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Landmark global study proves audio’s impact in the marketing mix – driving profit, trust and brand outcomes
Professor Mark Ritson took to the global stage at Cannes Lions, the world's most prestigious advertising and creativity festival, to present new global evidence that reinforces audio's role as the campaign catalyst.
The session, The Secret to Profit and Trust: Audio, was hosted at LBB & Friends Beach and drew on the Effie x System1 global Databank of 1,262 campaigns spanning 17 years to prove how commercial audio lifts campaign performance.
The session marks the first time the peak audio industry bodies of Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Ireland have joined forces to make the case for audio advertising as one global industry.
“This is yet more beautiful data. The case for audio’s effectiveness is unequivocal; in every market we’ve studied globally: audio is the catalyst that makes your whole campaign work harder. For a relatively modest investment, it’s an unfair advantage hiding in plain sight. It’s the kind of evidence you cannot unhear.” Professor Mark Ritson, global marketing consultant and founder of MiniMBA at Cannes Lions, 2026.
+75%
Profit
+81%
Trust
81%
Price insensitivity
+19%
Customer Acquisition
Key Findings from The Secret to Profit and Trust: Audio
Campaigns with audio outperform those without audio on profit, trust, price insensitivity, and customer acquisition.
Audio's profit contribution also scales with media spend. Across 14 measures, the average uplift for all campaigns with audio was +22%, in comparison to campaigns without audio.
Get Your Lion's Share
Mark Ritson: Appreciating Audio | Free Webinar
Following his presentation at Cannes Lions, Mark Ritson is hosting a free webinar covering why audio belongs in every media plan, how it makes every other channel work harder, and why the arguments for deprioritising it don't hold up.
Free and open to all — it's a must-watch.
Tuesday 30 June | 7PM AEST
What the experts have to say
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Across the globe, the data consistently proves emotional audio campaigns roughly double their profit. Pair that emotion with distinctive sonic brand assets and run it consistently, and the effect compounds again. It’s simple, yet sound advice.
Andrew Tindall
Chief Growth Officer, System1 -
This is yet more beautiful data. The case for audio’s effectiveness is unequivocal; in every market we’ve studied globally: audio is the catalyst that makes your whole campaign work harder. For a relatively modest investment, it’s an unfair advantage hiding in plain sight. It’s the kind of evidence you cannot unhear.
Mark Ritson
Global marketing consultant & Founder, MiniMBA -
In a competitive landscape where advertisers need their campaigns to work even harder, the evidence again points to the power of audio. For brands, the Effie and System1 data is clear: audio drives significantly stronger profit, deeper trust and the price resilience that protects margins. That a case first built on Australian Effie data now holds across the UK, US and Ireland only shows how universal audio’s advantage is as a catalyst in the media mix.
Lizzie Young
CEO, CRA
The original study was commissioned in Australia, where CRA analysed the Advertising Council of Australia’s (ACA) Effie data with independent marketing consultant Rob Brittain and Mark Ritson, who called it “beautiful data”. That modelling has now been taken to the world stage, tested against a new global databank from the UK, US, Europe and Ireland, and presented to an international audience of advertisers, agencies and audio networks.
