Grocery retailers boost audio ad effectiveness during

the COVID-19 lockdown

Alex Brownsell
Source: Event Reports, Future of Audio, April 2020
Downloaded from WARC

Analysis of audio advertising referencing COVID-19 by UK supermarket chains including Tesco and
Iceland.

Veritonic surveyed 300 UK consumers to evaluate sentiment towards coronavirus-specific audio

ads by Iceland, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Tesco.
All six ads scored higher against Veritonic’s benchmark for the grocery retail industry, with Tesco
and Iceland ads referencing NHS staff the most successful.
Tesco’s ad gained a score of 59 according to Veritonic’s Audio Intelligence Platform – five points
higher than the industry average.

Marketing in the COVID-19 crisis

This article is part of a special WARC Snapshot focused on enabling brand marketers to re-strategise amid the
unprecedented disruption caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Read more

Why it matters
While many brands have pulled marketing activity, advertisers in categories such as grocery retail must continue
to maintain share of voice. This study shows that striking the right tone with the optimal medium can improve the
effectiveness of that investment.

Takeaways
 Messaging specific to COVID-19 scored more highly than the benchmark for the grocery vertical,
particularly mentioning terms like ‘NHS’ and ‘social distancing’.
This creative approach also has a beneficial impact on purchase intent, showing that ‘sensitive’ brand
messaging is preferable to offer-driven advertising during the lockdown.
Brands can safely advertise alongside serious content when the message is considered and clearly given.
In many cases, consumers viewed brands more favourably when heard in a COVID-19 context.

Brands are being forced to adapt communications to match the mood of the public during the COVID-19
lockdown. Aggressive promotional messaging has been dialled down; in its place, advertisers are trying to
provide useful information for consumers, as well as striking a more emotional tone of voice.

This is having an impact on campaign effectiveness, according to Damian Scragg, General Manager,
International, at audio analytics platform Veritonic.

Speaking as part of Mediatel’s Future of Audio digital conference (April 2020), Scragg argued that marketers
acknowledge the importance of audio to communications strategies – particularly with British commercial
radio listeners now tuning in for an average of 26 hours every week, up from around 14 hours pre-crisis.
However, brands are looking for “guidance and data” to enable them to do it effectively.

To better understand the impact of the recent pivot towards empathetic, supportive marketing messaging,
Veritonic analysed six audio ads by UK grocery retailers including Tesco, Iceland, Morrisons and Marks &
Spencer. It conducted a survey of 300 UK consumers, and deployed its proprietary ‘Audio Intelligence Platform’,
which uses machine learning to predict performance.

“Whilst [supermarkets are] getting more business than ever before, they’re still operating in one of the most
competitive markets there is. Now, more than ever, their messaging has to be right,” said Scragg.

To help illustrate the change in approach, he played two recent audio ads – one for Tesco, read by a female
voice artist, and another for Iceland, read by the chain’s managing director.

Tesco ad script

“We all know how hard the NHS are working right now. Many of them haven't had the chance to shop for
themselves. So every Sunday, all Tesco stores will prioritise a browsing hour before checkouts open for NHS
workers, giving them dedicated time to shop for their essentials. Because now more than ever, every little
helps. Excludes Express stores, see tesco.com for more details.”

Iceland ad script

“Hi, I'm Richard Walker, MD of Iceland Foods. We’d like to say thank you to our amazing colleagues across our
business. Our stores open daily, including dedicated hours for NHS workers. Check iceland.co.uk for details.
Please shop responsibly and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Thank you.”

All six grocery retailer ads performed beyond Veritonic’s benchmark for the category. In the case of the Tesco
ad, which topped the list, it gained a score of 59, according to the firm’s Audio Intelligence Platform – five points
higher than the industry average, Scragg revealed.
“First and foremost, coronavirus-related ads are actually scoring much higher than we normally see for ads
within this industry benchmark. These ‘new’ ads, as we’re calling them, are also more emotionally resonant than
the norm for supermarkets,” he added.

Veritonic’s research found the six ads to be deemed more ‘authentic’, ‘trustworthy’ and ‘reliable’ by listeners than
the supermarket sector average (see chart below) – though, predictably, less ‘energetic’ than business-as-usual
audio communications. The increase can only be explained by greater audience receptivity to creative directly
addressing the COVID-19 situation, Scragg asserted.
“These are bigger differences that we might see typically when we’re doing studies of this type for clients of
ours. The difference in the score really reflects the messaging that these brands are trying to get across and the
intent behind them. But it also reflects that the public really appreciate the sentiment and it’s actually having the
desired effect,” he said.

“This is important now, as brands try to navigate the crisis. But this level of empathy is likely to strengthen their
relationships with customers in the future, potentially also helping them to win new business from new customers
as well.”

Keyword engagement

When tracking user engagement during the audio ads, Veritonic found peaks at the moments that brands used
specific keywords, including “NHS workers”, “social distancing” and even “thank you”. “Even mentioning the
two-metre markers on the floor of supermarkets had a big positive impact in the uplift on the authenticity and
trustworthiness of creatives,” said Scragg.

Indeed, messaging around how supermarkets are specifically assisting healthcare workers delivered the
greatest spike in perceptions of authenticity and trustworthiness, with 14-point increases in both criteria against
Veritonic’s industry benchmarks.

Most surprising, according to Scragg, was the increase in purchase intent delivered by the COVID-19-specific
creative. Post-exposure purchase intent was “much higher” than typical grocery ads, with Iceland and Morrisons
experiencing particularly sizeable improvements.

“This highlights that standard, offer-driven advertising isn’t viewed particularly negatively. But if you really want
to drive sales and attract new customers, sensitive messaging is the best way to go at the moment,” he said.

Brand safety considerations

With media owners of all kinds raising concerns that brands are avoiding ad adjacency to COVID-19 content,
Veritonic attempted to discover whether consumers would re-evaluate audio ads if heard alongside coronavirus
news, programming or podcasts.

“We’ve heard of advertisers stopping some of their advertising if it’s likely to be heard alongside COVID-based
content, which makes monetizing some content particularly tricky. Think about those coronavirus podcasts that
people are listening to at the moment. How do you monetise those if advertisers were afraid to advertise
alongside the content?” he wondered.

So Veritonic asked respondents how their perception of a brand would alter if they heard any of the supermarket
ads alongside “more serious” topical content. Rather than causing brand damage, in many cases brands were
actually viewed more favourably than beforehand (see chart below). This is especially true in the case of the
Tesco and Iceland ads outlined above – although 9% did respond unfavourably to an ad for M&S’s ‘Gastropub’
food range.

Five key lessons

Whilst coronavirus is having a huge impact on consumers – both personally and professionally – they are still
receptive to well-thought-out, quality audio advertising, Scragg insisted.

He encouraged advertisers to learn five key lessons from the research:

1. Messaging specific to COVID-19 scores much more highly than the benchmark for the grocery
vertical.
2. Mentions of terms like ‘NHS’, ‘social distancing’ or simply saying ‘thank you’ resonates highly in a
positive way.
3. Purchase intent is positively impacted with a thoughtful message.
4. Sensitive brand advertising is a better approach currently than standard offer driven advertising.
 5. Brands can safely advertise alongside serious content when the message is considered and clearly
given.

About the author

Alex Brownsell
Senior Editor – Media, WARC
alex.brownsell@warc.com

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