The latest episode of the Irish Marketing Podcast, powered by IMJ and Tinpot Productions, takes listeners inside Radio Centre Ireland’s Sounding Out 2026 conference, which took place in the Mansion House in Dublin.
Episode 59 features exclusive highlights from the conference, which was hosted by broadcaster Sarah McInerney and explored the theme of “Profit and Trust”, examining how brands can drive commercial growth through more effective marketing, creativity and the power of audio.
Among the key themes discussed was the importance of mass marketing in building brands and driving long-term growth, with speakers highlighting the benefits of reaching broad national audiences rather than relying exclusively on narrowly targeted campaigns.
The conference also explored the relationship between marketing effectiveness and profitability, including the significant commercial impact of pricing. One of the findings highlighted was that a 1% increase in price can deliver a 10% improvement in corporate profitability.
Trust was another central theme, with radio’s ability to establish strong relationships with audiences highlighted as a key advantage over social media and other digital platforms.
The importance of creativity and emotional engagement also featured prominently. Speakers examined why brands need to move beyond generic advertising to create campaigns that capture attention, build emotional connections and use distinctive brand assets to ensure they are easily recognised by consumers.
The episode also explores how audio can help brands balance the needs of today’s customers with those of tomorrow, delivering rational messages to consumers already in the market while building emotional connections with future buyers.
The commercial consequences of ineffective creativity were also highlighted, with research suggesting that dull advertising costs brands an estimated $189 billion annually in additional media investment needed to compensate for its lack of impact.
Episode 59 of The Irish Marketing Podcast offers a snapshot of some of the key insights and discussions from Sounding Out 2026, providing marketers, advertisers and agencies with fresh perspectives on the relationship between creativity, trust, audio and profitable business growth.
