According to analysts at GlobalWebIndex, most people listen to music online, with 62% using streaming services. But why is the audio format interesting for advertising? Audio advertising doesn’t interrupt a user’s activity or distract them from consuming media content. This makes audio a unique medium for influencing audiences compared to other advertising formats. It’s no coincidence that major companies have been working on their brand identity in both visual and audio directions since the last century. Iconic audio branding examples include the Windows startup sound and the Nokia ringtone.
However, audio influence goes beyond just sound logos. Many familiar sounds evoke strong associations: the distinct noise of a car door closing, an engine’s hum, the hiss of a soda bottle opening, the crunch of chips, or the sound of a straw being placed into a lemonade glass. Another type of sound is advertising jingles — catchy tunes that embed themselves into our memory. Think about how the jingle “Holidays are coming” instantly evokes thoughts of Christmas and a famous brand. A striking example is the song “Venus,” originally performed by the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue in 1970. Sixteen years later, Bananarama’s rendition of the song gave it a new life in an advertisement for Gillette women’s razors, solidifying the brand’s audio identity.
To achieve such effects, companies heavily invest in memorable advertising melodies. Why are these jingles so effective? The answer lies in the simplicity of audio content consumption. When listening to audio, the brain processes information solely through sound, leaving the imagination to fill in the visual details. This allows listeners to personalize the ad message with familiar imagery, making the core message easier to remember. Additionally, audio messages are difficult to ignore. Unlike visual communication, digital audio advertising doesn’t suffer from “banner blindness”. Typically, users consume audio content while multitasking, where screens are secondary or absent altogether. Common scenarios include:
- Work or self-learning.
- Online activities: reading, browsing social media, news, or text content, gaming, shopping, etc.
- Commuting: traveling on foot or by transport.
- Housework and exercise.
This unique format fosters user readiness to visit the advertiser’s website or app without feeling disrupted. Users aren’t annoyed, nor do they need to perform additional actions to continue consuming media content. The placement options for audio ads are also appealing: music streaming services offering legal content, podcast aggregators, audiobook platforms (e.g., Google Play, SoundCloud, Spotify), and more. These services, aiming to monetize their products, provide ad inventory for placement. For instance, Spotify began collaborating with programmatic systems in 2016, reporting a 94% increase in ad traffic. Ukrainian publishers are gradually catching up — traditional radio stations are exploring digital opportunities, and internet radio is evolving.
In Russia, the market already boasts a hundred native publishers. In the digital space, audio advertising remains unobtrusive — typically, there are three ad spots per hour on a single platform, often just two. Consequently, ad rejection rates are below 3%, with 97% of users listening to ads in full without irritation. While the Ukrainian market is still developing digital audio, programmatic systems are ready to leverage this inventory and measure its effectiveness. Digital audio formats, enabled by programmatic systems, offer several advantages of digital advertising:
- Deep targeting: Flexible settings, including geolocation and listener interests.
- Unified campaign frequency settings across various devices or media materials, ensuring users interact with the ad in their preferred format—on a computer or mobile device, visually or audibly.
- Detailed performance metrics for placed ads.
In Western countries, audio formats have been gaining traction for several years. According to IAB, the U.S. allocated $1.6 billion to audio advertising in 2017, a 39% increase from 2016. Although this represents a small share of the $88 billion market, the growth is significant. MightyHive was among the first companies to use Google’s programmatic audio system. By the end of 2017, MightyHive published a case study summarizing a campaign conducted for a CPG brand. At that time, Google was testing its audio format with 30 selected advertisers before releasing it for general use in 2018.
IAB USA has already published a detailed guide on audio formats, their specifics, and capabilities. However, such comprehensive resources for the Ukrainian market are still lacking. This isn’t surprising, as Ukraine’s digital sector is still testing new inventory from both publishing platforms and advertisers. We are actively exploring this new audio format — its features, metrics, and opportunities — while observing how publishers are joining the trend. For example, cinema and movie ticket services have already introduced their inventory to the Ukrainian market. We’ll continue to share updates and insights about audio formats in our blog. After all, the advancement of voice assistants to a level where users can provide feedback to ads via voice isn’t far off. Experts envision a future where users can respond to ads without interrupting their tasks. They could say, “Okay, seller, send me a couple of those,” and tests for voice-based feedback are already underway. Voice purchases are indeed the reality of the near future.
P.S. Examples of Jingles: Another well-known jingle is McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it.” In 2003, the company held a competition among 14 of the largest international advertising agencies to create a new slogan and jingle. The German agency Heye & Partner won with the slogan “Ich liebe es.” The music was part of the agency’s project. Inspiration for the famous “ba-da-ba-ba-ba” came from the vocal improvisation of an unknown backup singer during studio recordings. The agency decided this tune would stick with everyone.
As a nod to Heye & Partner’s concept, McDonald’s launched its new “I’m lovin’ it” campaign in Germany. The campaign’s annual budget was $1.37 billion. The jingle featured in five commercials, translated into 11 languages, and broadcast worldwide. In the U.S., it was announced that Justin Timberlake would perform the jingle. This marked a financial and marketing revolution — artists began signing multi-million-dollar contracts to perform jingles. McDonald’s sponsored Timberlake’s European tour, and according to The New York Times, the singer earned $6 million from the deal. Timberlake later admitted to GQ magazine that he regretted the partnership with McDonald’s.
