Ad Creative

Turning It On and Up At Home

Molly Mitchell, Sr. Manager, Ad Innovation StrategyMay 5, 2020

As listeners are staying at home in effort to flatten the curve, they are turning to music to help them cope - in fact we have seen a surge in at-home listening since early March, as well as a significant increase in listeners connecting to Pandora for the very first time from a home device. Pandora has encouraged listeners to embrace this time as much as they can and discover the great indoors.

Listeners are more active on our in-home platform than ever before, but we know marketers are being cautious with how, when, and to whom they should message right now. And while some are considering hitting pause all together, consumers actually don’t want brands to stop advertising. While this might surprise some, it is a nod to consumers striving for normalcy in a very abnormal environment and relying on brands to provide information that is relevant and informative.

If anything is certain during uncertain times, it is that there is a huge opportunity in the home.

People have always turned to music to amplify or alter their mindset. Whether that means blasting the latest pop single to take energy up a notch, or switching on a slow indie ballad to work through a breakup, the music is turned ON during all of life's moments.

And this unique moment in time is no different: 4873 insightsLab TurnUpAtHome R2 stats1

The opportunity for brands to turn it ON at home

Aside from the rapid rise we’ve recently witnessed due to our unique state, connected home devices have become a platform that advertisers can no longer ignore. Not only is there a massive audience, Pandora has over 12 million monthly uniques,2 but this is an audience that tends to only tune in from home - 36% of Pandora’s connected home audience listens exclusively on home devices2 - so it is critical for brands looking to maximize reach.

4873 insightsLab TurnUpAtHome R2 stats2

Of every 100 paid media impressions, a marketer receives 37 additional impressions due to co-listening, according to our study with Edison Research & Carat. Right now, 85% of listeners with children under 18 have their kids at home and we are seeing a spike in listening during the weekends, specifically between the hours of noon and 7 p.m., as parents are streaming family friendly content. With over a third of listeners spending more time listening with others, the one-to-many messaging opportunity is bigger than ever before.

We also know reaching parents during co-listening moments really resonates. One example is a children’s toy brand who saw a 5% lift in purchase intent, nearly double the 2.6% category benchmark3 when activating on connected home to purposely reach co-listening moments with parents and children.

How brands can be relevant at home, right now

There are many brand messages that are relevant for an at home audience during this time:

Tourism bureaus can remind audiences of the dream vacations that lie ahead, just like Costa Rica Tourism provided listeners a momentary escape from our current state in this spot:

Brands can address the current crisis head-on like Pampers did in this spot geared for parents to remind them of the great job they are doing, and letting them know how they can give other parents words of encouragement:

Consumer tech brands such as Comcast find relevance with at-home messaging for products that can help consumers while they are spending more time at home and give them some control back, such as the ability to pause the internet from a simple tap on the Xfinity xFi app:

CPG brands can drive awareness of new, relevant products with samples that can be sent straight to a listener’s house. Pandora worked with Dunkin’ to do just this, through their integration with a voice sampling company and supported by our voice-assistant targeting capabilities:

And it doesn’t stop there. Retail chains can let consumers know about free shipping offers for essential items to arrive at their door, or localized campaigns for restaurants who want to let residents know takeout and delivery services are still available.

As marketers are figuring out what to say and how to say it, we suggest focusing on being personal, optimistic, and ensuring your message isn’t tone deaf. Be explicit, and tell consumers how you can help.

We are home and the music is ON

As listeners are spending more time at home, marketers must discover their at-home messaging strategy on a platform that provides the scale, relevance, and resonance they need to stay engaged with audiences who still want to hear from them.

To get started with your audio strategy in the home, reach out to your Pandora sales rep today. And to learn more about how the current climate is impacting consumers, advertisers, and creators, visit us at pandoraforbrands.com/soundcheck.


Sources: 1. Pandora Soundboard, COVID-19 Poll, (N=1,995), March 2020 2. Pandora Internal Metrics, March 2020 3. Blinded Case Study measured by Kantar Millward Brown, 2019

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