For all of the criticisms levelled at amount of royalties it pays artists and songwriters, Pandora is one of the more innovative streaming services when it comes to making money from ads.
First we heard rumbles that the US digital radio service was readying a 24-hour ad-free budget subscription.
Now it’s launched a new feature where users can get 60 minutes of ad-free listening – so long as they’re willing to ‘engage’ with an interactive commercial after they open up the Pandora app.
Sponsored Listening has been in beta since September 2014.
During this beta phase, video ad units or swipe-able slideshows initiated the hour of uninterrupted listening.
According to Pandora, this resulted in a ’12 percent lift in brand awareness and a 30 percent lift in purchase intent for advertisers’.
Now publicly launched, a brand can also introduce additional rich media units, such as interactive 360-degree product views.
In addition to advertisers like Land Rover North America that have extended from the beta phase to general availability, new brands tapping into the Sponsored Listening solution post-beta include: Corona Extra, Gatorade, truTV and Yuengling.
“As the competition for consumer attention continues to intensify, brands are looking for advertising products that can help them create a lasting impression and resonate with their target audiences,” said Lizzie Widhelm, Pandora’s senior vice president of advertising product strategy and sales.
“Sponsored Listening enhances our suite of engagement-based advertising solutions by building on products such as Brand Stations, and is another manifestation of our philosophy that what’s good for the listener is good for the advertiser.”
“The Sponsored Listening offering is unique, and we jumped at the opportunity to align with this attention-based service during the launch of the new Discovery Sport,” said Kim Kyaw, digital marketing and social media manager at Land Rover North America.
“Pandora’s Sponsored Listening product allowed consumers to engage with the vehicle – by watching a video or by interacting with a 360 degree unit – for at least 15 seconds.
“Opportunities to engage with our consumers around new vehicle launches within premium listening environments are difficult to find.”
