Next week urbanmedia and dentsu will present part 2 of their Sound Affects research series exploring the ever changing and rapidly growing world of audio in the Irish market.
Sound Affects 2 – Audio Revival, follows on from our first study, and has again explored how people in Ireland are consuming audio content, but this time we have delved even deeper.
An intensive diary study, together with a robust quantitative study has uncovered many interesting themes, including how we have changed our listening behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic and how likely that is to impact our future audio consumption.
It’s clear from the study that audio has played an increasingly important role in people’s lives through the pandemic. It informs, educates and reassures while also providing entertainment. It has given comfort and companionship during times of lockdown and it became a vital part of our work from home day as our working patterns were turned upside down.
Technology has played a huge part in getting audio back into people’s homes, with smart speakers and digital devices taking the place of the traditional radio that once lived in the kitchen. Earphone intimacy continues to be a theme as people engage with the medium in a very personal way as they go about their daily routine, highlighted by the fact that 1 in 2 people surveyed said they’d be sad if a presenter on the radio show they liked left.
Radio remains the predominant choice with 94% of Irish adults saying they listen to the radio. However, we are seeing the benefit of content choice driving more consumption with strong numbers for streamed music listening (71%), podcast listening (70%) and catch up radio listening (64%). It’s clear the themes of Sound Affects 1 around listener control and the multifarious nature of audio continue to ring through.
We see a clear role for different channels come to the fore in this research. Chief amongst radio’s key roles is to provide information and entertain, while with podcasts we see a desire for education on specific topics and links to hobbies and interests. Motivation for streamed music tends to be more mood based with a role in relaxing and improving mood.
Audio is in the midst of an exciting revival and this provides many opportunities for marketers. This research will help inform and understand what those opportunities might be, by helping understand the Irish audio consumer and how they behave.
If you’d like to attend our virtual event next week, September 30th at 11-12.30, you can do so by RSVPing at hello@urbanmedia.ie
If you’d like to be part of the action contact your urbanmedia representative or drop us a line on hello@urbanmedia.ie.
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