🚀 Bridging the Gap: How Marketers Can Connect with Consumers Effectively

iHeartMedia, along with Malcolm Gladwell's Pushkin Industries, today released its second annual report, "The New American Consumer 2.0," in which it states that nearly half of Americans, or 44%, feel unseen by advertisers.

The Study: Findings from independent studies conducted by Morning Consult, Advertiser Perceptions, and Critical Mass Media reveal a chasmic gap between marketer assumptions and consumer values, hindering effective engagement with valuable consumer groups.

Zoom In: One study showed that 72% of consumers refuse to buy a brand that puts the blinkers on and ignores them, while 75% are ready to pay more for a brand that shares values with them. To achieve higher results in marketing, marketers should be closer to real influences and authentically reflect customers' values and passions.

Thirdly, there's a growing unease by consumers regarding heavy reliance by marketers on hyper-targeting, data, and AI. 67% of all consumers hate the fact that they are being "targeted" by an ad-a fact which, on one level, suggests this level of ad targeting may not be working. While marketers plan to spend 9.5 billion on personalisation and hypertargeting campaigns in 2024, 7 out of 10 consumers claim digital ads are irrelevant despite targeting.

Key findings from the Advertiser Perceptions Ad Pros Community show that 44% of Americans felt ignored by media and advertisers, while 72% said they would pay more for brands that reflect and represent their values. Consumers vary by geography-urban, suburban, and rural-by race and ethnicity. Fully 72% said they would avoid buying from an advertiser if the company didn't care about people like them.

Zoom Out: Americans make their purchasing decisions based on approval, research, and saving up, while marketers can buy any second without asking for any approval. There is a lack of consumer trust in being followed by efficient advertisements; 82% of them make purchasing decisions based on communities, friends, families, or religious leaders.

Marketers look at health and diet fads, while cold plunges and vegan/vegetarian diets are just a couple of activities that make consumers cringe. Consumers say religion and law and order mean more to them by two to one than all other factors, but marketers turn their attention elsewhere. Marketers think of luxury items in the form of designer labels and accessories, but for the consumer, the key indulgences are more down-to-earth: brand name paper towels and meat of a premium grade.

Why it matters: This report essentially says, "Check your bias at the door," because marketers consistently underestimate the real usage of broadcast radio, which comprises plus two-thirds of all audio listening. As Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia's Digital Audio Group, noted, it is important marketers realize their bias and understand that broadcast radio and podcasts comprise such a huge component of peoples' daily commute.

Our take as a podcast producer: It is important that the podcast producer realizes that broadcast radio and podcasts have a very deep influence on the daily routine in consumers, especially while driving or commuting to and from work. How these audio platforms dominate and affect people's lives allows us to tailor our content more personally to their liking and needs.

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