Co-listenership refers to the number of people who listen to both stations, e.g., a consumer who listens to both RMF and Radio ZET. Thus, it’s possible to allocate a significant portion of the budget to Radio Zet (which has lower listenership than RMF) and build additional reach with RMF. These stations share the same format (Adult Contemporary) and have a similar listener profile. Therefore, RMF can be used to complement the campaign by reaching listeners who don’t tune in to Radio ZET (but listen to RMF). In this case, the flagship station from Eurozet’s portfolio would form the foundation and main station of the radio campaign. This is just one example, but it shows that radio planning requires considering various options and not sticking to established solutions, as there’s no single best answer. Sometimes, if collaboration with one radio group isn’t working effectively, adjusting the station split can maintain campaign performance without sacrificing metrics.
11. Radio and Outdoor work more effectively together
The synergy between radio and outdoor advertising is often undervalued by marketers. This combination offers an opportunity for effective communication with consumers outside their homes.
In an outdoor campaign with radio, the outdoor ad should initiate the dialogue with the consumer – in one or two seconds, visually intriguing the potential buyer with the marketer’s offer. Radio, on the other hand, should build on this visual interest by providing additional information and emotional engagement in a 30-second ad.
In this way, radio creates synergy with outdoor advertising, reinforcing the campaign’s branding elements in the consumer’s mind. Moreover, by combining radio campaigns with visual elements from outdoor ads, a marketer can develop a strategy to effectively improve their brand’s market position.
We believe the “11 Things You Didn’t Know About Radio Advertising in Poland” presented above help debunk myths and some long-standing habits regarding radio campaign planning, all with the goal of improving marketing communication efficiency.
Feel free to contact us, and we will be delighted to assist you with all your radio advertising needs in Poland!