SPOTIFY & MAGNA STUDY FINDS CONSUMERS MORE RECEPTIVE TO PODCAST ADVERTISING THAN TV ADVERTISEMENTS

Study finds that podcast listening habits mirror TV watching habits, but podcasts are a more effective ad environment, presenting a new opportunity for advertisers

 
New York, NY – June 3, 2021 – Spotify and MAGNA released a study today, “Digital Audio Expansiveness: Growing Landscape & Opportunities,” showing how closely podcast listening mirrors television viewing habits in the U.S. The growth of digital audio was accelerated in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a majority of people (72 percent) reporting screen fatigue and 42 percent citing this as the primary factor in listening to more digital audio content.
 
Here are the top findings:

  • 60% of podcast listeners listen to a new episode of their favorite podcast within a day while 58% of TV viewers watch a new episode of their favorite TV show in the same time span.
  • 75% of respondents said they frequently relisten to podcast episodes, which closely mirrors the 74% of respondents who reported rewatching their favorite TV shows.
  • While podcast listening behavior may mirror TV watching habits, reception of advertisements differs between the mediums. 43% of respondents say that they’re receptive to podcast ads compared to a paltry 17% who reported being receptive to TV ads.

 
“We’ve seen massive growth in this space as consumers are increasingly spending more time with digital audio and podcasts as part of their media diets,” said Jon Gibs, Global Director and Principal Data Scientist, Spotify. “At the same time, they’re more open to the ads in podcasts than they are in other mediums like television. This is an amazing opportunity for advertisers to connect with new consumers or deepen their relationships with existing audiences.”
 
Additional key findings include:

  • Visually-focused industries (retail, auto, entertainment etc.) reign supreme: Surprisingly, 50% of digital audio listeners are more open to ads from visually focused industries, compared to non-visually focused industries (41%).
  • Audio is a multi-tasking friendly medium: 92% of people participated in other activities while listening to digital audio, compared to 84% while watching digital video.
  • Positive moods lead to higher receptivity to digital audio: Positive moods like romantic (65%), excited (51%), curious (48%) and happy (40%) led to higher receptivity to advertisements, and when people are in positive moods, listeners are also more likely to trust the product advertised.
  • Podcast listeners are more open to discovery. 35% of podcast listeners are actively seeking out new podcasts, compared to just 27% of TV show watchers who are looking for new content.

 
“There’s no doubt the pandemic changed consumption habits and we’re clearly seeing audio and podcast listening are extremely popular right now,” said Kara Manatt, SVP, Intelligence Solutions, MAGNA. “We found it particularly interesting that people are more receptive to ads on audio. Brands should ensure they are leveraging more audio and podcasting to keep up with consumption trends and consider targeting based on moods given the impact positive moods have on listening patterns.”
 
Methodology

The study recruited over 3,000 participants in the U.S. who listened to digital audio or watched digital video in the past 24 hours. Participants then had to describe up to two digital audio or digital video sessions from the past 24 hours in detail in a media diary. Spotify and MAGNA also conducted a deep dive on podcast listening vs. TV show watching behaviors, as well as how media consumption has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 

The full study can be found here.

 
About Spotify:

Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity—by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it. Spotify transformed music listening forever when it launched in 2008. Discover, manage and share over 70 million tracks, including more than 2.6 million podcast titles, for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features for music including improved sound quality and an on-demand, offline, and ad-free listening experience. Today, Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with 356m users, including 158m subscribers, across 178 markets.

About MAGNA:

MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation 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 operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

Media Contact:

Zinnia Gill
Mediabrands
Director, Global Corporate Communications
(646) 965-4271
[email protected]

SPOTIFY & MAGNA STUDY FINDS CONSUMERS MORE RECEPTIVE TO PODCAST ADVERTISING THAN TV SHOW ADVERTISEMENTS

Study finds that podcast listening habits mirror TV watching habits, but podcasts are a more effective ad environment, presenting a new opportunity for advertisers

 
London – June 03, 2021 – Spotify and MAGNA, IPG’s global media investment and intelligence company, released a study today, Peak Openness: Leveraging Digital to Reach People When Most Willing to Consider, showcasing how closely podcast listening mirrors television viewing habits. The UK study showed that the growth of digital audio was accelerated in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a majority of people (66%) reporting screen fatigue and 75% citing this as a factor in listening to more digital audio content. The study also found that the multi-tasking, friendly nature of digital audio leads to greater openness, attention and ad interaction.

Here are the top findings from the report:

  • Podcast listeners are more likely to be up-to-date with the podcasts they listen to (66%) compared to TV show viewers being up-to-date with the TV shows they watch (55%)
  • Content binging is more common with podcasts, with 46% of people binge-listening to podcasts compared to 37% of people binge-watching TV shows.
  • Reception of advertisements also differ between the mediums. 67% of respondents say that they’re attentive to podcast ads compared to 46% who reported being attentive to TV ads.

 
“We’ve seen massive growth in this space as consumers are increasingly spending more time with digital audio and podcasts as part of their media diets,” said Jon Gibs, Global Director and Principal Data Scientist, Spotify. “At the same time, they’re more open to the ads in podcasts than they are in other mediums like television. This is an amazing opportunity for advertisers to connect with new consumers or deepen their relationships with existing audiences.”

Additional key findings include:

  • Visually-focused industries (retail, auto, entertainment etc.) reign supreme: Surprisingly, 38% of digital audio listeners are more open to ads from visually focused industries, compared to non-visually focused industries (29%).
  • Audio is a multi-tasking friendly medium: 89% of people participated in other activities while listening to digital audio, compared to 71% while watching digital video.
  • Strong passion for podcast hosts. About half (43%) of podcast listeners feel a strong passion for the host of their favourite podcast compared to the passion for TV show actors (34%).
  • Increased podcast consumption for Millennials. While all generations report increased podcast listening since the pandemic, listening has especially increased among Millennials (30%) compared to other generations (20% for Gen Z, 21% for Gen X and 12% for Boomers).

 
Harrison Boys, Standards & Investment Product Director, MAGNA, said: “Audio has always been an effective medium, and it’s encouraging to see that podcasts are living up to their promise. Having an environment where people are more receptive to advertising is a big opportunity for brands.”

Methodology

The study recruited over 2,300 participants in the UK who listened to digital audio or watched digital video in the past 24 hours. Participants then had to describe up to two digital audio or digital video sessions from the past 24 hours in detail in a media diary. Spotify and MAGNA also conducted a deep dive on podcast listening vs. TV show watching behaviors, as well as how media consumption has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Spotify:

Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity—by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it. Spotify transformed music listening forever when it launched in 2008. Discover, manage and share over 70 million tracks, including more than 2.6 million podcast titles, for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features for music including improved sound quality and an on-demand, offline, and ad-free listening experience. Today, Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with 356m users, including 158m subscribers, across 178 markets.

About MAGNA:

MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation 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 operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

Media Contact
Nicky Higgs
Head of Communications, EMEA
MAGNA
[email protected]

 

The full study can be found here.
 

MAGNA Appoints Elijah Harris as its First-Ever EVP, Global Digital Partnerships and Media Responsibility

New Role Bolsters MAGNA Global Leadership Team and Strengthens Global Digital Partnerships and Media Responsibility Practice

 
NEW YORK — June 01, 2021 — MAGNA, a division of IPG Mediabrands, today announced the appointment of Elijah Harris as its first-ever EVP, Global Digital Partnerships and Media Responsibility. In this new role, Harris will be responsible for providing products and services to Mediabrands teams around the globe and lead its relationships as they relate to global digital media platforms and partners. Harris will also be an industry advocate for media responsibility across all media types within Mediabrands. He will report into MAGNA U.S. President, Dani Benowitz. Harris joins MAGNA from Mediabrands agency Reprise, where he was the Global Head of Social.

“I am thrilled to have Eli join the MAGNA leadership team in this newly created role where he will bring his experience and influence to our clients and teams,” said Dani Benowitz, MAGNA U.S. President. “Eli brings a passion and rigor for the digital landscape, social and data insights, as well as how to best leverage global platforms for our clients. In this new role, he will drive client value and work closely with the global teams to meet client demand in an ever-changing digital landscape. He is a collaborative leader with an entrepreneurial spirit. Eli’s passion for media responsibility is leading the path for the media industry, and we can’t wait to see what he’ll do for our clients next.”

Prior to this new role at MAGNA, as Global Head of Social at Reprise, Harris was responsible for driving growth and expansion of Reprise’s Social craft and developing the agency’s core product capabilities. With nearly ten years of experience across the U.S. and APAC digital landscape and a passion for data-driven performance, he has educated and empowered Reprise strategically to leverage social data and insights and make informed decisions on behalf of Mediabrands clients. Last year, Harris led the creation of Mediabrands’ Media Responsibility Index, a tool to assess the impact of harmful content on social platforms and establish a benchmark for platform responsibility and roadmaps for improvement. Before joining Mediabrands, Harris held performance marketing roles at Dentsu Aegis Network APAC, as well as roles at Channel Advisor, Sensis and Internet Brands.

“I’m grateful to be a part of a network that recognizes the value in integrating Media Responsibility into its core approach to Digital Partnerships. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be taking on this new role in the MAGNA team that allows me to fuse together two things I feel passionately about. Building strong relationships with our global platform partners is essential to unlocking value and achieving great things for our clients. Doing so with a shared commitment to expanding our footprint in the media responsibility space is truly an honor,” said Elijah Harris, EVP, Global Digital Partnerships and Media Responsibility, MAGNA. “Dani and the MAGNA team bring unrivaled intelligence and dedication to their work and I’m confident we’ll build innovative solutions together.”

ABOUT MAGNA:

MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation 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 operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Read Press Release via Businesswire

MAGNA CREATES NEW GLOBAL ROLE OVERSEEING DIGITAL PARTNERSHIPS AND MEDIA RESPONSIBILITY

Elijah Harris will serve as an advocate for media responsibility across all media types within Mediabrands.

 
IPG-owned Magna created a new global role that will be charged with overseeing media responsiblity as the ad world looks to diversify its media spend and re-evaluate media strategies.

Mediabrands vet Elijah Harris has been appointed exec VP, global digital partnerships and media responsiblity, joining Magna from sibling agency Reprise. At the performance marketing agency he served as global head of social.

“I truly believe down to my core, advertisers have a role in creating safer online spaces for everyone, not just for the brands we represent,” says Harris. In his new executive-level position, he’ll act as a “conduit that sits between our global platform partners and our client teams,” Harris says, melding Mediabrands’ core values with those of their clients’ market base.

“All in all, that was a long-winded way of saying I’ll be an advocate of the industry,” Harris says, noting that his new title is a merger of two of his greatest professional passions.

An employee of Mediabrands entities since 2015, he adds that having “six years within the network” has given him ample time to cultivate relationships across the company.

“Eli brings a passion and rigor for the digital landscape, social and data insights, as well as how to best leverage global platforms for our clients,” says Magna’s U.S. President Dani Benowitz, citing Harris’ expertise as a “collaborative leader with an entrepreneurial spirit” as being key to his success at Magna. Harris will report directly to Benowitz.

Harris brings to Magna nearly 10 years of experience in both the U.S. and Asia-Pacific digital industries, accumulated during tenures including a handful of social-forward roles within Mediabrands and an earlier Australia-based stint in Dentsu Aegis’ Asia-Pacific division.

“Through and through, I am a digital media buyer. I have spent hours and hours of my training actually executing on these various platforms,” says Harris, who’s typically based in New York.

Read the article at AdAge

Multicultural audiences feel underrepresented in media

By Sabrina Sanchez, Published by Campaign
 

A study by NBCUniversal, Magna and Identity shows audiences demand more intersectional representation.

 
“Diversity” is a term that encompasses many intersectional identities. Brands and media companies need to recognize those nuances better, according to a study conducted by NBCUniversal, Magna and Identity.

The Deconstructing Diversity study, which surveyed more than 3,500 U.S. respondents, reveals 87% of people feel a strong attachment to multiple communities, and 93% want to connect with cultures other than their own.

However, 33% say they do not identify with different communities because of inaccurate media representation or a lack thereof.

“Even though there is a correlation between ethnicity and [diversity], heritage and traditions such as language, race, ethnicity and nationality are just as important in defining identity,” said Oscar Allaín, SVP of cultural research and strategy at Identity.

All segments in the study cited family as the core element for defining their sense of identity, over race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other factors.

Audiences expect the media to highlight all of the elements that shape their identities, said Yusuf Chuku, NBCU’s EVP of client strategy and insights, advertising and partnerships.

“People want to see representation, and not just a tick of a box, but authentic representation of culture and diverse talent,” Chuku said.

According to the study, 80% of respondents believe brands can get involved in cultural identification through media. Three-quarters of Hispanic and Black audiences also expect brands to accurately reflect their cultures. Multicultural audiences are 4.6 times more likely to rely on visual forms and media.

“We’re living in a time when race, ethnicity and hobbies are forming new personas,” Allaín said. “Those concepts have a better probability of standing out of the clutter and winning hearts and minds.”
 

Read the article at Campaign.

 

Download the full study.