At Absolute Radio, we’re a massive supporter of sponsorship and promotions. Sponsorship tends to refer to brands that support individual programmes, or elements of programmes, e.g. British Gas sponsors the Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show, while Admiral Insurance is the sponsor of traffic and travel reports on Absolute Radio. Promotions are another name for station competitions brought to you by a particular brand or advertiser.

But while many in the media industry are aware of the enormous benefits there are to had investing in this kind of activity, published data proving its value was something that was in short supply.

We wanted to prove that sponsorship and promotions are indeed superior to spot airtime in many cases, and can work even harder for brands and advertisers.

To demonstrate this, we recently commissioned Entertainment Media Research to conduct a groundbreaking research study examining how listeners respond to sponsorship and promotional activity compared to other types of advertising. We’ve called that research “Amplify,” as the results show how using non-airtime activity positively increase levels of awareness and brand fit.

The research definitively proves those benefits and in particular shows that a very high level of emotional connection can be achieved by that activity.

In other words, we’ve helped prove the value to advertisers of sponsorship and promotions.

Marketing Week, published today, carries a summary of the results, and you can also read a summary of the findings here.

The soon-to-be relaunched Absolute Radio Trade Site will carry further information including a downloable PowerPoint presentation of the results in the very near future.

Although this research was carried out among Absolute Radio listeners, we believe that the results hold true for all commercial radio.

Adam