EQUATIV AND MAGNA MEDIA TRIALS RESEARCH UNLOCKS SUSTAINABILITY KEYS FOR BRANDS TO PROFIT THROUGH PURPOSE

79% of North Americans surveyed consider sustainability when shopping

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 21, 2025 – Sustainability has steadily moved forward as a driver of commercial value for brands, with consumers making more purpose-led buying decisions. MAGNA, the media intelligence unit in IPG Mediabrands, and Sharethrough, part of the global, independent ad tech platform Equativ, collaborated to explore the phenomenon in Canada and the United States (U.S.) and to reveal how advertisers could capitalize on this.

The new MAGNA Media Trials research study called “Sustainability Sells: How Brands Can Communicate on Sustainability and Drive Profit” surveyed more than 1,200 people across the markets to quantify the impact of sustainability on purchase decisions. The research study was designed alongside thought leaders from the Rodale Institute, a non-profit growing the regenerative organic agriculture movement. Through testing 3,600+ scenarios and 19 product features, the study found that 63% of people would pay more money for sustainable goods. And 1-in-4 shoppers could be classified as “eco spenders” —people willing to pay a premium regardless of the product.

“As marketers face growing regulatory demands and rising consumer expectations, sustainability is no longer a niche or optional initiative. It’s a business imperative,” said Martin Bryan, Global Chief Sustainability Officer, IPG Mediabrands. “Eco-spenders represent a rapidly growing, values-driven audience willing to reward brands that deliver on environmental promises.”

What Sells?

  • In the personal care segment, refillable packaging (24%), responsibly sourced materials (23%), and use of recyclable packaging (20%) were leading features brands could deploy to tap into eco-spenders’ wallets.
  • For clothing and apparel, 25% of survey respondents would pay more for responsibly sourced items, while 22% would do so for materials manufactured from certified regenerative organic agricultural practices.
  • In general, brands that offer sustainable products appeal to multi-generational audiences, with Millennials (29%) and Gen Z and Gen X (25%) choosing to pay more.

While many brands use product packaging that includes seals identifying their sustainable features, e.g., reef-safe, certified organic, or biodegradable, most people don’t understand them.

Key Finding: On average 92% of those surveyed said it was important for brands to communicate on sustainability, and this was true across verticals from clothing to tech.

“What was revealed in the report is that consumers are actively asking brands to use advertising to educate them about the sustainable features of their products—a rare and remarkable opportunity,” commented Frank Maguire, SVP, Product Marketing and Sustainability, Equativ. “It’s not often that we hear consumers inviting brands to advertise to them, but this is a clear call for transparency and engagement that brands should embrace.”

Kara Manatt, EVP, Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA added, “This is where advertising can work harder for a brand, going beyond awareness to deeper understanding, and ultimately leading to profit. We found that 80% of Millennials and 71% of Gen Z consumers preferred ads as their go-to channel for learning about a brand’s sustainability efforts, and for Millennials this channel even outperformed social media and influencers.”

3-Steps to Act Now:

  1. Partner with sustainability leaders to align on messaging and unlock further growth.
  2. Explore private-NGO partnerships aimed at public awareness on sustainability.
  3. Tap into advertising, including on-package, for consumer education on eco seals.

 

To learn more and read the full study, please click here to visit MAGNA Media Trials website.

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About MAGNA
MAGNA is a leading global media intelligence company and part of the IPG Mediabrands network. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers. We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity, and inquisitiveness. We support clients, media partners, and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, connectivity, and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Equativ
Equativ, a leading independent ad platform, brings scale and simplicity to digital advertising. Following its recent merger with Sharethrough and the acquisition of Kamino Retail, advertisers, media owners, and technology partners rely on Equativ’s advanced SSP, curation, and retail media services and technology to achieve maximum business outcomes. With a focus on privacy-first programmatic video, CTV, and data-driven solutions, Equativ enables clients to activate across the digital ecosystem while protecting consumer privacy. The company’s global expertise is also backed by a team of over 750 employees across 18 countries.

Headquartered in Paris and New York, Equativ’s international teams are dedicated to fulfilling the promise of adtech, ensuring fair value exchanges throughout the ecosystem. www.equativ.com  / @equativ / https://www.linkedin.com/company/equativ/

POSITIVE PERCEPTION EMERGES AS KEY ATTRIBUTE FOR DRIVING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON SOCIAL PLATFORMS

New MAGNA Media Trials research with Pinterest delivers quantitative data and explores how to factor feelings into your media buying and planning decisions

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 27, 2025 – MAGNA and Pinterest release illuminating new research that explores the links between ad environment attributes and brand outcomes on social platforms. This study centers users’ emotions as core data to inform media planning and drive brand alignment. The robust research project measures brand impact, unconscious neuro-metric response, and sales impact through marketing mix modeling (MMM) to provide comprehensive insights for advertisers, who are relentlessly focused on KPIs and adapting to the changing media landscape.

The report – “Positivity Performs: Ad Environments’ Critical Role in Media Planning” – demonstrates that people’s perception of their experience on a social platform truly matters. Platforms viewed as positive can amplify advertising performance on key metrics including boosting purchase intent (+35%), brand favorability (+49%) and brand preference (+44%). In fact, Positivity outperforms the Creativity and Entertainment attributes in these areas. Regardless of industry vertical or price point, environments that respondents consider to be positive make a difference. People trust (2x) and like (1.5x) the exact same ad more when they feel positively about the environment, compared to when they don’t, and are up to 94% more likely to buy the product or service during future shopping.

“We understand advertisers are all seeking a competitive edge in today’s marketplace, and we believe this research represents a fresh opportunity for where to find it,” said Kara Manatt, EVP, Intelligence Solutions, MAGNA. “This ambitious study shows what audiences may experience whenever they log on to positive social media, how that impacts brands, and why prioritizing this could benefit both.”

Key Findings:  

  • Brands have an opportunity to look beyond the leading attributes of trust and safety to consider positivity as a key component for decision-making on media investments.
  • Creative works harder for brands in positively viewed environments, meaning budget conscious advertisers could adjust and use this in their media strategy and planning now.
  • People surveyed were 20% more emotionally engaged with content they saw on platforms they perceived as positive.
  • On average people spent 15% more time looking at ads and had more “lean forward” moments in environments they perceived as positive.
  • In the MMM simulations, the same creative and finite budget generated up to 24% more sales when brands incorporated viewability and positivity in their media buying strategy.

“In partnership with MAGNA, this research shows that safe and positive platforms aren’t just preferred by users, they perform for advertisers,” said Soniya Monga, VP, Global Agency Sales, Pinterest. “We were able to quantify the impact on metrics like engagement, trustworthiness, intent and even results to demonstrate that brands don’t have to choose between positivity and performance.”

How Can Advertisers Get Started Right Now:

  • Know your audience: Advertisers could get to know what positivity means for their desired audience and build a definition that best aligns with their experiences and expectations.
  • Use contextual targeting: Consider using contextual targeting tools to identify content likely to be viewed as positive and uplifting by your target audience and advertise alongside it.
  • Build better brand alignment: Communicate and collaborate with the partners, agencies, and vendors in your ecosystem about what types of content, platforms, and publishers best align with your brand and prioritize including them in media planning and buying for ads.

For more information and to read the full MAGNA Media Trials report, please click the link here.

About MAGNA

MAGNA is a leading global media intelligence company and part of the IPG Mediabrands network. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers. We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity, and inquisitiveness. We support clients, media partners, and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, connectivity, and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual search and discovery platform where people find inspiration, curate ideas and shop products—all in a positive place online. Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinterest launched in 2010 and has over half a billion monthly active users worldwide.

 

Press Contacts:

Suzette Meade
IPG Mediabrands
[email protected]

Elizabeth Luke
Pinterest
[email protected]

Emmanuel Boardman
Pinterest
[email protected]

Research Focuses On Listener Mindsets To Bring More Podcasting Ad Dollars

Published on Inside Radio

As podcast consumption has grown, advertisers have followed as evidenced by the estimated $2.5 billion spent in the medium last year by brands. But marketers are still deciphering how to best approach their use of podcasting to maximize their results, and a new study released by Vox Media and ad giant Magna is shedding not only light into listener habits but how brands should consider listeners’ mindsets when advertising on podcasts.

Three in four listeners say podcasts serve as their primary source of information on topics in which they are most passionate. But the research focused on the mindset listeners had when they consumed the audio. It did that by recruiting a panel of 2,003 podcast listeners 18 and older who had listened to a show within the past 24 hours. They were given a diary that took a deep dive into that listening session, including the ads heard.

Using 43 different data inputs, researchers say a majority 53% of podcast listeners fell into the indulgence mindset when listening to a show. Another 31% fell into the inspiration mindset, while 16% were characterized as interconnected — or looking to feel connected with others and events in the world.

The data revealed that those in the indulgence mindset were more likely to listen at home or in the car, with listening sessions that were 12-times more likely to last more than an hour. By comparison, those in the inspirational mindset were more likely to listen to podcasts while at the gym or outdoors, with an active lifestyle that made them most likely to listen to podcasts for 30 minutes or less. Meantime, those characterized as interconnected listeners were most likely to listen while at a library or school. They were also 47-times more likely to listen to podcasts for two hours or more.

Those mindsets also had an impact on what they listened to. While interconnected listeners were most likely to listen to on-demand versions of radio and television shows, inspirational listeners were most open to narrative podcasts featuring actors. And the entertainment-focused listeners with an indulgent mindset were most likely to listen to shows that feature conversations between hosts or interview shows.

Based on the findings, Magna and Vox researchers say advertisers can take different approaches to reach each of those segments. Among its recommendations is that ads targeting indulgence and interconnected listeners tell a story, while ads targeting inspiration listeners be brief and get to the point. It also says that host-read ads are most effective among the indulgent listeners looking for a conversation, while traditional produced spots work best for the busy inspiration listeners. That also means indulgent listeners are best targeted with more frequent, shorter ads, while the other mindsets can be appealed to with fewer but longer ads.

The study says its findings have implications for how marketers buy podcast ads, suggesting they go beyond just the demo being reached. “Podcasts offer a breadth of experiences, and brands can go beyond audience alone and consider mindset when advertising,” the report says. “Work closely with your ad buyer and media owners to identify which podcasts fit each mindset and customize ads accordingly.”

In a potentially positive impact for podcasts across all genres, the research finds that mindset has little impact on the specific product category being advertising. It concludes the vast majority of listeners feel any vertical is suitable, regardless of their mindset. There are some variances however, such as Pharmaceutical ads were least appealing among listeners with an indulgence mindset.

“It’s been exciting to see how both podcast audiences and advertisers have evolved over the past few years,” says Dani Benowitz, Global Chief Negotiations Officer at IPG Mediabrands. “Our new Magna research adds another dimension to how we understand listeners and how brands can derive even better returns on their media investments through tailored planning strategies.”

The research also points to how podcast fans are increasingly moving beyond being fans of a show and being loyal to a podcast brand. A majority 58% of panelists say they had watched, shared or commented on a post or a shorter clip of a show on social media. And 53% follow a podcast on social media. That has had an impact on their purchase behavior. Three in ten (29%) say they had bought a product advertised on a podcast to support a host, and 31% bought books or other media that the host has created. Another 24% say they directly donated to support a podcast and 22% have purchased podcast merch.

“When we can expertly align their listening preferences with both our programming content and advertisements from our brand partners, then we create a truly connected experience,” says Bryon La Bumbard, VP of Podcast Partnerships at Vox Media. “This drives performance for our brand partners and, ultimately, better engagement with our listeners.”

 

Read the Article on Inside Radio

 

Read the Full Study

New Study Reveals the Impact of Relevant Advertising in Cultural Moments

Published on ADWEEK

Magna and Sightly’s research shows the approach can triple purchase intent

There’s no need to pontificate about the power of relevant advertising in live moments; the numbers speak for themselves.

New research from Magna, the media intelligence and investment unit within IPG Mediabrands, and Sightly, a real-time marketing intelligence and activation company, quantifies the impact of aligning brands with real-time trends during media campaigns. In the Magna Media Trials study, titled “Societal Sync,” brands were able to triple purchase intent and double search intent by targeting culturally relevant content aligned with their unique brand perspectives.

The study included more than 5,300 participants and tested online pre-roll video advertisements from brands in entertainment, food and beverage, and telecom. According to Kara Manatt, evp of intelligence solutions for Magna, the research brought brand suitability and contextual targeting to the forefront, going beyond the ad industry’s typical broad approach to marketing around cultural moments.

The brands were able to do this by utilizing Sightly’s tech platform, Brand Mentality, which transforms a brand’s unique profile and traits into a real-time algorithm to help companies act quickly around appropriate cultural events.

“We know that [the broad approach to cultural moments] is better than not aligning at all, but we wanted to explore what happens when you take a more nuanced approach—when it is hyper-custom to the brand and the brand’s perspective,” Manatt said.

That customization created an impact.

According to the findings, culturally aligned content tailored to a brand’s unique first-party inputs or perspectives outperformed general content and traditional contextual approaches, boosting purchase intent three times compared to general content and two times for broad cultural content. In addition, search intent increased two times compared to general content.

Beyond increased purchasing intent, the study also shows that speed matters.

More than three-quarters of consumers expect brands to respond to cultural moments within a week, and 56% of survey participants expected a brand to respond to cultural events within 48 hours. Waiting a week brought diminishing returns, according to Manatt.

Among new customers, purchase intent rose by 23% when ads were delivered within a week of relevant cultural events.

“Within that first week, we see great impact, but then once you move beyond that, after a couple weeks, we lost all impact altogether,” Manatt said. “That just really underscores, again, the importance of timing and being nimble and being able to align quickly.”

Additionally, brand-specific cultural alignment increased event association by 17%, effectively positioning an advertiser as part of a cultural moment, even without custom creative, according to the companies.

“If they had real-time creative or a slew of creative, we would have seen maybe even better results,” Adam Katz, CEO of Sightly, said. “But the fact that the results were so staggering with a stock creative was cool to see.”

Staying on brand

Katz explained that moving quickly around appropriate moments—and knowing your brand identity to identify those moments—is key to delivering impactful messaging.

Beyond marquee events, including things like The Olympics or a Super Bowl, tech like Brand Mentality helps identify the smaller, fleeting moments that can make an impact for the brands, including things like TikTok trends or stories going viral on social media platforms.

Katz said the company’s platform has “hundreds of thousands of moments” coming into it every day.

Heading into TV upfront season, publishers are already pitching the importance of advertising around live cultural events. Above all, the study puts weight on that proposition, showing that aligning brands with the right event can have a major impact on outcomes.

“It’s so important to understand that there’s so much conversation out there today about upper funnel and lower funnel when it comes to brand, and this test proves that you can do both, which is critically important,” Katz said. “This also proves that being consistent and authentic as a brand is the way you want to show up, and it shows that speed is everything.”

MAGNA AND VOX MEDIA UNLOCK LISTENER MINDSETS AS PODCASTS FUEL DIGITAL AUDIO MARKET GROWTH

New research empowers media strategy and planning for brand advertisers across industry verticals

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 21, 2025 – MAGNA and VOX MEDIA have been tracking the meteoric rise of podcasts since 2020, publishing research on how podcasts fit into media strategy, followed by a look at the content creators and hosts in the world of podcasts and their influence on listeners. In a new study called “It’s All in the Mind(set)” released today, VOX MEDIA and MAGNA move the conversation beyond the medium and the makers to go deeper on how – and why – brands should consider listeners’ mindsets when advertising on podcasts.

Podcasts have leapt forward to become the primary driver of the digital audio market, representing 40% of ad sales ($2.5bn) in 2024 and forecasted to grow by +11% this year, according to MAGNA (U.S. Advertising Forecast, December 2024). As audiences flocked to the space, brands followed. Podcast growth is expected to continue to outperform the total digital audio market in 2025.

“It’s been exciting to see how both podcast audiences and advertisers have evolved over the past few years. Our new MAGNA research adds another dimension to how we understand listeners and how brands can derive even better returns on their media investments through tailored planning strategies,” said Dani Benowitz, Global Chief Negotiations Officer, IPG Mediabrands.

The new study’s mission was two-fold: First, figure out the predominant listener mindsets and build profiles. Then, utilize the data to formulate media planning strategies aligned to these mindsets. The mindset profiles uncovered insights like why they were listening, how they felt in the moment, where podcasts fit into their daily routines, and more. The researchers found a treasure trove of information after analyzing the detailed diaries kept by over 2,000 research participants (aged 18+).

The top 3 Mindsets were Indulgence (53%), Inspiration (31%), and Interconnect (16%). These were the listeners’ mental states during the podcast, not static states nor descriptors of specific people.

    • The largest group – Indulgence Mindset – were joyful listeners who turned on their favorite podcast while at home or in a calm place to enjoy some “me time” and be entertained.
    • Inspiration Mindset listeners were active go-getters, who sought mental fuel for their journey and chose a podcast – familiar or new – to boost their energy with quality content.
    • The Interconnect Mindset included listeners with deep feelings, openness, and a high degree of trust, who wanted a sense of community and connection to the outside world.

A theme across mindsets was the integration of podcasts into listeners’ lives, and their engagement beyond audio – on social media through likes and shares of shortened content (58%), followed a podcast host on social (53%), purchased products advertised (29%), met fellow fans IRL (20%), etc.

“We keep audiences at the forefront of our podcast strategy,” said Bryon La Bumbard, VP, Podcast Partnerships, Vox Media. “When we can expertly align their listening preferences with both our programming content and advertisements from our brand partners, then we create a truly connected experience. Our research with MAGNA further empowers us to do this in a data-driven way, providing a holistic view across platform, audiences, and brands. This drives performance for our brand partners and, ultimately, better engagement with our listeners.”

How Advertisers Can Piece Together Podcast Strategies:

    • Marketers and planners should work closely with podcasts to understand advertising topics, tones, formats, and lengths to appeal to the audience’s mindset. For example, people in an Inspiration mindset listen in short bursts – under 30 minutes – while on the go.
    • Brands with a good story to tell could resonate with more than two-thirds of the podcast listeners identified in this study. People in the Indulgence and Interconnect mindsets preferred fewer, longer ads, with Indulgence preferring host-read ads or brand sponsorships.
    • Whether you’re a beauty brand, travel business or tech company, podcasts represent an opportunity, with most listeners finding any product and service suitable for advertising.
    • Tapping into mindsets rather than audience data like demographics and interests supports an omnichannel media strategy as podcast content is multi-platform. In addition to digital audio, fans want to engage across TV/video (53%), radio/broadcast (53%), and print (42%).

For more information and to read the full MAGNA Media Trials report, please click the link here.

 

About MAGNA

MAGNA is a leading global media intelligence company, and part of the IPG Mediabrands network. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers. We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity, and inquisitiveness. We support clients, media partners, and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, connectivity, and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/and follow us on LinkedIn.

 

About Vox Media

Vox Media is the leading modern media company, reaching audiences everywhere they are. Known for editorial properties including Vox, SB Nation, New York Magazine, Eater, and The Verge, the company’s portfolio features the most relevant, respected, and engaging editorial properties and voices. The company is also home to award-winning storytelling businesses such as Vox Media Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network, as well as innovative technologies that support the entire media industry, including the Concert advertising marketplace.

Press Contacts:

Suzette Meade
IPG Mediabrands / MAGNA
[email protected]

Aude White
Vox Media
[email protected]