Pandora unveils three new ad options for improved targeting and brand storytelling at scale

Pandora has announced three new digital audio ad capabilities that are designed to allow a greater degree of personalization for advertisers. The new formats are Dynamic Audio, Sequential Audio, and Shorter Form Audio. Pandora has worked with Veritonic to run some early tests on how these options can impact listener behavior and drive results for brands.

The shorter form audio spots are just 4-10 seconds long. These clips are intended to complement the more standard audio ad lengths of 30 or 15 seconds. In testing, the shorter ads delivered success in brand lift for lesser-known companies. For instance, Tony Chacheres Cajun spice saw between 150% and 400% increases in all brand lift metrics, while the nationally known Subway saw just a 41% lift in one category. The 10-second clips also delivered successes with increasing in-store sales more than 30-second ads and driving more qualified clicks.

The Dynamic Audio option offers real-time personalization based on listener data including age, gender, location, weather, and music genre being listened to. It can combine different elements of an ad into thousands of different potential creative results. Sequential Audio strings multiple consecutive targeted ads together at scale into a larger narrative arc. Pandora shared some early results from tests of these advertising options. It has found that Dynamic and Sequential Audio yielded a 125% higher lift in purchase intent compared with standard creative and had a 13% higher aided recall. The formats were especially effective for the 18-34 age bracket, which reported 133% and 43%, respectively, in the aforementioned metrics.

Anna Washenko