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Pandora Gives Users an Hour of Ad-Free Music If They First Pay Close Attention to an Ad

Pandora is heralding the full rollout of its Sponsored Listening feature, which has been in beta since last fall. With Sponsored Listening, Pandora offers listeners a deal: You can have an ad-free hou...
Pandora Gives Users an Hour of Ad-Free Music If They First Pay Close Attention to an Ad
Written by Josh Wolford
  • Pandora is heralding the full rollout of its Sponsored Listening feature, which has been in beta since last fall.

    With Sponsored Listening, Pandora offers listeners a deal: You can have an ad-free hour of music, uninterrupted, if you just pay special attention to one ad first.

    “In exchange for at least 15 seconds of active brand attention, listeners are rewarded with 1 hour of uninterrupted listening. Active brand attention includes watching a video or engaging with a rich media unit, like a swipeable slide gallery or interactive 360-degree product spotlight. Within the Sponsored Listening session, the advertiser has 100% share of voice, which fosters an intimate connection between the brand and the listener,” says Pandora.

    The ads can last for a couple of minutes, however.

    “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.”

    According to Pandora, the beta test has been promising, yielding a 12 percent lift in brand awareness and a 30 percent lift in purchase intent for advertisers who participated. So far, that’s included brands like Land Rover North America, Corona Extra, Gatorade, TruTV, Yeungling.

    Today, Pandora is opening it up to all ad partners.

    “Sponsored Listening is truly a win-win ad format. No music lover should be without it, and brands everywhere should look to it as a new gateway to authentic consumer attention,” says Pandora’s Jonathan Eccles.

    If you’re a Pandora user, you can try it out now on mobile.

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