Ciarán Cunningham opened Sounding Out 2024 by talking about the amazing line up of speakers and the equally impressive subject matters being address: tackling key questions on how advertising really works, how does attention work when it comes to advertising? And whether attention really matters for brands? How can advertising be more effective? Can something as powerful as humour and laughter be utilised more? How can advertising and audio in particular stir the passions of consumers to drive business success?

He explained that audio is in a greater position than most to stir consumer passions because of the intimacy of the relationship listeners have with their audio and radio stations in particular. Audio is a warm and friendly place which can make you laugh and make you cry – often at the same time. It is a place where you are simultaneously in a one-to-one uncluttered relationship and yet part of a much greater, shared experience. The power of a listener on their headphones, their air pods, in their car listening to single uninterrupted and uncluttered message is very powerful. And that emotional connection in audio is something advertisers should take more seriously.

Brands need to leverage the full power of audio. And to help brands do this, Sounding Out2024 will share insights and guiding principles into how brands can harness the power of sound to influence consumer perception and behaviour in a rapidly changing landscape, where capturing ears is as important as capturing eyes.

Audio has such high reach, has brilliant signalling power, is so highly affordable, and all return on investment studies always return highly impressive ROIs for audio. To add to this bank of powerful research, Radiocentre Ireland commissioned research that shows how audio significantly increases mental availability when it is added to audio visual activity.

The key message behind today’s event from a variety of different perspectives is the growing potential of radio and audio in today’s media landscape. Audio is the place to be.