 This week’s egtabite returns to one of marketing’s fundamentals – the enduring ability of strong radio brands to provide great uplift to their sponsorship partners.
The Belgian sales house RMB conducted a post-test analysis of sponsorship around the NRJ In The Park music festival, which quantified the positive impact of sponsorship across a number of marketing KPIs.
The strength of a radio brand
The popular music station NRJ, geared to a youth audience, is commercialised by RMB in the French-speaking part of Belgium. NRJ enjoys a particularly high profile in the 15-34 target group, with 27% top of mind (TOM) awareness and 74% spontaneous awareness among these listeners, ranking it above other pop music stations in the region on this measure.
Among survey respondents aged 15-34, the station is seen as dynamic by 81% of these young people, as the top hit music station by 76% and as a positive radio station by 75%.
Clearly held in high regard within its target group, NRJ therefore offers an exceptional image for sponsoring brands to be associated with.
Analysing the effectiveness of NRJ In The Park sponsorship: a case study
NRJ’s musical events, such as the NRJ Music Tour and NRJ In The Park (NIP) bring thousands of people together to party with the top artists of the moment and to share great experiences with friends, family and the whole NRJ team. Brands that sponsor these events are ensured significant media presence and brand activation.
In 2015, one of the event’s principal sponsors, Cornetto had as its key objectives rejuvenating its brand within the target group and conveying a new brand positioning. Associating itself with a dynamic radio station and a convivial event that brought people together was clearly the perfect vehicle to meet these objectives.
But could the positive effects be measured?
 The brand’s sponsorship of NIP generated a media presence reach of 38% among 15-34 year-olds, and RMB’s post-test study (307 online interviews, conducted in September 2015) demonstrated that 46% of young people on average noticed a positive evolution in the sponsoring brand’s image. However, the effect was much stronger in NRJ listeners (59%) and NIP participants (96%) than it was among people who had not been exposed to the sponsorship campaign.
Furthermore, the campaign was shown to have positive impacts on other KPIs as well. Compared to the non-exposed group, awareness of the sponsoring brand was in the order of 78% higher for NRJ listeners. NRJ listeners were more likely to consider the brand for future purchases or recommend the brand to people they know.
Critically, the study revealed a difference of +118% in terms of product purchases during the active period of the sponsorship campaign.
In each case, NRJ In The Park participants showed significantly increased results for TOM awareness, consideration, recommendation and purchase than either the non-exposed or the regular NRJ listeners, demonstrating the great success of the partnership between the brand and NRJ.
Why does this matter for egta members?
Strong radio brands are powerful influencers. Radio stations build a unique bond with their listeners, which make them perfect vehicles for sponsorship around events and other activities.
The successful NRJ music events not only offer a great experience for fans and listeners of the station, they are proven to deliver outstanding uplift across a range of KPIs to brands that want to get on board, as demonstrated by Cornetto when did just that. |
