The importance of challenging received wisdom in research

February 2012

I was reminded recently of how easy it can be for received wisdom to influence how we do our research and how important it is to recognise received wisdom when confronted with it and to question it.

Let me explain…

I was working with an fmcg advertiser to set up a radio test for a major household brand. We wanted to measure radio’s impact on sales using a standard geographical test and control structure.

Now finding the right test and control areas can be challenging at the best of times (I won’t expand on this now but if there’s sufficient interest I might write a separate blog on it in the future).  Suffices to say that, after a lot of investigation, two areas in the North were by far the best candidates for the job:-

-          Manchester and Liverpool in the North West for the test

-          Leeds and Sheffield in Yorkshire for the control

So far so good…but then the question arose as to whether people travelling from one area to another could damage the integrity and robustness of the test. What if someone living in Leeds heard the radio ad when they were in the car travelling to Manchester for example? Surely quite a few people do this, don’t they?…or do they?

Suddenly our plan looked like being scuppered by a creeping doubt.  And whilst my own instinct was that in reality the numbers cross-commuting wouldn’t be very big and certainly not enough to impact on our test, I was going to need more than just a hunch to allay everyone’s concerns.

An hour or two of intensive desk research later and I had enough evidence to substantiate my hunch. For example, data from the ONS Annual Population Survey showed not only that the average commuting distance was significantly less than the distances between my test and control cities, but also that over 96% of residents in both Leeds and Sheffield worked in their immediate surrounding areas with no significant numbers of residents travelling as far afield as Manchester to work.

So our test methodology was robust after all – phew!

I’ve come to two conclusions from all of this. Firstly, received wisdom can occasionally be a useful catalyst for stress-testing a particular methodology (in this case for example it was right for someone to ask the question, if only to make us check the facts). Secondly, and I think most importantly, received wisdom should never be the only premise on which we make a final decision.  If in doubt, ask yourself “Where is this assumption coming from? And why should I believe it?”

As researchers we should always challenge accepted norms and beliefs to get the best out of our research.  And let’s face it, it also makes our jobs more interesting…after all who wants to just do what they are told?!

So back to my day job where I wait with baited breath for the results of our radio test...

Your ‘search’ for increased web traffic is over!

December 2011

Our study, Radio: The Online Multiplier demonstrated that radio increases search traffic, with brand browsing amongst listeners exposed to an ad campaign 52% higher compared with those not exposed, but it is always great when our research can be backed up by other studies. Belgian radio sales houses Var and RMB teamed up with Google to demonstrate the role radio plays in increasing search traffic for a brand within Google.

The study ‘Radio Points the Way to the Web’ looked into the search data in Google of 26 brands, comparing the number of searches for a brand before their radio campaign aired to when it was on air. The findings demonstrated that radio has a really clear impact on search with brand searches increasing on average by 33%. Creative also played a big part in how well an ad increased search. Much like our findings from The Online Multiplier, ads that had recognisable audio branding and clearly directed people to a website proved to be more effective than average.

The RAB’s recent radio ads are also living proof of this in action, we have seen an increase in click throughs to our website from Google searches for ‘RAB’ specifically up over 900% on average for the last 4 weeks, when compared to the four weeks prior to our radio campaign airing.

After walking down a packed Oxford Street today, I know that I’ll be doing January sale shopping like many others online. The above research all demonstrates that any businesses looking to increase their online revenue in the January sales would be foolish not to exploit the great opportunity radio delivers.

Full report on the research can be found here.

RAB Unveils Latest Marketing Campaign, Britain Loves Radio

November 2011

The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) today (Nov 17) unveils a brand new marketing campaign, Britain Loves Radio, at a time when commercial radio is enjoying record audiences and strong revenues.

The six-figure marketing campaign will be brought together under the umbrella theme of Britain Loves Radio and will include radio advertising, print and online advertising,  sponsorships, awards, conferences and the re-launch of the RAB website.

The campaign kicks off on Monday November 21, with a nationwide radio advertising campaign running over the next three months across all commercial networks promoting the power of radio advertising.  The campaign will rotate four different executions, written and produced by creative agency, Radioville.

The Britain Loves Radio campaign will underpin all marketing work undertaken by the RAB over the next 12 months and seeks to position radio as an essential and positive choice for brand marketers, stimulating more active consideration of radio as part of brand advertising campaigns.

According to research released earlier this year by the RAB, (Emotional Multiplier) radio positively influences people’s mood to a greater extent and on more occasions than any other medium, and with over 92% of the population tuning into radio every week, Britain can truly be said to love radio.

The Britain Loves Radio theme will run across the new, re-launched RAB website (www.rab.co.uk), which will showcase the best of UK commercial radio, highlighting both consumer facing news and events like Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball and Michael Bublé’s new show on Magic, as well as trade and industry developments and innovations.

A new Google-based interactive mapping system, designed by MediaTel, will also now available on the RAB website, making it even easier for media planners to plot radio advertising campaigns, showing coverage by reach, station, location, sales point and RAJAR or BARB region, with all maps exportable into planning presentations.

Simon Redican, Managing Director said: “Britain’s love of radio has never been stronger, with commercial radio enjoying record audiences.  The Britain Loves Radio campaign seeks to bring this influence to life for advertisers.”