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It’s been a hell of a day at work. Best not to mention the tube. And it looks like someone gave the kids too much sugar. Slouched on the sofa, G&T in hand, there’s just one thing you want to do. Chillax with your favourite artist, Nicki Minaj. You love the song, but you haven’t yet seen her ‘Anaconda’. You wonder what it looks like. YouTube is about to show you.

But oh….the bitter disappointment. It’s the dreaded YouTube pre-roll.

Frankly, you couldn’t care less about some new dragon warfare game. You start to search frantically for those two holy words – ‘Skip Ad’. Panic sets in. You can’t find them. You may not be particularly religious, but you’re praying now. You must endure 30 excruciating, agonising seconds of what feels like medieval torture. Never has time gone by so slowly.

The YouTube pre-roll is a negative experience for the viewer. If the viewer – essentially, to an advertiser, a potential customer – feels like they are being harassed or forced to endure a piece of advertising content, then someone in the advertising and marketing world is not doing their job properly. The net result is that the potential customer is left with a negative association with the advertising brand.

Our association with the YouTube pre-roll is a negative one. However, the opposite is true with a well-produced, well-deployed audio pre-roll. Here at Exaget, we entwine broadcaster and advertiser brands into a product that really works. We leverage the emotional connection the listener has with the radio station. By downloading the radio station’s app on to their mobile, they have invited the radio station onto a device as personal as a toothbrush.

We’re currently running a brilliant example of the sensitively branded pre-roll with one of our premium broadcasters, French Radio London. When a listener opens the French Radio London app on their mobile phone or device they are greeted by the following pre-roll, which interweaves the radio station’s brand with that of their luxury advertising partner, Relais & Châteaux.

For a sneak peak of how our pre-roll works, download the French Radio London App here

This turns the audio pre-roll into an incredibly valuable piece of advertising real estate. At this point the listener is most probably still looking at their mobile device. Not only will they engage with the accompanying visuals – in this case the understated sophistication of Relais & Châteaux’s gourmet gift boxes – they are also presented with an opportunity to interact with the brand with just a simple tap of the map icon.

The benefits are obvious to the advertiser, the broadcaster and the listener. The advertiser gets to leverage the emotional connection that the listener has with the broadcaster’s brand and output – resulting in a deeper engagement with their own brand and product. This in turn helps to establish a relationship with the consumer, increasing the likelihood of consumer-to-brand interaction, and ultimately improving the advertiser’s chances of increased sales. In this case the exclusive and opulent nature of the advertiser’s brand adds value to the broadcaster’s already premium brand. The listener is presented with a seamless, consistent, and relevant listening experience.  

Your relationship with your phone is personal. Emotional. As is your relationship with the radio station you chose to listen to. Mobile in hand, radio on, headphones plugged in, you cocoon yourself in your own little world. It’s personal. Intimate even.

The new possibilities offered by interactive radio advertising allow advertisers to turn these personal, intimate moments into opportunities for engagement.

But woe betide the advertiser who abuses them.

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