Background
 Var, the sales house for Flemish-language public TV and radio in Belgium, recently launched a campaign called Digital sounds better with radio that aims to attract online e-marketing clients such as e-commerce and app developers, to radio. The main argument for pure players like online shops to include radio in their media mix is that radio is proven to add value when combined with online campaigns on social media or targeted mailings. Numerous pieces of research show that people often surf online while listening to radio (especially at work), which gives radio a great opportunity to generate immediate call to action.
To support its message, Var is gathering case studies of campaigns that show the result of radio being used as a part of media mix together with a digital campaign. Here, we highlight two cases that delivered outstanding results.
Touring case study – 228% uplift in online sales
 Touring, the car insurance and assistance provider, was offering a special 30% discount on its services to new customers. The aim of the campaign was to reach the right target group of potential consumers and encourage them to sign up.
In order to define the right target group, Touring put out a short questionnaire about accident assistance during Mobility Week with an incentive to win a life insurance for those who filled it in. This data was then processed by the company PrediCube, which segmented consumers into six categories based on conversion probability. These categories were then matched with databases of so-called lookalikes, i.e. people with a similar profile and therefore some of the same interests.
Stage two of the campaign was targeted banner ads that were displayed only to people with relevant profiles; people with lookalike profiles were targeted on Facebook. In addition to this, a big online campaign was launched on sites connected to car insurance.
Finally, radio 20”and 5” spots were broadcast during three months on various stations. The online banner campaign was synchronised with the spots, and the volume of banners was augmented during the period the radio ads aired. Radio was used to generate additional attention to the campaign that could not be achieved with an online-only campaign. The hypothesis being that people tend to click on the banner more often if they also hear the ad on the radio at the same time.
The results of the campaign were outstanding: the online sales of Touring assistance increased by 228% during the three-month period compared to the same time previous year. The number of people who chose the premium option doubled from 19% to 39%. Most importantly, the number of visitors to the site increased dramatically when the radio spots were broadcast.
SafeShops.be – promoting a new brand through a combination of radio and email marketing
 During April 2015, Safeshops.be (an initiative by Belgian online shops that aims to strengthen consumer confidence in online shopping) organised 7 white nights of shopping. This campaign centred on a dedicated page www.shoppingnights.be where more than 50 online shops offered discounts between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. The objective of the campaign was to promote the Safeshops.be brand, which was relatively unknown, and the participating online shops. Safeshops.be also aimed to attract new online shops to participate in their initiative and to get visibility among online shoppers.
The media mix included both online and radio. The online campaign consisted of banners, social media posts, messages on the websites of the featured shops and an emailing campaign in two waves – just before and during the online and radio campaign. The radio campaign featured 25” spots before the launch of the 7 white nights of shopping and shorter spots adjusted to the program, the time of broadcast and the day of the week during the week of the campaign. The radio spots did not run on any stations in the French-speaking part of the country, unlike the online and email marketing, which made it possible to isolate and compare radio’s impact in the Flemish-speaking region.
In Flanders, the second wave of emails – launched together with the radio spots – the emails were opened much more frequently than the first wave, which was not supported by radio advertising. The response to the second wave was five times higher than in the French-speaking part of the country. The dedicated page attracted ten thousand visitors. More than 74% of the participating shops benefited from an increase in visitors. Within a few months following the campaign, the number of affiliated online shops had doubled, and 96% of them were ready to take part in the next edition of 7 white nights of shopping.
Why does this matter to egta members?
Var’s Digital sounds better with radio campaign highlights how radio can help advertisers who do business online. Radio provides the reach that digital advertising typically lacks, and by synchronising messages with other channels, such as banner ads, social media and email marketing, it delivers a powerful amplifier effect. It is also a great example of how the medium attracts new advertiser sectors.
Radio needs solid case studies like this to prove its value and continue to develop in today’s multi-channel marketing environment.
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