A new marketing case study from Cumulus Media and Westwood One suggests that long-term branding strategies — especially through AM/FM radio — remains one of the most effective tools for local businesses trying to build awareness and future sales in communities like Cache Valley and Northern Utah.
The report, produced by the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group and presented by researcher Pierre Bouvard, examined how Henkle’s Ace Hardware in Joplin, Missouri strengthened its local brand through consistent advertising designed to make the business “easy to mind and easy to find.”
The findings reinforce what many businesses in Logan, Cache Valley and Southern Idaho have experienced while working with our marketing consultants at Cache Valley Media Group: consistent, memorable advertising across trusted local media platforms often produces stronger long-term results than constantly chasing short-term clicks or immediate conversions.
The full 13-minute presentation from Westwood One can be viewed here.
Building Future Demand Instead of Chasing Immediate Sales
The study focused heavily on the concept of “creating future demand” — making sure consumers know and remember a business before they actually need its products or services. A phrase we like to use with local clients in building top of mind awareness is to “be known and loved before being needed and sought.”
According to the report, only about 1% to 5% of consumers are actively “in market” for a purchase at any given time. That means most advertising focused solely on immediate conversion opportunities misses the much larger audience of future customers.
Instead, the report argues businesses should consistently build familiarity and trust over time in their branding efforts so consumers naturally think of them later when purchase needs arise.
Many successful Northern Utah businesses already follow that strategy by combining on-air advertising with digital targeting marketing campaigns, streaming audio, video sponsorships, local news sponsorships on Cache Valley Daily and community event partnerships.
Why Radio Still Matters for Branding
One of the report’s strongest conclusions is that AM/FM radio continues to deliver unusually strong reach for local businesses.
The study argues radio works especially well because it creates repeated memory structures through humor, emotional storytelling, jingles, personality endorsements and consistent repetition.
That mirrors the experience of many advertisers who have worked with us in Logan and across Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. They continue to see strong engagement through trusted local radio personalities and familiar station brands.
Cache Valley Media Group operates multiple radio formats that collectively reach a broad cross-section of listeners throughout Cache Valley and Southern Idaho, including news/talk, country, adult contemporary, sports, Top 40, classic hits and regional Mexican audiences.
That broad reach allows local businesses to reach top of mind awareness with both longtime residents and newer community members — an increasingly important factor identified in the Westwood One study.
New Residents Mean Businesses Must Keep Advertising
The Quantilope consumer research cited in the report found that people who had lived longer in the Joplin market demonstrated much higher awareness of local businesses than newer residents.
That finding has direct relevance for rapidly growing communities like Logan and Cache Valley, where population growth and housing development continue to bring new residents into the area each year.
The study found many consumers struggled to name local businesses in several retail categories without prompting. In many cases, “don’t know” was the most common answer.
For local companies, that reinforces the importance of maintaining consistent visibility instead of advertising only during major promotions or seasonal sales.
Memorable Branding Performs Better
The report also argues that entertaining, emotional and memorable branding tends to outperform purely promotional messaging over time.
Marketing effectiveness expert James Hurman, quoted in the study, said:
“Creating Future Demand is most efficiently achieved by targeting very broad audiences of ‘all category buyers’ with emotional messaging that is designed to stand out and be enjoyed by consumers.”
That philosophy aligns closely with many successful local marketing campaigns heard across Northern Utah radio stations — campaigns that use humor, storytelling, strong personalities and repeated brand messaging instead of relying exclusively on discounts or hard-sell tactics.
For businesses in Cache Valley, the lesson may be simple: consistency matters.
Businesses that continue investing in long-term brand awareness — through radio, local digital products, social media, events and trusted local personalities — are often better positioned when consumers are finally ready to buy.
The case study and accompanying presentation were produced by the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group and presented by Pierre Bouvard.
