📻 RADIO ADVERTISING
WHY IS RADIO A GOOD CHOICE?
📻 Radio in Poland is a widespread medium accessible to everyone. Every day, 312 radio stations provide entertainment and information to 62.3% of Poles (aged 15-75). That’s over 18.3 million potential customers. Therefore, using radio in communication allows for high campaign performance, while the cost of reaching target groups remains relatively low and highly competitive compared to other media.
📻 On average, from Monday to Friday, listeners spend 4 hours and 7 minutes in front of their radios. On weekends, despite a different daily rhythm than on weekdays, only 13% fewer people turn on their radios. Additionally, radio listening does not show seasonality – radio consumption remains at a similar level throughout the year.
📻 88% of listening time is generated by 206 stations belonging to 5 radio groups: RMF Group, Eurozet Group, Radiowa Time Group (ZPR Media), Polish Radio, and Audytorium 17. The remaining 12% of listening time is accounted for by independent local stations. In total, 17 million Poles listen to radio stations belonging to these 5 groups daily. In Poland, the highest daily reach is achieved by national stations playing in the Adult Contemporary format, such as RMF Radio and Radio Zet. Local station networks like Eska Network, RMF Maxx, VOX FM, and Złote Przeboje also have a strong presence. Additionally, Polish Radio stations such as Jedynka and Trójka hold a significant market position.
RADIO ADVERISEMENT
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📻Radio accompanies its listeners throughout the day: at home, work, or in the car. The mobility of reception has been a significant advantage of radio compared to other media since its inception. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, radio can be accessed not only at home, work, or in the car, but also online, through mobile apps, and via satellite and digital platforms (DAB+). This wide availability allows radio messages to reach potential customers in any location, including at the point of purchase. Radio is often called the “background medium” because it reaches the consumer in real-time and does not require their full attention. It’s important to note that consumers listen to radio stations when they are not consuming other media. Nevertheless, they also listen to the radio while surfing the Internet, reading newspapers, or browsing magazines. Radio thus complements and enhances the message and communication of other media.
📻 As many as 11.1 million residents of Poland turn on the radio in their cars daily. Since 2019, the car has become the most popular place to listen to the radio in Poland. In 2019, the car overtook the previously favored place for listening – the home, where 8.6 million people listen to the radio daily. Moreover, unlike other media (TV, Internet, or press), employers usually do not mind if employees listen to the radio while performing their duties. Every day, 3.8 million consumers listen to their favorite radio stations at work. Furthermore, radio remains the only medium that effectively reaches them in this place. It is forecasted that in the coming years, the dominance of the car over other places for listening to the radio will continue to increase. In developed countries like the USA or Canada, 90% of the audience admits to listening to the radio in the car.
📻 The growing number of car listeners over the past two decades is a good sign for radio. Two of the three largest advertising sectors for radio – retail (44% of radio advertising structure in 2024) and automotive (9% of spending structure) are related to this listening location. Radio in the car creates an opportunity to reach the consumer close to the point of purchase. This is crucial for many marketers who rely on the “freshness” effect, hoping that the consumer will make a purchase decision about their brand, whose qualities they just heard about on the radio while driving, moments before entering the store. It’s worth noting that 3 sectors: the aforementioned retail (44%), automotive (9%), and pharmaceuticals (17%) account for 70% of all radio advertising expenditures.
📻 56% of listeners admit to listening to just one radio station. Listeners often perceive radio ads as part of the program on the station. Interestingly, radio rarely uses the legally allowed 12 minutes per hour for advertising, meaning it is a medium characterized by low advertising clutter. Low media clutter significantly impacts the increased perception of radio’s advertising message. It is observed that listeners do not switch to other stations during commercial breaks. According to studies conducted in the USA, the percentage of radio station listeners after a commercial break is 93% compared to 100% before the break. Therefore, radio does not experience the “zapping” phenomenon, common in television, where viewers switch channels to avoid commercials.
Radio allows effective reach to target groups, differentiated by demographics (younger listeners, for example, listen to CHR format, while older ones prefer news & talk), but also by content (those focused on information listen to news & talk stations, and those interested in the latest hits – Eska Network or RMF Maxxx).
📻 Regional and local stations enable geographical selection, allowing precise targeting of key markets for marketers or effective reinforcement of messaging in those markets. It’s worth noting that very strong radio networks are built with local stations: Eska Network, RMF Maxxx, VOX FM, or Złote Przeboje. The Polish radio market consists of 312 stations tested for listenership parameters. Only 7 of them (RMF, Radio Zet, Jedynka, Trójka, Dwójka, Polskie Radio24, and Radio Maryja) are national stations, while 305 stations are local or regional. This means that practically in every voivodeship, an effective advertising campaign can be planned with their help.
SYNERGY OF RADIO AND OUTDOOR
📻 Media consumption is linked to the daily rhythm, dividing audience time into various activities and habits. While being in the urban space, in a bus, at university, or in a clinic with headphones on, we can receive two advertising channels simultaneously – audio and Outdoor/Indoor. Keeping this in mind, units that combine Outdoor and Radio planning have been established for a long time.
📻 Considering that radio has the highest listenership in the morning (on weekdays between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM), it can also be effectively used later in the day to reinforce campaigns in other media such as OOH or public transport advertising.
📻 The sound in radio complements the visuals spread across other media. There is a phenomenon called “Imagery Transfer,” where sound stimulates the imagination and interacts with the visuals previously communicated in other media. When hearing a radio ad that uses sound elements familiar from a video spot, the consumer, aided by sound, visualizes those images in their mind. According to research conducted by Statistical Research Inc., 75% of respondents can recall visual elements of a TV ad by hearing only the sound.
📻 At the same time, it’s worth noting that OOH and Radio are complementary communication channels, combining the power of visual and auditory stimuli. Moreover, radio is often listened to in the car – at a time when consumers are passing by OOH and city transport ads. This media combination makes advertising communication more omnipresent and harder to ignore. The synergy of the audio message in radio ads with
FORMS OF RADIO ADVERTISING
📻 The dominant form of radio advertising is spot campaigns, which account for over 90% of radio expenditures. Sponsorships and non-standard actions, both on-air and off-air, such as contests, concerts, or events, remain significant communication tools, especially in building brand awareness.
📻 A significant advantage of sponsoring a radio show is the ability to build a high frequency of message delivery. As a result, through sponsorship, marketers can cost-effectively build brand awareness and recognition. Another advantage of sponsorship is the possibility of associating the brand’s identity with the sponsored show, thus building brand awareness among its listeners. Consequently, listeners who enjoy a particular show may become loyal consumers of the brand through sponsorship.
📻 Various contests can be conducted on the radio, but they must not cross the boundaries of hidden advertising. Moreover, the execution of a contest is an individual matter for each station. It is worth remembering that one station may agree to certain communication on its airwaves, while another may reject such activity. Therefore, conducting complex contests on the radio can sometimes be difficult and time-consuming. It is better to rely on the non-standard proposals prepared by each radio group. In such cases, the execution is faster and easier.
📻 Like other media, radio increasingly uses technological advancements. In recent years, podcasts and digital formats have been added to radio offerings, but they still represent a small percentage of radio revenue. Most stations make their shows available online as podcasts. Similar to other media, radio stations create additional content—including the aforementioned podcasts—for the internet. Additionally, extended versions of shows are available online. Another aspect is mobile apps. Each radio group ensures that its stations are present on smartphones and laptops. For over a decade, various internet radio formats have been developed in parallel. An interesting example is the two internet stations “Nowy Świat” and “Radio 3/5/7,” which emerged in 2020 as a result of the scandal surrounding Kazik’s song “Twój ból jest większy niż mój” on “Trójka’s Chart List.” These stations were founded by former Trójka journalists who parted ways with the public broadcaster. These stations exist primarily on donations from their listeners.
📻 The time required to execute a radio campaign is very short. The process, from planning, through spot production, to ordering the campaign, can be completed in just a few hours. It is worth noting that, compared to other media, the short campaign execution time is one of radio’s main advantages. Moreover, the campaign can be rescheduled or the spot replaced almost immediately.
📻 How much does it cost to create a radio spot? The production of radio advertising is relatively inexpensive compared to other media. A budget of several hundred zlotys is sufficient for its production. The technical requirements for the spot are not demanding and are included in the specifications for spot acceptance for broadcast. It is extremely rare for a spot to be rejected due to non-compliance with technical requirements. More often, a spot may be rejected due to controversial content or if its content grossly violates legal regulations. ↗️Check us out with no obligation or risk.
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PLANNING RADIO AD CAMPAIGNS