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 breaks down why audio advertising drives measurable trust and profit outcomes.
In this free webinar, Ritson explains why audio deserves a place in every media plan, how it improves the performance of other channels, and why common arguments for cutting audio budgets don't hold up under scrutiny.
Free and open to all — it's essential viewing for media planners, buyers, and anyone responsible for audio's role in the media mix.
The Power of Aussie Audio: How CRA's Effie Data Went Global
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.
Postcards from Cannes
HEARD MENTALITY PODCAST SEASON 2 / EPISODE 2
Heard in Cannes: The Brands Winning Tomorrow Are Building Trust Today
System1's Andrew Tindall joins Cilesta van Doorn, Chief Brand & Marketing Officer at telecom giant, BT Group, in this special Cannes Lions edition of Heard Mentality.
Together they explore why trust has become one of marketing's strongest predictors of commercial success, and why audio is uniquely positioned to help brands build it. Plus, why the brands that win aren't spending more, they're spending smarter.
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